In their desperation to save money the Legislature made a cut that will result in more spending, not less. State Auditor Brian Sonntag has made some real hits (baseball analogy) with his performance audits. He is hurting our elected officials' ability to protect their favorite programs and hire each other's kids. He is using objective measures and informed judgment. They just had to do something!
State Auditor Brian Sonntag is a serious baseball fan. He's a regular at Mariners games and has a rack stuffed with 20 wooden bats in his office. An inscribed ceramic ball on his desk reads: "Sometimes you just have to play hardball."If you agree with distinguished Senator Prentice then sit on your hands. If you agree with Sonntag then call Chris Gregoire.Hardball is what the 57-year-old Democrat seems to have in mind when it comes to fighting the Legislature's $29 million cut to his performance-audit program, which seeks to find efficiencies in state and local governments.
He's asked Gov. Chris Gregoire to restore at least some of the money, saying the cut "decimates" a program that's found millions in potential savings. Gregoire is expected to decide by Tuesday.
Sonntag has publicly described the money grab as a "sucker punch" and has thrown around words like "stupid," "dumb," "ridiculous" and "unacceptable" when talking about the plan. That's not how politicians typically describe the work of other elected officials, especially members of their party who control the purse strings.
Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, said Sonntag is blowing the impact of the cut out of proportion. Her advice to him: "Cool it."
... Sonntag's office said it's working on a report that will show how much money the audits have saved.
It's not available yet, but the office points to an audit of the state Department of Labor and Industries as an example. The audit recommended ways to improve the agency's collection of benefit overpayments. As a result, the department had a 50 percent increase in collections, worth $4.6 million in 2007, according to the auditor's office and Labor and Industries.
Overall, Sonntag's office has received high marks for several performance audits, including a 2007 review of the Port of Seattle that said its contracting practices were lax and ripe for fraud and abuse. The audit prompted a federal investigation and a Port-funded probe that identified 10 cases of fraud.
A series of audits of the state Department of Transportation, however, received mixed reviews. ...
See also Save Perfornance Audits - Evergreen Freedom Foundation - Olympian "Give the money back to audit program"
At one of those sources I saw the email addresses of Chris Gregoire's senior staff members in a comment; don't recall which.
Posted by Ron Hebron at May 18, 2009 07:17 AM | Email ThisIt's unanimous. Editorial boards and citizens agree: Gregoire's veto of the Democrat Legislature's gutting of Sonntag's performance audits is absolutely essential. Eyman will attend and participate in the budget bill signing ceremony on Tuesday at 3:00 pm, giving Gregoire an I-900 '900 Pound Gorilla' t-shirt for doing the right thing and saving Sonntag's successful program. There's been a tsunami of support for Sonntag from citizens and newspaper editorial boards. Here's a sampling:
Yakima Herald Republic editorial -- Gov. Gregoire should save performance audit program -- The governor has only a few days left to undo a mistake that the Legislature made when it went far beyond agreed-upon cutbacks to the performance audit program.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/05/15/gov-gregoire-should-save-performance-audit-program
Spokesman Review editorial -- Preserve fund for agency performance assessments -- I-900 provides a fund that was supposed to insulate the auditor from worries that an honest but adverse audit might put his budget – and therefore the ability to do the job – in political jeopardy. I-900 sought to avoid that kind of game playing by tying its demand for government accountability to the means to ensure auditing independence. The Legislature wants to determine performance-audit funding in the future based on how much the auditor can demonstrate in actual savings achieved. That would make sense if you want your auditor to work on a commission instead of following government audit standards that protect integrity and discourage inappropriate interference. The Legislature’s approach would confound that objective and undermine public trust in government. Gregoire should use her veto pen to restore it.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/15/our-view-preserve-fund-for-agency-performance/
Bellevue Reporter editorial -- Gregoire will do the right thing, won't she? -- We can't believe that Gregoire would be so short-sighted that she would consciously cut money from one of the few state programs that has been proven to return more money to the state that it costs. To believe otherwise would be to admit that Gregoire caters to those in the Legislature who are peeved that Sonntag's audits have found fault with their pet projects and agencies. We believe Gregoire is better than this. She can't be as petty as those in her party who would sacrifice future state stability for a short-term political gain.
