Transcript Highlights:

• What is the audit backup for this?
• Is this federal funds, and do they audit, or are they state funds and we audit? Good morning.
• What is the audit process? We have federal funds. We have state funds. How often are they audited?
• We've been through a SLFRF audit once or twice.
• What is the efficiency of this programming?

Summary: The committee heard a series of appropriation requests and contract reviews across multiple sections. In Section B, members approved temporary appropriations for the Court of Appeals, Commerce/Aeronautics, and Insurance-related payments and refunds. Section C ARPA requests from DHS were approved to return unused federal funds. Section D infrastructure-related appropriations, including wildfire preparedness, broadband BEAD funding, forestry support, recycling, and oil and gas sample preservation, were approved after questions about broadband audit controls and performance safeguards. Section E DHS reallocations were approved, including large transfers within Medical Services from hospital medical to private and public nursing home lines, along with smaller transfers for children and family services, developmental disabilities, and youth services; members asked about the source and purpose of the medical services transfer. Sections F and G were reviewed, covering cash fund requests, federal grants, and miscellaneous grants, including community college storm repairs, corrections commissary and maintenance, 911 enhancements, maternal health, disability determinations, state police equipment, digital newspaper archiving, and CDL data improvements. In Section H, the committee reviewed pay plan appropriations and performance fund transfers tied to the new Class and Comp pay plan. Section I reviewed three methods of finance for UA Little Rock, UAMS, and the University of Arkansas system. In Section J, the committee reviewed discretionary grants, including a $1.4 million HIV services grant and nine tobacco prevention subgrants through UAPB. Members questioned the effectiveness, metrics, and addresses of some tobacco-cessation arts-based grantees, especially Arts Absolutely Inc.; after discussion, Representative Kavanaugh moved to expunge the vote on J2 and refer it back for review at a later ALC meeting, and that motion passed. J3, a Department of Energy and Environment grant for propane safety training and e-waste recycling services, was then reviewed. The committee also reviewed contracts in Section K. K-1 ratified emergency management nuclear planning work performed during a transition between agencies. K-2 construction contracts included architectural and engineering services for corrections, National Park College signage, a Razorback Road parking facility, and UAMS cyclotron installation. K-3 intergovernmental contracts covered health, education, autism waiver, stroke, newborn screening, Medicaid evidence review, and radiation testing services. K-4 out-of-state contracts included staffing, IT, tobacco prevention, audit, marketing, planetarium, recruitment, and janitorial services; Senator Irvin noted one contract appeared to belong in the out-of-state list rather than intergovernmental. K-5 in-state contracts covered staffing, cleaning, re-entry and treatment services, foster care and disability services, hearing officers, asbestos abatement, campus IT support, and janitorial work. The meeting ended after a brief personal update from Senator Irvin about tornado damage in Stone County and thanks to members for their concern, followed by adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• We need to make this simple for them, but we need to make sure that it's accountable and auditable.
• We need to make this simple for them, but we need to make sure that it's accountable and auditable.
• The bill requires the Auditor General to annually conduct an end-of-year FTE audit of the scholarship
• Then the bill requires the scholarship funding organizations to return funds as a result of any audit
• The bill requires the Auditor General to annually conduct an end-of-year FTE audit of the scholarship

Summary: The committee first heard the Pre-K-12 education budget proposal for fiscal year 2025-26 and voted to adopt it as the committee’s recommendation to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The proposed $34.7 billion budget includes increases for the FEFP, Family Empowerment Scholarships, VPK, school safety, the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, school hardening, Jewish day school security, and an education enrollment stabilization fund. Members asked no questions on the budget before it was advanced, and staff was authorized to make technical corrections. The committee then passed CS/SB 1402, which expands eligibility for dropout retrieval services to any individual who has withdrawn from high school and clarifies how school grades are calculated for virtual instruction providers that offer only dropout retrieval services. An amendment to clarify the grading calculation was adopted without objection, and the bill was reported favorably after a roll call vote. The committee also took up SPB 7030, a comprehensive scholarship-program bill sponsored by Senator Gates, which would separate Family Empowerment Scholarship funding as its own categorical, expand the education stabilization fund, create fall and spring application windows, require a single scholarship application and more documentation, assign student IDs, change payments to a monthly schedule, require background checks for paid instructional providers, mandate annual FTE audits by the Auditor General, and standardize reimbursement and eligibility procedures. After extensive discussion and public testimony, the bill was adopted as a committee bill and reported favorably, with Senator Osgood voting no. Finally, the committee considered CS/SB 508, which requires private schools participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program to disclose in writing what accommodations, modifications, and services they will provide for students with existing plans such as IEPs, 504 plans, or ELL plans. An amendment was adopted to require public schools to consult with private schools about equitable services, and the bill was reported favorably. Public testimony included support from parent-choice advocates and concerns from private-school representatives about administrative burden and the scope of the required disclosures. The meeting concluded after the final roll call votes and adjournment motion.

