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DEL.ICIO.USSayeth the Speaker to agency heads: Say hello to my auditors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Never let it be said that House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) picks his targets randomly.
Richardson sold the Legislative Services Committee this morning on the idea of authorizing up to $50,000 for a “forensic audit” of state agencies, according to our colleague, James Salzer.
Richardson wants to use the accounting firm of KPMG to do the audits as part of his three-year plan to transition into so-called “zero-based” budgeting.
The idea is that state agencies, which will collectively spend $20.2 billion in 2008, will have to start from scratch each year and justify every dime the General Assembly allocates. The audits are to give the Legislature an idea of where the money is being spent now.
“I don’t know what we’re going to find,” Richardson said.
But the House speaker did know who the first two targets of the audits would be: the Department of Revenue and the Department of Human Resources. Both are on Richardson’s black list.
Some lawmakers have long disliked Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, who has been aggressive in going after tax cheats. But Graham really got on their bad side over suggestions that he helped Gov. Sonny Perdue cook the books earlier this year to help justify the governor’s veto of a $142 million tax cut that Richardson championed.
(The state auditor later said there was no evidence that Graham did so.)
DHR ran afoul of Richardson because, the speaker said, the agency didn’t provide him answers to questions he had about some shifts lawmakers approved in the agency’s funding several months ago.
House members in particular are sensitive to agencies not providing budget information. Richardson said Perdue’s office has directed agencies not to cooperate with in-depth investigations of their budgets, and the governor vetoed a bill on the issue this year.
Richardson said he will demand agencies cooperate with the audit process and zero-based budgeting, a concept Senate leaders support as well.
“I haven’t spent a lot of effort asking if there is going to be any cooperation. I am just trying to do my job,” he said. “If they refuse to cooperate … they will have a budget of zero. This is not a request. You are going to have a zero in your budget if you don’t come forward with information.”
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Comments
By Awesome
October 17, 2007 5:45 PM | Link to this
I never thought too much of Glenn Richardson, but this is an awesome idea for state gov’t (and counties should have to do it too). Sonny Do campaigned on bringing back fiscal responsibility to state gov’, but he can’t even control wildly reckless state purchasing card spending.
Every state dept., especially GDOT (!) should have a forensic audit every two years, with a procedural audit every three to four years.
Hold dept. heads accountable for EVERY DARN PENNY THEY SPEND! ook what they’re doing in another state along these lines:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5213631.html
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/expendlist/cashdrill.php
There are no checks & balances for the billions GDOT spends, and road builders love it. And a procedural audit of the Department of Community Affairs is long overdue. The DCA works with HUD in a negative way to bring every questionable housing and apartment projects into the metro area.
If Glenn gets his way, and this goes through, there will be tens and tens of millions of waste discovered. Heck, I guarantee there are thousands of unaccounted for computers, Blackberry’s, desks/chairs, cell phones, pagers, even vehicles. And if Dem’s were smart, they would actually back him up on this, and help him expose every misspent and wasted penny.
Good job Glenn.
By 1992
October 18, 2007 8:49 AM | Link to this
As long as Richardson follows through and audits ALL departments, he has my total support. However, if he just stops after auditing the ones he doesn’t like, that’s a different story…
By RJ
October 18, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
Glad to see more checks and balances. It’s in the best interest of the State to have the arrogant assumption of Executive powers reined in.
Republican leadership in Georgia will have to come from the Lt.Governor and Speaker. The remainder of Sonny’s term is fatally wounded because of the lack of credible disposition of the fact based allegations pertaining to his land deals and customized tax break.
By transparent government please!
October 18, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this
Glenn had to implement the zero based budgeting because the Governor vetoed House Bill 91. The veto allows agencies to continue to hide their spending from the public and the General Assembly - including the credit card spending first exposed during House Appropriations hearings earlier this year.