House Republicans Seek Spousal Disclosures

House Republicans plan to resume their drive to require public officials to disclose at least some financial information of their spouses in the Ethics Commission reports they must file, both The Charleston Gazette and The Register-Herald of Beckley report.

The newspapers note that GOP delegates sought, without success, to add such a provision to the 2005 overhaul of state ethics provisions.

But the proposal may gain more support after the Center for Public Integrity flunked West Virginia, along with 19 other states, for its legislative financial disclosure requirements.

(The center's latest report on the topic notes that "Idaho, Michigan, and Vermont continue to tie for last place, as no personal financial disclosure laws exist, or have ever existed, in those states.")