Legislative Audit Commission adopts new timing for program evaluations and asks OLA for list of prior audits

The Legislative Audit Commission voted to adopt a revised schedule for selecting program-evaluation topics and directed the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) to provide the commission’s topic-selection subcommittee with a compiled list of previously completed evaluations for future consideration.

The change centers on how and when the commission chooses evaluation topics. Deputy Legislative Auditor Jody Munson Rodriguez told the commission that the office’s prior practice was to select about five to six topics once per year, with each evaluation taking roughly 10 months to complete. She said that schedule creates inefficiencies and periodic gaps in staff work and proposed alternative timing models to create a more continuous workflow.

The commission adopted what members referred to as the “first proposal,” a scheduling change designed to let OLA concentrate work in set periods while releasing reports throughout the year rather than clustering them in mid‑session. Representative Quam moved to adopt the first proposal, and the motion passed on a roll call vote, 10 yes to 1 no. The lone recorded no vote was…