Establishes the office of inspector general as an independent administrative agency charged with the responsibility to investigate, detect, and prevent fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the expenditure of public funds.
H5997 would create a new independent Office of Inspector General within Rhode Island state government and assign it broad authority to prevent, detect, and investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement involving public funds. The office would cover state, local, and certain quasi-governmental entities, and could review programs, operations, procurement, contracts, grants, and expenditures involving federal, state, or local money. The bill also sets out the office’s structure, including appointment and removal procedures for the inspector general, staffing authority, salary and budget provisions, reporting requirements, confidentiality rules, and subpoena powers.
The bill would also substantially revise existing law governing the Auditor General and the Office of Internal Audit. It would move the Auditor General into the new inspector general framework as a division within that office, while preserving audit and investigative functions under the inspector general’s direction. In addition, it would require the Office of Internal Audit to conduct audits, investigations, and forensic reviews through or at the direction of the inspector general, and would update access-to-records, complaint handling, and coordination provisions accordingly. The bill further authorizes cybersecurity reviews of government computer systems and protects related workpapers and findings from public disclosure.
This legislation would reorganize Rhode Island’s oversight and accountability statutes by creating a centralized inspector general structure and amending chapters governing the Auditor General and Internal Audit. It would shift existing audit and investigative powers into a new framework, expand access to records and subpoena authority, establish confidentiality protections for sensitive investigations and cybersecurity reviews, and require annual public reporting on findings, referrals, and recommendations. State agencies, municipalities, public bodies, contractors, and recipients of public funds would all be subject to the new office’s oversight to varying degrees.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the overall sentiment appears to be reform-oriented and anti-fraud, with the bill framed as a government accountability measure. The proposal is presented as a structural improvement intended to strengthen oversight, reduce duplication, and improve detection of misuse of public funds. Because there are no transcripts or vote records provided, there is no documented public support or opposition in the available materials.
The main points of potential contention are the breadth of the new office’s jurisdiction and the consolidation of authority. The bill gives the inspector general access to extensive records, subpoena power, and oversight over state, local, and some nongovernmental entities, which could raise concerns among agencies, municipalities, contractors, and privacy advocates about administrative burden, confidentiality, and separation of powers. Another likely issue is the reorganization of the Auditor General and Internal Audit functions under the inspector general, which may prompt questions about independence, reporting lines, and whether the new structure duplicates or displaces existing oversight roles.