Today's Hartford Courant had an article about wasteful spending in the Department of Children and Families. It is very good that this article brought public attention to these problems. And I would note something also very important - the article was based on an audit report by the State Auditors of Public Accounts.
As I have noted before, the Auditors are a very effective and time-tested state agency for rooting out waste, inefficiency and noncompliance with the law on the part of state departments. I think that the legislature should take better advantage of what this agency does. As I said back in October:
Legislators and, as we see from the Courant article today, the public can only get a true picture of how things are going in state departments if we have an independent review. That is what the Auditors of Public Accounts do - and they do it well.
The legislature would find itself in a much better position to do our job if we, as I have suggested, hold regular hearings on the Auditor's findings.
As I have noted before, the Auditors are a very effective and time-tested state agency for rooting out waste, inefficiency and noncompliance with the law on the part of state departments. I think that the legislature should take better advantage of what this agency does. As I said back in October:
...my idea is that, whenever the Auditors issue one of their regular reports on a state agency, the legislative committee responsible for that agency should hold a public hearing on the report. This will give Mr. Jaekle and Mr. Johnston the ability to present the major points their staff have discovered and recommended. And, it will allow legislators to ask questions of both the Auditors and, of course, of the heads of the agencies being reviewed, to gain an even better understanding of what is happening, and not happening, in state government - and what can be done to make things run better. This knowledge, in turn, could then be used by legislators in crafting better legislation for the state and in the annual state budget process.Legislators cannot personally monitor state departments. We can visit them from time to time but, for the most part, what we know about how efficient they are and whether they are following the decisions of the legislature is in hearings at the State Capitol. And most of the time, the main ones we hear from are the top administrators in the departments, themselves. And these administrators will typically paint a rosy picture of how they are doing at running their respective departments.
Legislators and, as we see from the Courant article today, the public can only get a true picture of how things are going in state departments if we have an independent review. That is what the Auditors of Public Accounts do - and they do it well.
The legislature would find itself in a much better position to do our job if we, as I have suggested, hold regular hearings on the Auditor's findings.
