Bill would help state auditors track money
A senior House Democrat said he is drafting legislation to provide federal funds to state auditors to help them monitor spending under the economic stimulus law.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said on April 21 that he intends to introduce legislation to provide additional federal funding to state auditors to oversee their portion of the $787 billion in spending.
About $300 billion of the stimulus funding is expected to be channeled through state governments and is subject to state auditing.
“Not initially providing funds for state auditors under the [law] was an omission that should be rectified,” Towns said. “I am concerned that a very heavy burden is being placed on state auditors who are responsible for monitoring and accounting for the…funds they receive.”
The law provided oversight funding to several agencies: $25 million for the Government Accountability Office, $84 million for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, and $221.5 million to federal inspectors general.
Details on the amount of funding to be proposed for state auditors were not immediately available.
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Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week. Follow her on Twitter: @AliceLipowicz.