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PRESS RELEASE
 April 4, 2002
State Auditor uncovers serious problems in state’s management of federal funds The State Auditor recently released a report showing serious deficiencies in the state’s management of federal funds. Some of the findings may put the state’s federal funding at risk. The major problems include noncompliance with federal regulations, internal control problems, and weaknesses in program oversight. Among other things, the State Auditor found: + The Department of Health does not comply with federal screening requirements to determine eligibility for participants in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program. (Questioned costs: $67 million.) A separate WIC finding prompted the Auditor to warn, "The Department risks losing federal funding for the program." + The Department of Health overstated its expenditures for WIC by $24.5 million. + The Medical Assistance Administration within DSHS does not have sufficient controls in place to ensure compliance with federal Medicaid requirements relating to licensing and eligibility. (Questioned costs: $9.8 million.) + The Employment Security Department did not comply with cash management regulations for three federal programs and made $9.2 million worth of overdraws. + $38,966 was misappropriated due to falsified payroll documents at the University of Washington’s Diabetes Endocrinology Center. This prompted the Auditor to issue another warning about the risk of losing federal funding. (EFF will release a more in-depth review of this finding in the near future) "We have to look at who is being affected by this mismanagement," said Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "Every dollar that gets lost to waste, fraud, or mismanagement is a dollar that does not make it to those who really need the services." Washington receives approximately $7.6 billion in federal funds each year, which the state generally matches for a total of approximately $15 billion. The State Auditor conducted a fiscal audit of these funds and identified $78 million in questionable expenditures. He is currently prohibited from conducting a comprehensive performance audit without legislative approval. Such an audit has the potential to identify savings of $750 million to $3 billion. View the State Auditor’s 2001 Single Audit Report Contact: Jason Mercier, Deputy Communications Director, (360) 956-3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