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/opinion/44921372.html
Columbian editorial -- Gregoire, who often makes liberals wince, should protect performance audit funding -- This week Gregoire faces one more chance to define her independence. She has until Tuesday's budget-signing deadline to veto the Legislature's proposed $29 million cut in the state auditor's performance audit program. Fortunately for voters, as the budget nears the finish line, it escapes the nasty partisan influences of legislators. Gregoire should do the right thing for those voters, prove her independence and veto these cuts, because it was the voters who authorized performance audits by overwhelmingly passing Initiative 900 in 2005.
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090517/OPINION02/705179982/-1/OPINION
Yakima Valley Business Times -- Penny Wise, Pound Foolish -- We encourage Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) to veto the proposed cuts to state Auditor Brian Sonntag's (D) performance audit program. The short-term financial gains that would be achieved by making the cuts are more than offset by the 10-to-1 returns being shown by the audits. ... We hope the governor uses her line item vteo to undo this short-sighted budget decision.
John Carlson, KOMO 1000 -- A good man is being punished for doing his job in Olympia. We should help him. -- State Auditor Brian Sonntag is probably the most trusted public official in Washington. Voters like him and they keep re-electing him because he does a good job. That job is to audit government agencies and departments and issue reports about whether taxpayers are getting good value for the money. His office has carried out 15 performance audits recommending half a billion dollars in savings, and he's saved taxpayers 10 dollars for every dollar he spends. This has not made him popular with politicians in Olympia who protect WON'T eliminate wasteful government spending -- in this case, the legislature. They have transferred most of the money he needs to conduct these audits to other agencies. In other words, they're taking his money so he can't perform these audits. Audits we ASKED him to conduct when we passed Initiative 900 four years ago. Governor Gregoire can veto this raid on the auditor's budget. Let's ask her to do so. The sooner she hears from you, the better for Mr. Sonntag and his sometimes lonely job of identifying unnecessary government spending.
The Olympian's editorial board -- Give the money back to audit program -- If she cares a whit about government accountability, Gov. Chris Gregoire will do the right thing and veto that section of the budget. ... Many politicians and government bureaucrats are not fans of performance audits. Some see them as meddlesome intrusions into their programs. Some bureaucrats believe they have all the answers and know what's best. They resent public intrusions. ... This is a test of Gov. Gregoire's true commitment to government accountability and government reform. It's an opportunity to test rhetoric versus action.
http://www.theolympian.com/editorials/story/846363.html
CROSSCUT -- Gregoire on the spot over performance audits -- The Legislature's proposed gutting of the performance-audit program is inexcusable ... they have uncovered practices by WSDOT, the Port of Seattle, Sound Transit, and other agencies which required correction. Without the audits, they would not have been exposed.
http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/18947/
SEATTLE TIMES: Save Sonntag's audits -- The Legislature cut deepest — 73 percent — in money for performance audits. That is the program under which the auditor questioned $90 million in spending at the Port of Seattle. There has since been a focus on accountability at the Port that happened because of the audit. Auditor Brian Sonntag says there can be no more big, expensive audits like that with a 73 percent cut. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2009192757_editb08auditor.html
EVERETT HERALD: Use veto to restore funding -- The size of the cut carries an acrid air of vindictiveness ... Cutting the performance-audit budget by any amount is short-sighted.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090508/OPINION01/705089915
SEATTLE WEEKLY: Auditor's Cuts: Your Vote Revoked -- With her pen poised, the governor might ask herself what she'll do when the day comes - and it will - that Washington taxpayers ask where all that stimulus money really went, and nobody answers.
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/05/auditors_cuts_your_vote_revoke.php
KITSAP PENINSULA BUSINESS JOURNAL: This is hardball dirty politics — not to mention downright fiscal stupidity — at work. The legislature should not be allowed to get away with this assault on financial accountability.
http://kpbj.com/opinioneditorial/articles/2009-05-02-EDT-01.html
In section 2 of I-900, it reads: No legislative body, officeholder, or employee may impede or restrict the authority or the actions of the state auditor to conduct independent, comprehensive performance audits.
How can the Democrat Legislature's defunding and dismembering of I-900 not be a clear violation of this mandate?
In section 5 of I-900, it reads: Money in the account shall be used to fund the performance audits and follow-up performance audits under section 2 of this act and shall be expended by the state auditor in accordance with this act. Only the state auditor or the state auditor's designee may authorize expenditures from the account.
