The Fiscal Committee voted to request the Office of Legislative Budget Assistant conduct a focused review of the Youth Development Center (YDC) claims administration and settlement fund, following questions from lawmakers about administrative costs, contingency attorney fees and reporting frequency.

Representative Leishman, citing a letter from Representative Carson, asked the committee for more detail on how the settlement fund is being spent and whether the fund’s operations are sufficiently victim-centered. "Before we put more money into this fund, I just think we need to know what's going on with it, get into the details of this fund so we can ensure that it is victim centered," Representative Leishman said.

Representative Edwards and other members raised concerns about how attorney contingency fees are reported and paid. Edwards said the committee’s current handout does not separate contingency fees from total awards and recommended that the LBA include the term over which attorney fees are paid, because some contingency arrangements span multiple years. "We are missing probably 25 to 30% of the overall reporting by not splitting out the contingency fee into equivalent levels of detail," Edwards said.

Senator Rosenwald asked about the Executive Council’s role after the Fiscal Committee authorizes general-fund transfers. LBA staff explained that fiscal committee approvals of general-fund disbursements also require governor and council approval before the Department of Administrative Services can draw a warrant and allocate funds. "That's a requirement in statute that's required for all expenditures for the executive branch," the LBA representative said.

Mr. Kane from the LBA described the planned review. The office will perform a short turnaround performance and financial review with staff auditors Colin Quinn and Paige Lorenz. The LBA will produce a preliminary letter to the committee by May 19 and a final report to be delivered before committee conferences on June 6. The LBA clarified the review will not be a full audit but will address the specific items requested in Representative Carson's memo and follow-up questions raised at the meeting, including claims settled each year, amounts paid to attorneys per settlement and the term over which fees are paid.

Senator Grama moved to have the LBA perform the review as described in Representative Carson's memo and the day's discussion; Senator Rosenwald seconded. The committee approved the motion by voice vote.

The LBA will prepare the preliminary letter and final report to the Fiscal Committee and will identify where further legislative or administrative action may be warranted based on findings.