Transcript Highlights:

• In fact, it increased efficiency because we had all our staff in one place versus multiple places.
• This is a much, much smaller district, and I can understand efficiencies, but I just want to be able
• So I think this is a real opportunity to be efficient with these awards, really building on. Mr.
• We're auditing and currently working on the cleanup, but we've moved into Phase 2.
• Reconciliations, audits, and maintaining.

Transcript Highlights:

• for voters and the public and streamline election processes to make local election offices more efficient
• In Section 29, election accuracy audits should be more clearly specified… Election accuracy audits should
• That's because algorithmic manipulative… …targeted audit purposes.
• Therefore, targeted handcount audits of more sufficient amounts versus only random audits of lower amounts
• are also needed right now in some of the… …random audits of lower amounts are also needed right now

Keywords: 909, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Judicial efficiency, that's a good term for it.
• It's crucial we allocate resources efficiently.
• It's crucial we allocate resources efficiently.
• We've gone through 246 counties and done these audits.
• We've gone through 246 counties and done these audits.

Bills: SB 1

Keywords: campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• division which then follows um audit division which then follows um yellow<00:09:32.600> book
• audit yellow book and greenbook audit standards<00:09:34.120> or<00:09:34.279> our<00:
• I appreciate the bill and certainly appreciate the effort here to try and get at more efficiencies, get
• I appreciate the bill and certainly appreciate the effort here to try and get at more efficiencies, get
• efficiently and effectively accomplishing<00:26:49.600> their<00:26:50.320> purpose<00

Bills: HF3

Keywords: legislative auditor, reporting, accountability, state finance, executive agency oversight, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• So the 23-24 performance audit: no findings. The 21-22 performance audit: no findings.
• And so certainly the shared services create a lot of efficiencies.
• I provided prior audit findings to our investigator.
• I've looked at the whole audit report from the PeopleSoft deployment.
• So in reality, it should be more efficient and more, not as costly. Yeah.

Keywords: 908, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Over 14 years, I've been on the Legislative Audit Commission, and there's been a lot of great work.
• Every year, the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) conducts financial audits of state
• Worth of grain in a year would be subject to a review or audit done by a certified public accountant.
• I understand the difficulty with getting the CPAs and the audits done.
• Amount of money that can be reviewed, but not audited, by an auditor.

Transcript Highlights:

• Thank you for the opportunity to present our recent audit findings to the committee.
• Those programs were the focus of our audit.
• As a result, these legislative changes and as I guess... audit.
• The second issue we noted in the audit was an extended budget.
• So in your audit, talk to me a little bit about any suggestions that you have for a record.

Summary: The Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education met for its first meeting of the 2025 session to hear the Auditor General’s operational audit on 2024-25 school funding accountability challenges, focused largely on the Family Empowerment Scholarship and its interaction with the FEFP. Deputy Auditor General Matthew Tracy described rapid growth in scholarship enrollment, timing mismatches between scholarship payments and public-school funding calculations, delayed membership survey processing, weak cross-check and recoupment procedures, inconsistent handling of parent survey responses, and limited documentation for withholding and returning funds. The audit said these issues contributed to funding inequities, duplicate-payment risks, and an unexpected draw on state education funds, and it recommended separating scholarship funding from the FEFP, aligning application windows with budget timing, strengthening controls and staffing, and creating clearer, documented recoupment and balance-limit processes. Committee members questioned whether current law gives the department and scholarship funding organizations enough authority and whether the system is effectively a pay-and-chase model. Several senators expressed concern about the lack of timely reconciliation, the size of the funds involved, and the absence of clear records showing how money was recovered or withheld. Adam Emerson, executive director of the Office of School Choice, said the department is working more closely with school districts and scholarship funding organizations, including pausing payments when districts identify students still enrolled in public schools, and said the office wants to improve the process. President Gates then previewed legislation he said would address the audit’s findings by funding Family Empowerment Scholarships as a separate FEFP categorical, expanding the Education Stabilization Fund, setting clearer application and acceptance deadlines, moving to monthly payments with eligibility verification before each payment, assigning student IDs for scholarship assistance, lowering SFO management fees, requiring annual audits, and requiring prompt return of audit-related funds. Public comment included a private-school attorney describing losses from unpaid scholarship amounts. Members generally supported the need for reform, with several senators saying the program should be preserved but better structured and more accountable. The committee adjourned after the discussion, with no vote taken on the legislation.

