MINUTES

Legislative Post Audit Committee

July 11, 2006

            The meeting was called to order by Chairman Donovan at 1:05 p.m. in Room

526-S of the Statehouse.  Committee members present:

Senator Les Donovan, Chair Senator Anthony Hensley Senator Nick Jordan Senator Derek Schmidt Senator Chris Steineger

Representative Tom Burroughs Representative Bill McCreary Representative Tom Sawyer

Approval of Minutes

            Approval of the May 15, 2006, minutes was skipped due to lack of a quorum.

Completed Performance Audits

            Ms. Osterhaus answered members’ questions.  Dale Dennis, Deputy Commissioner of Education, and Martha Gage, Director of Teacher Education and Licensure, Department of Education, were available for questions. 

            Senator Steineger moved the report be accepted.  Senator Schmidt seconded the motion; motion passed.  The report will be distributed to the House and Senate Education Committees and the Legislative Educational Planning Committee.

Consideration of Audit Topics

Statutorily required performance audits (K-GOAL and Wireless E-911).  Leo Hafner, Deputy Post Auditor, briefed members on the performance audits required to be completed by the 30^th day of the 2007 legislative session under the Kansas Governmental Operations Accountability Law (K-GOAL).  K-GOAL requires that the Department of Labor and the Corporation Commission be audited for 2007.

Senator Jordan moved to rearrange the K-GOAL schedule, as permitted under the K-GOAL law, by moving the Kansas Corporation Commission to 2008.  Representative Sawyer seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously, thus achieving the supermajority needed for passage.

Senator Schmidt moved to approve the Department of Labor audit topic, Reviewing Error Rates for Unemployment Benefit Payments.  Representative McCreary seconded the motion; motion passed.

State law also requires the Division to conduct an audit of the Wireless E-911 system in calendar year 2006.  Representative Burroughs moved to approve the audit topic, Wireless Enhanced 911: Reviewing Implementation of the 2004 Act.  Representative Sawyer seconded the motion; motion passed. 

Other requests for performance audits.  Mr. Hafner took members through the list of other audit requests.  Representative McCreary moved to approve request #15, Personnel Practices at the Department of Commerce: Determining Whether Actions Related to Positions in the Division of Business and Workforce Development Were in Accordance with State Law and Regulations.  Senator Jordan seconded the motion; motion passed.

Representative Burroughs moved to approve the request for a limited-scope audit on Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation: Reviewing Bonuses Paid To Its Employees.  Representative McCreary seconded the motion; motion passed.  Senator Schmidt asked that MAMTEC and other subsidiary groups be included in the audit.  Mr. Hafner said he would make that change to the scope statement.

Senator Schmidt moved to approve request #11, State Hiring Practices: Determining Whether Requirements Related to Veterans’ Preferences Are Being Met.  Senator Hensley seconded the motion; motion passed.

School district performance audit topics approved by the 2010 Commission.  Barb Hinton, Legislative Post Auditor, reported to the Committee that the 2010 Commission had approved three new topics for the school audit team:

• K-12 Education: Reviewing Free-Lunch Student Counts Used as the Basis for At-Risk Funding
• K-12 Education: Reviewing the Research on Charter School Performance
• K-12 Education: Alternative Models for Organizing Middle Schools and High Schools

Legislative Post Audit Operations

            Annual Report on Limited-Scope Audits.  Ms. Hinton briefed the Committee on this report showing how many limited-scope audits have been approved over the years and how much of the Division’s available audit time those audits take up.

            Status of follow-up items.  Rick Riggs, Administrative Auditor, brought the Committee up to date on the status of follow-up items related to previous audit reports or recommendations.

            Audits in process.  Ms. Hinton reviewed the standard schedule showing the status of the performance audits under way. 

            Budget update.  Ms. Hinton discussed the standard table showing the Division’s expenditures through May 2006.  She noted that, in past years, the Chair has appointed a subcommittee to review the budget request and make a recommendation to the full Committee.  The Chair said he would consider the matter and likely would appoint a subcommittee at the next meeting.

            Status of audits requested and approved.  Ms. Hinton reviewed the standard table showing the sources of the audits that have been requested and approved over time.

Old/New Business

a.   At its October 2005 meeting, the Committee voted to allow 2010 Commission members to receive advance copies of final audit reports, but didn’t change the Committee Rules.  Staff recommended the Committee consider amending its rules to allow this.  Revisor’s staff will coordinate with LPA staff to come up with draft language for Committee consideration.

b.   Ms. Hinton updated the Committee on the progress of the foster care audit.  The administrative judge of the District Court in Montgomery County has raised questions about staff access to confidential audio recordings of court hearings involving foster care children.   Members directed staff to continue working with the Court to resolve the matter.

c.   The Chair noted that Ms. Hinton had been awarded the William R. Snodgrass Distinguished Leadership Award, presented by the National State Auditors Association at its annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Date of Next Meeting

            The Chair said that the next Committee meeting may be in August, but no firm meeting date was set. 

            The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m.

(All handouts and other documents referred to in these minutes are on file with Legislative Post Audit.)