Legislative auditor would answer to Senate President and House Speaker under bill nearing passage

The top leaders in the West Virginia Legislature would have tighter control of the Legislative Auditor’s Office if a bill passed Thursday clears one final legislative hurdle and is signed into law.

The House of Delegates passed SB 687 by a vote of 56-41 , with dozens of Republicans crossing party lines to vote against the bill with the handful of Democrats.

The bill would bring the Legislative Auditor’s Office, which was originally set up to perform audits and analysis of state agencies and programs and report directly to the Legislature as a whole, under the purview of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.

The office currently reports to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, which is co-chaired by the Senate President and the House Speaker.

An earlier version of the bill would have removed a piece of state law that specified the office’s reports are public records but the final bill would require the reports be released.

The bill now states the Legislative Auditor is under the direction of those leaders. Other parts of the bill also provide language stating the Joint Committee would still have a role in directing the auditor’s work.

Critics of the bill have said it concentrates the power into the hands of a couple people, while supporters say it brings an office that should work for the Legislature to heel under the hand of elected officials.

Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, said the bill is a safeguard against unelected officials going rogue.

“Who’s in charge? Who has the final say?” McGeehan shouted on the floor. ”Elected officials, elected by the people who sent us here, or unelected bureaucrats?”

However, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, who sounded the alarm about the bill weeks ago when it was introduced in the Senate, said he had concerns that those same elected officials will steer the auditor away from certain reviews or put the kibosh on ones in progress.

“They’re our watchdog, don’t turn them into a lapdog,” he said.

Del. Todd Kirby, R-Raleigh, said he hasn’t heard many complaints about too many audits, but he has heard many concerns about misspending of government money. He warned about concentrating power in the hands of just two officials.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Kirby said. “And it’s only a matter of time that an official that is in one of those two positions, takes advantage of the language of this current bill before you and they’ll be able to avoid any accountability.”

The bill now goes back to the Senate for them to agree with some tweaks in the language before going onto the governor’s desk.

Legislative auditor would answer to Senate President and House Speaker under bill nearing passage appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight , West Virginia's civic newsroom.