Transcript Highlights:

• reading audit process. Thank you, Dr. reading audit process. Thank you, Dr.
• doing the audit.
• whoever is doing the audit. whoever is doing the audit.
• <00:48:58.480> audit.
• more detailed audit. Great. more detailed audit. Great.

Bills: HF3421

Keywords: early literacy, reading instruction, teacher preparation, teacher candidates, teacher licensure, educator licensing, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, PELSB, field experience, supervised practicum, evidence-based reading, science of reading, literacy methods, teacher training, preservice teachers, school-based experience, reading intervention, Minnesota education policy, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• 4,200 nonprofits requiring annual audits 4,200 nonprofits requiring annual audits the<00:31:52.440
• You know, we need to focus our technology on what helps us get work done more efficiently.
• An extra year at college is generally not the most efficient way to get a CPA ready for real work.
• You know, we need to focus our technology on what helps us get work done more efficiently.
• they don't have time to get their audit they don't have time to get their audit in<00:35:28.680>

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The Efficiency Act.
• Where we need to look at every staff and almost do a desk audit.
• So we try to keep it efficient.
• This reduction reflects sustained cost efficiencies through technology, streamlined operations, and efficiencies
• tracked in an efficient way, not in a conspiratorial manner, to see.

Keywords: 914, all

Transcript Highlights:

• During that time, the audit has been languishing. My request has been languishing.
• And then during that time, the audit has been languishing. My request has been languishing.
• But I think we should do an audit and understand where the money has been appropriated.
• This bill is a practical, cost-conscious way to make our courts more accessible and efficient.
• Members, we are going to be skipping around in the interest of efficiency.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , and I will be citing facts and evidence presented in that audit to really justify the common sense
• AB 25 mandates audits of voter rolls through random sampling, which will give continued reassurance to
• And in fact, this audit plan, which concerns us greatly, would... ...which concerns us greatly because
• Very efficient. Okay, we're looking for authors.
• It's about getting it right, not rushing it. verify results and audit the process.

Summary: The committee heard a long agenda of elections-related bills. It first approved three consent items: AB 808, AB 1029, and AB 1072. The committee then took up AB 1249, which would require non-Voter’s Choice Act counties to offer at least one Saturday early-voting location before statewide elections and allow in-person return of vote-by-mail ballots at designated county offices or satellite locations. Supporters said it would expand access for working voters and those with transportation barriers; some members raised concerns about ballot verification and added workload for rural counties. The bill passed the committee on a divided vote and was placed on call for absent members. The committee next considered AB 25, a voter ID and election integrity measure that would require citizenship verification, government ID for voting, tighter voter-roll audits, and a 72-hour ballot-counting deadline. The author and supporters argued it would restore public trust and improve election integrity, while opponents from the League of Women Voters, ACLU California Action, labor groups, disability advocates, and others said it would restrict access, burden vulnerable voters, and amount to voter suppression. After extensive debate, the committee voted the bill out on a narrow split and kept it on call. Members also approved AB 1164, which clarifies when voters are entitled to a replacement ballot and updates the Voter Bill of Rights language; AB 1441, which would create an independent citizens redistricting commission in Merced County despite opposition from the county board over cost and local control; and AB 16, which would clarify county election officials’ authority to begin processing vote-by-mail ballots earlier and clean up outdated code. The committee also heard AB 1411, which would require non-VCA counties to prepare voter education and outreach plans and use a Secretary of State template, with the sponsor saying it would improve voter information statewide.

