Foley called it a ‘direct assault’ on his constitutional authority to audit state agency spending
n what was called “an extraordinarily bold move,” a state agency last year attempted to bypass the scrutiny of the Nebraska state auditor by hiring its own “hand-picked” private accounting firm.
State Auditor Mike Foley revealed the effort, which has since been dropped, by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, during a public hearing Tuesday on a bill seeking to clarify that the auditor is the “exclusive authority” to undertake reviews of state spending.
‘Direct assault’ on auditor’s authority
DHHS and the auditor have clashed in the past over Foley’s often blunt and sometimes critical audits of the agency. But the effort to hire a certified public accounting firm to bypass his office was a new twist on the relationship.
Foley, testifying before the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, called last year’s effort to replace his office’s services by then-DHHS CEO Dannette Smith “an extraordinarily bold move” and “a direct assault upon the inherent constitutional authority” of his office.
Smith resigned in July to take a job with what was described as a “national firm.” Two weeks ago, she was named commissioner of the Behavioral Health Administration for the State of Colorado.
A spokesman for Nebraska DHHS said the agency sought a Request for Information (RFI) a year ago from private firms as part of its “due diligence to determine if other options may save taxpayer resources.”
Spokesman Jeff Powell said it costs the agency $830,000 for the State Auditor’s Office to conduct the federally required “Statewide Single Audit,” which reviews spending of federal dollars by state departments.
Would have ‘devastated’ office
Foley, however, said the biaya of the annual audit — the largest conducted by his office — is fully reimbursed by the federal government.