Gubernatorial aspirant Bill White has done the right thing, Part 2: He's made public all of his federal income tax returns for the years when he was mayor of Houston.

Yeah, it took him a good bit longer than we would have liked -- and we here at Texas Watchdog have poked his Band-Aid about that. And the Rick Perry campaign has been on him practically every day about the matter, saying another day had passed without White releasing additional years' returns. Perry last year released his tax returns going back more than 10 years.

But he's done it now, and that's a good thing for everybody.

In a world where the line between politicians and special interests seems increasingly blurred, the public has a right to know where our top political leaders get their income. It's one more step toward allowing the public full knowledge of potential conflicts of interest that may arise during that public official's service.

That's why Texas Watchdog called on the candidates in last year's Houston mayoral runoff election to release their income tax returns, and they both did, though eventual winner Annise Parker was more prompt about it than challenger and former city attorney Gene Locke.

Does this open up public officials' private lives to increased scrutiny? You bet. Can this be a source of embarrassment for that public official? It could be. Is it an invasion of their privacy? No. If they don't want to release their tax returns, they don't have to. There's no law that requires them to do so -- but we as citizens are also free to read into that what we like, and factor that into our decision when go to cast our ballots.
 
It's all about trust. Mayors and governors are the people to whom we as a community give access to a huge bankroll of cash -- our cash, our tax dollars -- along with the authority to make decisions for all of us that will affect us for years to come. Would you give your car keys to somebody and say, "Here -- drive it as much as you like!" not knowing whether they're a safe driver?

When public officials like Rick Perry and Bill White make their tax return information public, they're providing the public with more tools to use in making an informed decision at the polls

Jennifer Peebles can be reached at 281-656-1681 or jennifer@texaswatchdog.org.

Photo of "To File or Not to File" by flickr user GenBug, used via a Creative Commons license.