How can the Democrat Legislature's raid of I-900's dedicated funding be anything but a clear violation of this voter-approved law?
What can be done about it? Send another email to Gregoire (it's more than OK to send her more than one email) and tell her to uphold the voters' mandate on performance audits by veto'ing that section of the budget.
Type out 2 or 3 sentences IN YOUR OWN WORDS asking her to veto that section of the budget, to abide by I-900, and to save the auditor's authority and funding to do performance audits. Here's how to send your email to her:
1) Copy and paste these email addresses into your 'To...' line of your email: Cindy.Zehnder@GOV.WA.GOV; Joyce.Turner@GOV.WA.GOV; Pearse.Edwards@GOV.WA.GOV; Robin.Arnold-Williams@GOV.WA.GOV; Victor.Moore@OFM.WA.GOV; Marty.Brown@GOV.WA.GOV; Ron.Judd@GOV.WA.GOV; sonntagb@sao.wa.gov; tim_eyman@comcast.net
I remember sitting in the SeaTac waiting area in Dec-2007 and reading the cover stories in the Seattle PI and Times about the results of the POS Audit and doing a slow burn
That Craig Watson, General Counsel, was not terminated for getting cute and rewriting the standard management representation letters is abusurd.
But what do you expect from disgraced Stanford grad, Port Commissioner, and "dead women walking" Pat Davis
Unfortuneately Tay Yoshitani and Commissioners Bryant, Creighton, Hara, and Tartleton had a chance to show leadership and integrity and failed
Hiring the brother of twice fired John Mckay (DOJ and Getty) was not a good use of taxpayer resources
With proper selection of external auditors, Brian Sontag can help make state and local government more efficient
The internal control on Brian Sontag is the ballot box and a recall petition, if the voters think he has mismanaged the office
The complaint on the Ferry audit is valid.
The state can save money by discontinuing/limiting ferries; however, the economic impact to the State of Washington probably exceeds any cost savings
Posted by: Not Amused on May 18, 2009 08:50 AMWhy?
Posted by: John Jensen on May 18, 2009 11:31 AMHuh...so the guy who wants about $40M so he can monitor the performance and cost effectiveness of other programs can't tell us about the cost effectiveness of his own program.
I'd be interested in seeing how much money he has actually saved the state. If he can show actual savings (not potential) that is some multiple of $40M/biennium, then he will have a case. Otherwise, I think the performance audit program would just be a vehicle for politcal grandstanding and providing corporate welfare to private consultants.
This is only further proof that our legislative "leaders" need to be booted out of office. To focus on whether the audits really "save" money is only further proof that they just do not "get it."
A primary function of a performance audit is to DETER waste, abuse, misappropriation, and fraud. The very fact that a public agency is under the scrutiny of an independent audit is a huge incentive for that agency to comply with state laws and regulations. The savings is incurred by the threat of exposure. If an audit proves that an agency has violated laws, it can be subject to criminal or civil investigation, cuts in funding, eliminations of staff, replacement of management and public embarrassment, among others. If public leaders continue to support these agencies in spite of their incompetence or failure to abide by the law, they too, can be replaced. That last part is what scares the legislators.
In a perfect world, the state auditor should NOT find any indications of impropriety or inefficiencies. The auditor should be able to show the public that the government agency has managed public funds wisely and that there really is not much room for improvement. But Washington State is hardly a perfect world.
Performance audits are the cornerstone for transparency and accountability in government. Anyone in the legislature knows that; or should know it. If they do not understand that concept, they need to step down.
Restore the damned funding. Talk about a bone-headed move.
Posted by: Hinton on May 18, 2009 04:59 PMQween of the Taxin Feein Olympia.
I just hope when the next mountain blows, it buries that Taxin Feein Olympia.
Posted by: gs on May 18, 2009 10:52 PMIt's a metaphor, not an analogy.
Posted by: Kent on May 19, 2009 06:48 AMHehe. Are you talking about how Secretary Locke hired a grossly underqualified director of legislative affairs still in her 20s? Or about how Senator Kohl-Welles hired a grossly underqualified legislative assistant with no legislative experience after firing her own veteran LA?
