STAND. COM. REP. NO.2804

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 3011

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was recommitted S.B. No. 3011, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EXPENSES OF THE LEGISLATURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the State Auditor to audit the Department of Education, Department of Health, and Department of Human Services.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the State Auditor. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Your Committee finds that the respective departments already contract the annual single audits that are mandated by the federal Single Audit Act and that current audit contracts are three-year agreements covering fiscal years 2001, 2002, and 2003. The Department of Education, however, given the great complexities of compliance with the Felix Consent Decree and ongoing efforts to improve the quality of the instructional program, could benefit from auditing by the State Auditor, in part by ensuring that there is not even the appearance of a conflict of interest inherent in having one state agency responsible for overseeing the audit of another state agency.

Your Committee has amended this measure to limit proposed audits by the Auditor of selected state agencies to the Department of Education.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3011, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3011, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

______________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair