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Legislative Audit Council urges subpoena power under House Bill 4337 and outlines audits including large potential cost to replace federal K–12 funding
Summary
Director Powell and LAC Director of Audits Marcia Lindsey briefed the subcommittee on key audits and requested support for House Bill 4337 to grant subpoena authority; Lindsey outlined audit findings and estimated that replacing federal K–12 funding could cost roughly $411 million to $680 million.
Director Powell and other Legislative Audit Council officials told the Senate finance constitutional subcommittee they support House Bill 4337, which would give LAC subpoena authority and impose penalties for agencies that do not provide requested data in a timely manner.
"We've been trying for years...that bill passed the House. It's House Bill 4337," Director Powell said, asking committee members to consider the measure as a tool to strengthen audits.
Marcia Lindsey, the Legislative Audit Council's director of audits, summarized recent and pending work. She described an audit of the Air Knox Commission that did not find evidence of alleged electoral chain challenges and a limited review of federal education funding and testing requirements that examined what would happen if the state declined federal education funds.
"According to the NCSL, no state has gone as far as turning down federal funding," Lindsey said, and LAC's analysis produced an estimated range of roughly $411,000,000 to $680,000,000 that the state would need to cover if it replaced federal education funds from state sources. She warned that rejecting some federal funds could jeopardize other funding streams and raise legal risks.
Lindsey also outlined LAC's work on the Charter Institute at Erskine, which produced recommendations to consider amending the Charter School Act, and described plans to expand limited-scope, "rapid response" audits by narrowing audit scope to return targeted results in about three to six months while maintaining yellow book standards.
LAC officials asked the subcommittee to consider the subpoena bill and to support the council's budget and operational needs; members said they would consult with the chair and the committee staff about next steps. No formal action on House Bill 4337 occurred during the hearing.
The council noted it has passed peer review under yellow book standards and that staff training and electronic working papers contributed to that result.