Transcript Highlights:

• So there's no language that you're to be audited?
• We're audited, I believe, in the same way that any other entity within government is audited, and so
• think we'll see efficiencies.
• They are audited quite often; he said they have gone through about seven audits this year.
• Statutory audits require them to be audited by a state auditor every two years.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Testing can address the cases quickly and efficiently, which is key to our regulatory mission.
• This would improve data collection, provide greater transparency, and increase internal efficiency.
• It was also highlighted in an SAO audit that we were not performing these queries, and we are trying
• to address that audit finding.
• For instance, we only have nine FTEs to audit over 82,000 active licenses.

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• by allowing year- round efficiencies by allowing year- round access<00:23:10.600> what<00:23:
• audited regularly by the state auditor.
• audited regularly by the state auditor.
• We audit those applications annually.
• We audit those applications annually.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee heard Senate File 486, as amended by the A2 delete-everything amendment, which would create a supplemental, year-round energy assistance program administered by the Department of Commerce alongside LIHEAP. Senator Dibble said the bill is intended to help low-income households pay utility bills throughout the year, including summer months, by providing crisis grants, ongoing monthly assistance, emergency heating system repair or replacement help, outreach funding, and reporting requirements. The committee adopted the A2 amendment before hearing testimony on the bill as amended. Supportive testimony came from Annie Levenson-Faulk of the Citizens Utility Board, Jenny Glumac of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association, Amanda Mackey of Minnesota Valley Action Council, Ron Elwood of Legal Aid, Jamie Fitz of CenterPoint Energy, George Shardlow of the Energy CENTS Coalition, and Kent Sulum of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association. Witnesses said energy burdens are especially high in rural Minnesota, utility arrears and shutoffs have increased, and most shutoffs occur in summer when LIHEAP is unavailable. They argued that year-round assistance would help vulnerable households, reduce shutoffs, improve health and housing stability, and create administrative efficiencies by using existing LIHEAP infrastructure. Several witnesses cited data on the need for assistance, including high energy burdens in rural areas, more than 91,000 Minnesota households disconnected for non-payment in 2024, and the large share of LIHEAP recipients who are seniors, people with disabilities, children, or veterans. Amanda Mackey described a client story illustrating how energy assistance can stabilize a household and lead to broader benefits. Senator Mathews offered comments supporting help for households in need but said the bill is a stopgap and tied the need for expanded assistance to prior legislative actions that increased energy costs. The committee did not take final action on the bill in the portion of the transcript provided, and members indicated they would return to questions after testimony.

Transcript Highlights:

• Inventory audits, they're not really audits by our audit team, but they're reviews conducted by our investigative
• It was a, it was at least audit every one of them every 10 years.
• We have a a metric of 34 audits per year, which we have hit.
• And that includes doing audits of LMA.
• That audit, I mean, I've had several. audits in my lifetime somewhere along the way, but they actually

Bills: SB1, SB 1

Keywords: appropriations, budget, state funding, education, healthcare, infrastructure, campground safety, youth camp regulations, flood safety, emergency evacuation, health and safety standards, 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• a three-year license cycle and updating renewal procedures to make the system more effective and efficient
• municipalities that are usually in trouble are because they cannot find an accountant to do their audits
• retired, very often they're not replaced, and you just have a void there with nobody there to do the audit

Bills: SCR53, HB259, HB267, HB478, HB548, HB555, HB617, HB670, HB672, HB797, HB848, HB917, HB921, HB1096, HB1103, HB1166, HB1195, HB1230

Keywords: payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death accounts, estate planning, beneficiary designations, Louisiana law, task force, inheritance, nonprobate transfers, excavation, demolition, infrastructure repair, BEAD Program, utility damage, construction coordination, contact point, home inspectors, board membership, licensing, term limits, Louisiana State Board

Transcript Highlights:

• , financing for energy efficiency, financing for energy efficiency, renewable<00:12:34.720> energy
• The banking department charges for their audits when they audit businesses.
• their audits when they audit businesses. their audits when they audit businesses.
• The word audit is stressful.
• be audited. The word audit is stressful. be audited. The word audit is stressful.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all