OPEN LETTER

Dear Legislators:

Thank you for your efforts to date focusing on budget accountability through considering the authorization of comprehensive performance audits. Olympia’s willingness to focus on priorities of government and requiring meaningful performance audits signals loudly and clearly to Washingtonians that the legislature is responsive to the people’s demands for transparency and accountability of tax dollars.

Thanks to the efforts of Speaker Frank Chopp working with the state auditor, a potential amendment to the current performance audit bill (HB 1064) offers the cleanest and best language we’ve seen to date to authorize independent and comprehensive performance audits. The highlights of this language include:

• authorizing the state auditor to conduct independent and comprehensive performance audits and allowing the state auditor alone to set the audit scope;

• creating a citizen advisory board to provide input to the state auditor, but not granting that board veto power over audit scopes or areas for review;

• requiring the state auditor make the final performance audit reports available to the public and post the reports on the internet (online);

• authorizing the state auditor to conduct performance audits of local governments using local funds if a local government requests such a review,

• requiring two one-hundredths of one percent of the state’s total general fund state budget each biennium be set aside to fund the performance audits initiated by the state auditor (approximately $5 million for the 2005-07 biennium); and

• does not sunset the performance audit authorization.

We believe this language is superior to what was provided to those of you who signed our performance audit pledge this past year. Its adoption would make any initiative to the people on this topic a moot issue.

Please let me know if we can be of any assistance as you consider this reform.

Sincerely,

Jason Mercier, Budget Analyst
Evergreen Freedom Foundation

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org