State Auditor Shad White rolled out his much-ballyhooed study on how to cut government waste in Mississippi. However, Attorney General Lynn Fitch ruled yesterday the study was illegal and not allowed by statute.
The $2 million study identified $330 million in government waste. It recommends consolidating agencies, streamlining purchasing, and cutting expenses such as rest areas.
State Senator John Polk asked General Fitch if Mr. White had the authority to conduct such a study:
1. Is the authority conferred on the Department of Audit in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 7-7-211(d) limited to financial audits only? 2. Does any provision of law authorize the Department of Audit to conduct managerial studies without a prior request from an enumerated party in Section 7-7-211(c)?
The Attorney General ruled yesterday yes and no. The opinion states the State Auditor only has the authority to conduct financial audits.
As to your first question, the independent authority conferred on the Department in Section 7-7- 211(d) is clearly limited to conducting financial audits only. The statute plainly reads “to postaudit each year and, when deemed necessary, preaudit and investigate the financial affairs” of state government agencies, not their managerial policies, methods, and procedures. Miss. Code Ann. § 7-7-211(d)
Mr. White can indeed conduct managerial studies of state agencies but under certain conditions. The opinion states:
In contrast, paragraph (c) of Section 7-7-211 empowers the Department to conduct managerial studies, but such authority is patently predicated upon a request in writing from one of the enumerated parties.... Thus, while the Department may conduct a financial audit on its own accord under paragraph (d) of Section 7-7-211, the Department lacks the authority under state law to conduct a managerial study without the prerequisite written request from an enumerated party, such as the Governor or the Legislature.
Section 7-7-21(c) of the Mississippi Code states:
(c) To study and analyze existing managerial policies, methods, procedures, duties and services of the various state departments and institutions upon written request of the Governor, the Legislature or any committee or other body empowered by the Legislature to make such request to determine whether and where operations can be eliminated, combined, simplified and improved...
The opinion has a little nugget of information that gives a clue about the State Senator's intentions:
As an initial matter, we understand this request to be part of your preparation for the 2025 legislative session, particularly as it relates to the appropriation of state funds to various agencies and departments to enable them to fulfill their statutory duties. Attorney General opinions are prospective determinations on matters of state law only and can neither sanction nor invalidate past actions. See MS AG Op., Brock at *1 (Nov. 8, 2019).
So is the good State Senator aiming to take down the State Auditor a peg or is he going to try to cut $2 million out of his budget.
Attorney General opinions carry no force of law.
28 comments:
Hitting close to Home Lynn?
Fitch is not "General Fitch" by any stretch of the imagination. She is "Attorney General Fitch."
Who will win this pissing contest? Shad or Lynn? I guess Shad does have an advantage.
As those who work in Jackson office supply stores know, the last weeks of a fiscal year are the busiest as state government races to spend all their money they can show the need for a budget increase.
If the existing law doesn't allow scrutiny, it's because the legislature has never put adequate (and common country wide) spending guardrails on state and federal dollars spent here.
We can save a ton of money consolidating/closing programs at Sr Colleges and eliminating costly sports at JCs, like football.
Based on this opinion, shouldn't Shad's Government Accountability division be defunded? They do not conduct any year-end financial audits and are used to prop up his political beliefs and opinions of the effects of proposed legislative measures. Good place to trim some fat I would think.
Attorney General opinions carry no force of law.
AND there you have it!
Who was mad enough at the poor Pracht guy to give him this assignment?
I know not who will win the pissing contest between Shad and Lynn. The only certainty is most Mississippians will end up drenched in urine.
Finally! An elected official calls out Shad like we have been calling him out for months.
It could be a career builder depending upon future events, it's too early to have any certainty other than that some probably would have wanted to pass that like a hot potato.
Since Shad's managerial report is an illegal expenditure of taxpayers' money, will the audit department go after his bond for the cost plus interest and collection fees? Will he then trumpet the collection of same? Shouldn't he be hoist with his own petard, or will this be just one more example of justice for thee but not for me? Just asking.
All politicians are the same in this regard, they don’t care about the citizens as a whole, they only care about getting re-elected. Sometimes they do things we like or benefit from but it was done for their benefit politically.
If Shad has overstepped his authority and the AG's opinion means nothing legally, who takes him to court? Who would dare? And who dares to judge a pissing contest? Nasty stuff.
Shad is surely penning his social media response now…..
So you expect the low hanging fruit to correctly recognize that he's the low hanging fruit of the week and then self prosecute?
Pracht has been out of law school all of 3 years. There's a reason these "opinions" are not binding or law.
Even a former deputy sheriff knows $2 million isn't volleyball arena money but it also isn't chump change.
This is the best thing I read, outside of Trump's election in months. Shad's about to have to use campaign funds to pay for the audit. #audittheauditor
I'll now be able to comment and ask him, about wasting $2M in state funds while prosecuting someone for $5k theft...
Can't wait until Sunday when he responds via email through his campaign. I'm sure the usual family Christmas email will now have to be re-written.
When is she going to do her job and demand the Leflore County board of supervisors repay the misspent Covid funds?
I agree with the AG's office on this one.
I wondered what the hell the auditor was doing when his efficiency report came out.
And BTW, please don't shut down the rest areas. This is a safety issue for truckers, and I have a hard enough time not stopping to pee on the side of the road as it is.
He would forevermore have my vote if he did, but I daresay we both know he won't.
Ag opinion re: initiative relied on for 20 years. MSSC says who cares...we do what we want.
What is Fitch scared of????
@11:48 - go back and reread that opinion you are chiming - it suggested that the Legislature needed to fix this problem with the legislative language. It noted that (as do all opinions) there was nothing about any actions that had been taken before, only prospective.
And - regardless - an AG's opinion is just that, an opinion that carries no weight of law. But a MSSC opinion is opposite; it is the law and remains so until the legislature passes legislation that overturns said MSSC opinion.
And 11:19, while the young Pracht might have only been out of law school for three years and you therefore discount 'his' opinion, certainly you know that while he was the one that drafted the opinion, it is reviewed by a cadre of seasoned attorneys in the AG office prior to it being issued. I'm sure you knew that but just chose to ignore it in hopes that your snarky comment would survive.
Who has to give back money of cost to do this study? or is that even a possibility?
I'm genuinely impressed that a Junior Special Assistant would do the work the Deputy/Director should be doing.
Shad should have to pay back the $2mil + interest. #audittheauditor
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