A report released earlier this week by the Texas Public Interest Research Group (TexPIRG) gave Texas an “A” for its efforts to bring about greater government transparency.

According to the TexPIRG’s report, “Following the Money 2011: How States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” Texas earned its high mark for the availability and searchability of data, online tools, and the amount of detailed information it maintains online for such things as contractors, contracts, tax expenditures, economic development incentives and grants, ARRA funding, and local government spending.

Much to its credit, Texas was only one of two states to earn an “A” grade this year-the other state being Kentucky.

This year’s high mark represents a significant improvement over last year’s “B” grade.

-James Quintero