Committee advances bill to create legislative Office of Inspector General after hours of questions on scope and federal funding

Representative Patty Anderson introduced House File 1, a proposal to create an independent Office of Inspector General (OIG) within the legislative branch and to consolidate multiple existing agency OIG functions under that office.

Anderson said the office would be overseen by the Legislative Audit Commission and charged with investigating fraud and “misuse” of public funds, running a fraud-reporting hotline, conducting unannounced monitoring and referring suspected crimes to law enforcement. “House file 1 is a bill that establishes, an office, an independent office of inspector general, within the legislative branch,” Anderson told the committee.

Supporters and agency officials said the bill aims to centralize investigatory knowledge and avoid siloing across agencies. Elise Bailey, budget director at the Department of Human Services,…