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Audits are supposed to lead to action. But the California legislature routinely ignores negative audits of state government agencies.
Every year, the California State Auditor, a nonpartisan watchdog, conducts dozens of audits to root out waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, and mismanagement across state government.
Some of these audits are requested directly by the legislature. Others begin with whistleblower complaints from inside agencies. All of them are paid for by taxpayers, and each one is intended to serve as a roadmap for fixing what is broken in California’s government.
But a troubling recent report suggests that the legislature ignores about three in four audit recommendations.
Think about that. The state of California spends time and money identifying its own failures, lays out specific steps to correct them — and then largely ignores the advice.
The legislature is supposed to oversee the executive branch. Oversight is not optional. It is how we ensure that programs are working, dollars are being spent wisely, and agencies are accountable to the public they serve.
When audit findings are shelved instead of acted upon, oversight becomes little more than a formality, and takes a backseat to the agenda of the majority party.
More oversight means better program evaluation, and a clearer understanding of which programs are truly serving Californians, and which should be wound down.
That conversation is especially urgent given our current budget deficit, which is estimated somewhere between $2 billion and $18 billion, depending on who you ask. (The governor’s projections are always rosier than those of the more prudent nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.)
This week, Republicans in the state Assembly requested oversight hearings on several major programs whose implementation plans remain murky at best. From affordable housing bonds to University of California veterans’ services, various state government programs have been rolled out with lofty promises, but very little measurable data to evaluate outcomes.
Our request was simple: We want to review laws that are already on the books, measure their results, and rein in wasteful spending where it exists.
Our task is urgent, because Californians are feeling growing financial pressure at home. Groceries cost more. Utility bills cost more. Taxes already take up a larger share of family budgets than in almost any other state. Families are being asked to do more with less, while Sacramento continues to fund programs that may not be delivering results.
Democrats in Sacramento claim “affordability” is the top priority — but won’t examine whether existing programs really are affordable. They are also advancing policies that move in the opposite direction.
One Democrat-proposed bill lays the groundwork for a mileage tax under the pretense of a “study.” Sacramento does not have a habit of “studying” policies it does not intend to implement.
The bill is just the first step toward charging Californians based on how many miles they drive. Republicans proposed protections against double taxation — mileage tax plus gas tax — but these proposals were defeated by the majority.
In another example, a new bill proposed last month could shield records maintained by the High Speed Rail Authority from Public Records Act requests.
At a time when transparency and accountability should be paramount, this bill sends the opposite message, especially given the concerns around the bullet train’s viability amid the loss of federal funding.
If California’s budget is ever to come under control instead of money being moved around like a shell game, we must have an honest conversation about spending priorities.
But we cannot have that conversation if audits are collecting dust in legislators’ to-do piles.
Until the legislature treats the audits and recommendations as mandates for reform, instead of suggestions to be filed away, Californians will continue to pay the price for inefficiency, mismanagement, and inaction.
Oversight cannot be out of sight any longer.
Tri Ta is a Republican member of the California State Assembly for the 70th district, representing much of Little Saigon.