Texas Watchdog once again lifts the veil on how Texas' elected leaders make their money -- and what conflicts of interest they might have.

We've just published the 2009 interactive map of legislators' ethics forms, and this time we've brought you tons of extras along with the ethics forms. Give it a look, and shoot us a note if you spot anything the Texas Watchdog investigative team should look into.

Go directly to Texas Watchdog's interactive map by clicking here, or find the map by going to our Featured Reports section. (The first column of our site.)

Also, don't forget that Texas Watchdog has the 2009 ethics forms available for:

Houston's mayor and city council.

The Harris County Commissioners' Court.

Dallas City Council and Dallas Commissioners' Court.

Here's the presser we sent out this morning about the release of our legislative interactive map:

Houston, Texas, September 10, 2009 -- Texas Watchdog made headlines last year when we made accessible the ethics forms for Texas' 181 lawmakers through an interactive map.

These forms are a public record, but were difficult for regular folks to get to. They were not available online until Texas Watchdog gathered all of the lawmakers' forms and created an easy-to-use interactive map that readers can access through the Texas Watchdog Web site.

Today, Texas Watchdog makes the 2009 ethics forms available, and we've added lots of useful links that will allow the public to:

* Research each lawmaker's campaign contributions;

* Examine the bills they pushed in the last legislative session;

* Look at what has been written about the lawmaker on wikis such as Ballotpedia, a repository of information on elected leaders and ballot measures in all 50 states; and

* Contact their legislators.

Texas legislators and many other state officials are required by law to fill out these annual forms, formally titled "personal financial statements," to the state Ethics Commission detailing their sources of income. These forms can be treasure troves of information. Required categories include for whom they work, what stocks and bonds they own, and their business interests.

Last year tips poured into Texas Watchdog when we made these disclosures available, and we've written many stories about potential conflicts of interest at our state Capitol. Check out those stories and other work published by Texas Watchdog by going to our Featured Reports section.

Who knows what you'll find if you dig into the disclosure for your state representative or senator? Go directly to Texas Watchdog's interactive map now.

For more information:

Deputy Editor Jennifer Peebles at 281-656-1681.
E-mail jennifer@texaswatchdog.org

Editor Trent Seibert at 713-980-9776 (desk) or 832-316-4994 (cell).
E-mail trent@texaswatchdog.org