Committee Summary for Legislative Performance Audit Oversight Committee (05/02/2025)

Bill/Time	Type	Title	Sponsor
Unclear 00:02:16.239 - 9:01:12 AM	General Working Session	Unclear

Unclear: Chair Information Only00:02:16.239 - 9:01:12 AM; The Chair opened the meeting and moved to accept the minutes of the April 4th meeting, which were accepted without changes. The Chair then introduced the topic of potential audit topics, turning the floor over to Director Young and Supervisor Henry to discuss the 10-year status of performance audits.
Unclear: Christine Young, Director of Audits for the LBA Information Only00:03:08.400 - 9:02:04 AM; Christine Young introduced herself and Jay Henry, the performance audit supervisor. They presented a spreadsheet summarizing the status of performance audits over the past 10 years, noting that some reports involve multiple agencies. The spreadsheet included details on the year of release, number of observations, agency responses, and updates. They highlighted the color-coding system, with red indicating agencies that have not provided updates and green indicating those that have fully addressed observations.
Unclear: Jay Henry, Performance Audit Supervisor Information Only00:03:56.879 - 9:02:52 AM; Jay Henry elaborated on the spreadsheet, explaining that the audits covered multiple agencies and provided detailed responses to observations, including concurrences, partial concurrences, and non-concurrences. He noted that agencies may choose to fully address only the observations they agree with and provided examples of how this affects the reported completion rates. Henry also discussed the transition of the prescription drug monitoring program from the pharmacy board to HHS and the subsequent update by HHS.
Unclear: Representative W Information Only00:07:06.240 - 9:06:02 AM; Representative W inquired about the audits' legislative fix recommendations and whether they were implemented. They noted that this information was not included in the current spreadsheet. They also mentioned the recent special education audit and its absence from the spreadsheet, which was later clarified to be at the bottom of the list.
Unclear: Senator Information Only00:13:12.959 - 9:12:08 AM; The Senator expressed concern about the mental health workforce licensing audit, which had no reported action despite the ongoing mental health crisis. They suggested inviting the relevant boards to the next meeting to discuss their progress and urged for a written response or in-person appearance.
Unclear: Representative Weber Information Only00:16:21.199 - 9:15:17 AM; Representative Weber discussed the challenges of working with professional boards, noting their infrequent meetings and the difficulty in getting them to respond to audits. They suggested a gradual approach to addressing audit follow-ups, starting with the mental health workforce licensing boards and potentially expanding to others.
Unclear: Representative Information Only00:18:14.799 - 9:17:10 AM; The Representative agreed with the approach of inviting board chairs to discuss their audits, suggesting that this might encourage other agencies to update their reports. They proposed sending letters to the boards, asking them to prepare to discuss their audits at the next meeting.
Unclear: Representative Wallen Information Only00:23:19.760 - 9:22:15 AM; Representative Wallen questioned the follow-up process after audits, suggesting that annual reminders might be necessary, especially for volunteer boards that may have new members unaware of previous audits. They also noted that some boards might have complied but not reported their compliance.
Unclear: Representative W Information Only00:25:15.120 - 9:24:11 AM; Representative W suggested using the audit information during budget reviews to hold agencies accountable for their responses to audit recommendations. They proposed a motion to draft letters to the board chairs of the mental health workforce licensing boards, inviting them to the next meeting to discuss their audit progress.
Unclear: Representative Lang Information Only00:26:33.200 - 9:25:29 AM; Representative Lang moved to allow the Chair and LBA to draft letters to the board chairs of the mental health workforce licensing boards, inviting them to discuss their audit progress at the next meeting. The motion was seconded and passed with one abstention.
Unclear: Chair Information Only00:27:44.120 - 9:26:40 AM; The Chair discussed the scheduling of the next meeting, confirming it for June 6th in State House 100, and addressed potential room availability issues due to renovations. They also noted that July meetings might be challenging due to the usual closure of the building during that time.
Unclear: Representative W Information Only00:31:59.760 - 9:30:55 AM; Representative W proposed auditing local school districts regarding special education, citing significant issues at that level. They suggested that the LBA could audit non-state entities, including school districts, as per the statute, and recommended selecting districts with high special education coding for review.
Unclear: Representative Weber Information Only00:33:16.799 - 9:32:12 AM; Representative Weber discussed the feasibility of auditing non-state entities, questioning the applicability of audit results to other districts. They suggested that the LBA should study the issue further to design a comprehensive approach. They also mentioned the possibility of auditing districts with both high and low special education costs to learn from both.
Unclear: Senator Lane Information Only00:42:17.760 - 9:41:13 AM; Senator Lane supported the idea of reviewing special education costs, suggesting a comparison between districts with high and low costs. They requested that the LBA provide an update on current and pending audits at the next meeting to inform future decisions on audit topics.
Unclear: Unnamed Speaker Information Only00:45:55.280 - 9:44:51 AM; The speaker suggested tasking someone from the committee to reach out to the Department of Education to gather data on school districts, including student counts, special education costs, and ratios. The purpose is to identify districts for potential audits, focusing on the top and bottom performers in terms of special education spending and student counts.
Unclear: Representative Wiler Information Only00:47:06.560 - 9:46:02 AM; Representative Wiler discussed the high percentage of special education students in the state compared to the national average, suggesting that some of this might be due to over-coding conditions like anxiety. He proposed examining the percentage of special education students in different districts to identify potential over-coding or under-coding.
Unclear: Unnamed Speaker Information Only00:48:14.240 - 9:47:10 AM; The speaker emphasized the importance of looking at both the total student count versus the number of special education students and the special education spending. They suggested that the commission could provide a list of outliers, which would help in deciding which districts to audit.
Unclear: Representative Weber Information Only00:49:09.839 - 9:48:05 AM; Representative Weber expressed interest in seeing a state-wide ranking of districts by special education metrics, suggesting that if such data could be generated quickly, it would be useful for the committee's decision-making process.
Unclear: Unnamed Speaker Information Only00:50:21.680 - 9:49:17 AM; The speaker reminded the committee of an ongoing special education audit of the Department of Education, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. They suggested that the results of this audit could inform future audits by the committee.
Unclear: Unnamed Speaker Information Only00:51:19.079 - 9:50:15 AM; The speaker confirmed that Representative Earth could provide the necessary data for the audit outline without imposing a significant burden on the Department of Education. They concluded the discussion on this topic and moved on to other business, confirming the next meeting's date and location.