Posted by: SlipperyPete on May 19, 2009 08:48 AMLengthy, but necessary to show context:
RE: Eyman gives Gregoire his I-900 t-shirt after her veto -- but it's not all good news
I arrived in the Governor's reception area this afternoon wearing a black, long-sleeve, I-900 t-shirt with a menacing 900 pound gorilla on the front and back. Legislators and staffers milled around, doing everything possible not to acknowledge me -- I was, as usual, the skunk at the party. I sent a text message to Auditor Sonntag asking him if he had any news -- he hadn't heard any.
I was nervous: was the Governor going to veto the Democrat Legislature's gutting of performance audits or would she let it stand?
Speaker Frank Chopp walked in, shook hands with several folks, we made eye contact, he came over and said "Hi Tim", I said "Hello Frank", and after a little small talk, he said "I think we've got you covered" and then walked away. I took that as a good sign.
All of us then were invited into the main room for the bill signing. Lots of people. Gregoire was surrounded by legislators and gave a short speech about the tough session, then said there were several bills she was going to veto. First up was the issue of performance audits. Said she was going to veto the $29 million transfer and also veto a totally whacko provision giving the Auditor a 'bounty' payment for savings realized from the audits (Sonntag said such a requirement would completely interfere with auditing standards and objectivity and was horrible public policy).
At this point, I was very, very pleased.
Then Gregoire said something very disturbing, explaining that she had reached an agreement with Auditor Sonntag for him to transfer a smaller amount -- $15 million -- from I-900's dedicated account for performance audits toward other government spending during the next legislative session. That's very bad news and I address that more fully below. But back to the bill signing:
After the Governor and Democrat legislators gave their speeches and after their Q&A session with the media was completed, I went up to the Governor and said "Well, here you go Governor" and I took off my I-900 t-shirt (I had another t-shirt underneath) and said "I'm giving you the shirt off my back for doing the right thing. Well done, Governor." I then made a joke, telling her that wearing the shirt in 2012 would likely be a vote-getter for her reelection campaign. I then received an official pen from the Governor from the bill signing.
All of you should be very proud of yourselves. The past two weeks produced hundreds of emails, phone calls, and letters to the Governor from all of you. Your messages to her were passionate, persuasive, and pointed. You were all incredibly respectful and polite. I firmly believe these vetoes would not have occurred if not for your activism and your persistence. Again, you should be very pleased with what we all accomplished together.
But as Amber Gunn of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation accurately points out, the proposed $15 million transfer from I-900's dedicated account is totally illegal. Here's what she wrote about that:
The hitch in this story, however, is found in the governor's veto message, which states in part: "The Auditor has committed to a $15 million transfer that can be accomplished in the next legislative session." Auditor Brian Sonntag may have agreed to such a transfer, but the citizens haven't. Initiative 900 (the performance audit law) was strictly crafted to protect performance audit funding. The law established a dedicated performance audit account that can be tapped only by the State Auditor and only for the purpose of funding performance audits. Note the excerpts from sections 3 and 5 below.
Beginning on December 8, 2005, 0.16 percent of the taxes collected under subsection (1) of this section shall be dedicated to funding comprehensive performance audits required under section 2 of this act. The revenue identified in this subsection shall be deposited in the Performance Audits of Government Account created in section 5 of this act.
Money in the account shall be used to fund the performance audits and follow-up performance audits under section 2 of this act and shall be expended by the state auditor in accordance with this act.
Verbal agreements between the governor and auditor notwithstanding, the State Auditor does not have the unilateral authority to authorize a legislative transfer from the dedicated performance audit account. The account is held in trust by Auditor Sonntag on behalf of citizens to conduct performance audits as directed in the law. Even if he has agreed to give the money away, he does not have the authority to do so.
Here's Amber's complete analysis: http://www.libertylive.org/blog_main/post.php?post_id=1416
The fight continues. During the next legislative session, all of us will work together to push against this illegal transfer of dedicated funding for performance audits. But with the Governor's veto, we've achieved an important victory that would not have happened if not for your hard work.
Congratulations, everyone!!
At this point, we must all refocus our energies toward I-1033's signature drive. The July 3rd deadline is quickly approaching -- that's just 44 days away. We're making very good progress, we're not there yet, we just need to keep our heads down and keep working hard.