Truth in Accounting’s Financial Transparency Score 2026 evaluates how effectively each state government discloses its true financial condition through audited financial reports. 

Illinois’ public pension systems are in severe crisis, with chronic underfunding threatening retirees, taxpayers, and the state’s fiscal stability. Truth in Accounting has reported on this issue for years, highlighting how the state’s failure to make full actuarially determined contributions (ADC) has exacerbated the problem. As of fiscal year 2024, Illinois’ pension systems face $148.6 billion in unfunded liabilities, with a funded ratio of just 47.8%. This is well below the 65% threshold considered critical under private sector pension funding standards established by federal law. Pension payments consume approximately 20% of the state budget, crowding out investments in education, infrastructure, and public services. Benefit increases without corresponding funding adjustments will worsen the state’s long-term pension imbalance. 

The I-64 Bridge in Illinois has a pothole so large that the road beneath it is visible. It was almost hit by a semi-trailer. This is extremely dangerous, putting lives at risk. 

And it highlights the results of poor infrastructure asset management in the audited financial reports, which directly ties to what our friend David Draine at the Pew Charitable Trusts is working on. 

Truth in Accounting’s analysis of the most recent audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government found its overall financial condition worsened by $11.6 trillion in 2025.

Each year, states like Louisiana undergo a Single Audit to verify proper use of federal funds. These audits assess internal controls, compliance with requirements, and safeguards against misuse, with special focus on major programs.

Florida's most recent Single Audit—which reviews compliance with federal grant requirements—raises red flags about the management of substantial federal dollars allocated to public health programs.

Undercover journalist Nick Shirley just released a bombshell 40-minute video exposing over $170 million in fraud across California, including fake daycares and abandoned hospices where fraudsters are living in luxury with zero consequences. As he put it: “Minnesota was big, but California is even bigger.” The fraudsters have been defrauding hardworking taxpayers for years, enabled by weak oversight and bad policies.

The report examines the fiscal health of America’s five largest cities–Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City. 

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has resisted making its financial audits public, and we are starting to learn why. The union recently produced audits going back to 2020, and the records show that its finances haven’t always received a clean slate by its official independent auditor.

Recent scrutiny of federal programs in Minnesota has drawn national attention to serious oversight failures at the state level. Those problems are not isolated. Audits in Georgia and other states reveal similar warning signs that raise broader concerns about accountability, internal controls, and the use of federal funds.