The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "public sector" ...
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California's Public Pension Dilemma
The Contra Costa Times found that California public employee pension systems are grossly underfunded; the benefits far exceeded the private sector and are regularly understated by the pension systems; the debts for state and local governments are huge; and the cost is being transferred over to future generations.
Tags: California; Public Pensions; State; Local; Government
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"The Transportation Lobby"
The team at The Center for Public Integrity launch a database of transportation lobbyists and integrated that with an interactive map. Search by public/private sector, lobbying firm, or project.
Tags: transportation; bill; lobby; lobbyiests
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"The Transportation Lobby"
After discovering that there are more than 1,800 transportation interest groups the team at The Center for Public Integrity "compiled a database of transportation lobbyists and integrated that with an interactive map." Search by location, public/private sector, lobbying firm, or project.
Tags: transportation; lobbyists; interest groups; road lobby
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Good as gold: State pensions facing scrutiny
Public employees in Ohio have better wages and benefits than the taxpayers who support them. Taxpayer money funds the system which allows workers to retire a decade or more sooner than workers in the private sector. Also, more than one in four public school superindentents had received pension payments and salary simultaneously.
Tags: pension; private sector; public employee; pension funds; superintendents
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The Grim Sleeper
Pelisek's story details a secret the Los Angeles police were shielding from the public: "that a serial murderer had begun killing Angelenos since 1985, taking a 13-year hiatus before recently resuming his bloody assaults almost exclusively in a poor, black sector of the city." DNA evidence linked a single killer to several murders of mostly young women, drug users and prostitutes. It was Pelisek that informed families of some of the victims that their daughters' murder was the work of a serial killer.
Tags: police; serial killer; Los Angeles; body dump; murder; cold case; public records; police documents; court documents
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Shriners Hospitals for Children Investigation Series
Freelance reporter Sandy Frost investigated a tip from Shriner Vernon Hill that there were irregularities in the way the fraternal Shriners organization and the charitable Shriners organizations were handling their money and not complying with Standards For Charitable Accountability.
Tags: Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine AKA Shriners; Standards for Charity Accountability; 2001 Criminal Tax Manual; Hershel Gober; Philanthropic Research, Inc. AKA Guidestar.org; Second Avenue Partners; Mike Slade; Aquantive; Nick Hanauer; Shriners; Masons; Knights Templar; Royal Order of Jesters; National Sojourners Order of Quetzacoatl; Mike Severe, Imperial Officer, Shrine of America; compensation; real estate transactions; excessive benefit transactions; charitable donation fraud; HIPPA; Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; Vernon Hill; Suite101.com; Paul Dolnier; 501c10 non profit fraternal corporation; 501c3 non profit charity; Better Business Bureau; Charity Watch Center; Pennsylvania's Charitable Special Investigation Unit; Internal Revenue Service; IRS; good old boy system; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance; whistleblower retaliation; Charles G. Cumpstone Jr., Potentate Stewart W. Lewis; Charities Review Council of Minnesota; Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; GAAP; Independent Sector; SLAPP: strategic lawsuits against public participation; Cabiri Royal Order of Scotland; International Order of Demolay
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Personal Politics
Thirty nine states have lawmakers who meet part time. These lawmakers often pursue other careers, sometimes in sectors that are regulated by the government. The Center for Public Integrity recognized the huge potential for conflicts of interest, if lawmakers end up serving on committees or deciding legislation that could affect their outside interests. The only way to combat the conflict of interest is through full disclosure of lawmakers' private interests, however, many states do not make that information available to the public. But, this project by the Center for Public Integrity does that for them: in two years, reporters used thousands of documents and dozens of interviews to create a database, available online, that includes information on lawmakers; outside interests, as well as the committees they serve on in the legislature.
Tags: transparency; legislative ethics; private companies; lawyers; political fraud; conflict of interest; legislation; state capital; state government
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Taxpayer's tab high for unused sick time
This story details how public employees accumulate paid sick time at a rate much greater than their counterparts in the private sector and also, take more paid sick time. Additionally, private sector employees are rarely compensated for unpaid sick time. The story reveals how the taxpayer is forced to pick up a huge tab in order to pay millions of dollars to effectively pay the public employees twice for their work.
Tags: Allentown; Allentown Committee; Scott Armstrong; Tommy G. Thompson; Bethlehem; Lehighton Area School District
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Sleeping with the auditor
SF Weekly looks at the relationship between San Francisco city government and its auditor KPMG, and finds similarities with the Enron scandal. According to the contest entry questionnaire: "For example, the audit's firm consulting division sold accounting software to the city that generated financial statements that were, in turn, audited by the KMPG's own audit division, thereby eliminating important checks and balances mandated by the "overarching principles" that govern auditor independence."
Tags: public sector; financial transactions; accounting; budget; California Board of accountancy
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The City of Dallas' sick time policy
Analyzing a database of Dallas personnel records, KDFW-Dallas/Fort Worth found city workers burning weeks of sick time just before retirement. Retiring workers took off 3½ times more sick time than the average worker. Retiring firefighters burn the most sick time, and get paid for more sick hours than other city workers, the investigation found. Adrian concludes that the City of Dallas is about to spend more than twice the national average sick time cost found in a survey of more than 300 companies.
Tags: absenteeism; employment; labor; personnel; public sector; private sector