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 "state legislators" ...
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Public Pension Perks
The series details how state elected officials nationwide have passed obscure laws to inflate the pensions paid to special groups of workers and to themselves.
Tags: pension; David Thomas; legislative pension; retire
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Human Trafficking in the Heartland
The Center found that three years after Wisconsin legislators passed a law banning trafficking, little had been done to curb the practice in the state.
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St. Bernard Voting Fraud
In an effort to preserve the sense of community in St. Bernard, and other similar parishes affected by Hurricane Katrina, the state passed legislation allowing residents to continue to vote at their previous residences, even if they were living outside of the parish during the rebuilding process. Fast forward six years. 2011. The rebuilding of St. Bernard continues, but with a post-Katrina population of 35,000, the parish has a fraction of its former residents. While some property owners have returned, many have moved to St. Tammany Parish. This is where WVUE's investigation begins. The investigative team received a tip that a St. Bernard Sheriff's Department employee lived in St. Tammany Parish, but was still voting in St. Bernard. This tip came right after the primary in St. Bernard's critical fall elections. The WVUE-TV team requested all voting records for the election, and found out that the deputy was the tip of the iceberg; illegal voting was widespread.
Tags: broadcast; voter fraud; Hurricane Katrina
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Spousal Support
In November 2011, the KGTV 10News I-Team revealed a questionable legal loophole that forced sexual assault victims to pay support to their attackers. Within five weeks of our initial reporting, lawmakers took action, drafting legislation and pushing for a change. Our series features Crystal Harris, who was sexually assaulted by her ex-husband. While he sits in prison for the crime, a state judge has ordered Crystal to pay spousal support. Crystal Harris earns more money than her ex-husband.
Tags: broadcast; spousal support; sexual assault
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Salt Lake Tribune reporting, editorial stance, lobbying efforts to help keep Utah's open record law intact
In the waning days of the 2011 Utah Legislature, lawmakers quietly introduced House Bill 477, a measure designed to dramatically weaken the state's open records law, the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), in effect for the past two decades. Work done by The Salt Lake Tribune led the way to the recall of HB477.
Tags: Utah; legislation; bill; house; lawmakers; open; records; law; public; records;
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King High Charter Controversy
The King Charter stories reveal that two public officials- Dwight Evans, a state legislator, and Robert Archie, chair of the city's school governance board- collaborated on a secret campaign to steer a lucrative charter school contract to a politically connected private contractor.
Tags: Charter Schools
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Birthdates Controversy
Government agencies and legislators in Oklahoma had fought unsuccessfully to make the birth dates of public employees confidential despite state open records laws. The investigation found that the state makes millions of dollars selling birth dates of regular citizens.
Tags: birthdates; open records; public employees; union; public
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Brian Ross Investigates: State House Scoundrels
The story explores the unsettling problem of state house corruption and reveals what really happens at Kentucky's annual conference of state lawmakers.
Tags: state politics; state house; lawmakers; legislators;
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Transportation Center Stalled at South Carolina State University
The series investigates where the $50 million in state and federal dollars went that had been given to build a new transportation center at South Carolina State University. With a vacant building site and no underway, school officials did not have an answer as to where the money went. The story prompted lawmakers to launch a formal investigation.
Tags: South Carolina State University; Transportation Center; watchdog; federal funds; Legislative Audit Council
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"The California Water Enforcers"
In this month-long, five-part series, Jim Holt investigated a water tax imposed on "tiny recession-battered towns" in California. After finding a "controversial" Memorandum of Understanding, Holt found that state legislators imposed million-dollar water fines that essentially taxed "the water we drink."
Tags: taxes; League of California Cities; Santa Clarita Valley; Office of Enforcement; State Water Resources Control Board; chloride; fines; water