Regular readers know that Brian Sonntag is my standard, don't give it a second thought, democrat vote in any election.
I have studied his work close up, and had his reports been inculcated in the Legislature, there is no way our state's deficit would be approaching $10 Billion.
Sonntag and his people have ferreted out over $3 BILLION in illegally, misspent and lost funds to our state agencies and various others whose faces are buried in the state trough.
The Legislature, regardless of who is in charge, rarely responds to Sonntag's efforts. Imagine what our tax picture and economic situation would look like if these clowns had only implemented the changes Sonntag has requested.
Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog
Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.
UPDATED: Auditor says budget cut 'ridiculous and offensive'
• Published April 24, 2009
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State Auditor Brian Sonntag doesn't get mad publicly too often. But he's not happy about a $29 million budget cut, all in the performance audits section meant to find ways to limit government waste.
Sonntag is in Dallas this morning talking about performance audits, but he sent a letter today to House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, blasting the cuts in the proposed budget amendment to Substitute House Bill 1214. It's basically the House-Senate budget compromise announced last evening with few details at the time.
"The section that sweeps away most of our performance audit funding is ridiculous and offensive both to us and to citizens," Sonntag wrote. "The cuts are unacceptable and will severely undercut our ability to do independent performance audits.''
The cuts leave $10 million for the audits and a provision allows for more money depending on savings actually accruing from agencies enacting Sonntag's performance recommendations.
Sonntag called that unworkable.
He sent Chopp his cell phone number, saying he'd like to talk.
Longtime audit fan Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center asked in this blog post today "if the State Auditor is now considering changing the 'incomplete grade' he gave lawmakers in this TVW interview yesterday to 'failing.' "
Mercier asks a good question. I would follow by asking if lawmakers really care at this late hour of their session. Their budget does leave some money for audits, and they can always adjust things in January, if new revenues show up.
UPDATE: Mercier tells me the $10 million compares to the $16 million the Auditor’s Office spent through March for performance audits, which gauge efficiency. Auditor spokeswoman Mindy Chambers said the agency had sought $27.4 million, which Gov. Chris Gregoire put in her budget in December, before the revenue situation deteriorated even more sharply.
“What that really does is scale us back to the performance review that we hope to do,” Chambers said. The review is “a statewide risk assessment to take a look at places we could bore into with performance audits.’’
It could look at duplicated services provided by multiple agencies in technology, purchasing and leasing practices, for instance. In the meantime, Chopp and Sonntag spoke on the phone. The outcome we’re waiting to hear about.
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