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Committee advances HB562 to expand state-auditor reporting, approves two amendments
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Summary
The committee approved HB562 to add reporting requirements for lost or stolen state property and passed amendments to preserve existing audit exemptions for two agencies and to change legal language on misconduct and evidence standards.
The State Government Committee advanced HB562 after debate and two adopted amendments that altered who the state auditor may examine and revised statutory language about misconduct and evidentiary standards.
Representative Cal, who handled HB562 in committee, told members the bill "requires that state property, if lost or stolen, is reported to the state auditor's office in 30 days." He said the bill does not expand the auditor's duties beyond property audits, "does not grow the size of government," and that it updates code language for technical changes.
Committee members considered and approved an amendment that replaces a listed set of public entities on page 11 with an exemption that explicitly continues audit exemptions for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind and the State Library Service. The amendment's sponsor said those entities "are not currently being audited by the state auditor" and that the change ensures the exemption continues.
A second amendment revised statutory wording: it replaced the term "negligence" with "wanton reckless misconduct" in one line and replaced the phrase "reasonable belief" with "probable cause" in another. Those changes were moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote.
After passage of the amendments the committee moved HB562 by report and approved the bill by voice vote. The transcript records no roll-call tallies or named recorded votes during the committee's consideration.
