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House committee defers bill seeking monthly bank statements from selected East Baton Rouge agencies amid redaction and workload concerns
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Summary
Representative McMakin's HB 204, which would have required certain East Baton Rouge Parish agencies to send monthly bank statements to the legislative auditor for a public 'checkbook' view, was voluntarily deferred after lawmakers, agency witnesses and the auditor flagged burdens, redaction needs and overlapping disclosures.
Representative McMakin presented House Bill 204 as a transparency measure to require monthly bank statements from certain East Baton Rouge Parish agencies to be sent to the Legislative Auditor and made available to the public. An amendment removing the Council on Aging from the bill was adopted during the committee hearing.
McMakin said the goal is "real‑time" transparency similar to the state's Louisiana Checkbook so taxpayers can see vendor payments and balances before audits are completed. He told members that audits can lag (audits for some entities were noted to close in June) and that monthly reporting could help detect problems early.
Witnesses from Capital Area Transit System (CAT) and BREC told the committee they post budgets, monthly financial statements and audits online but do not post raw bank statements. Theo Richard, CAT CEO, said the agency lists budgets and monthly financial statements and fulfills public record requests for additional detail. "It includes an income statement and a balance sheet, but...we're also subject to public records requests," Richard said.
Janet Simmons, interim superintendent at BREC, said audits and financial statements are posted online and BREC is catching up on delayed audits; she noted bank statements are not posted online though expenditures appear in audits. Both witnesses warned that producing and publishing monthly bank statements could be laborious and add staff burden, especially for agencies with small finance teams.
Representatives questioned whether the Legislative Auditor already has authority to request records for distressed entities; the auditor's office said it already requires monthly reports for some entities on a watch list and can subpoena records when investigating, but that statute and the bill's language would determine whether submitted bank statements must be published or would remain a depository record. Committee members also raised concerns about routing numbers or other sensitive details present on statement images and asked whether a redaction process was needed.
After extended debate about administrative burden, redaction needs, scope and whether monthly publication is required by statute, members agreed to voluntarily defer HB 204 so the author could work with the Legislative Auditor and affected entities on publication requirements, redaction protocols, frequency (monthly vs quarterly) and a fiscal note. Representative Knox moved the deferral and the committee agreed to bring the bill back for further work.
