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Legislators call for statutory clarification and evaluation ahead of Clean Water Fund renewal
Summary
Committee members from both parties said the audit raises important questions about the program's statutory purpose, measurement and the use of contingencies; several urged legislative clarification and possible consolidation of related programs before the Clean Water Fund renewal.
Legislators on the Legislative Audit Commission reacted to the Office of the Legislative Auditor's findings by urging statutory clarification and broader evaluation of water-quality spending.
Representative (speaker) said the audit highlights the difficulty of measuring outcomes and noted the program originally aimed to motivate voluntary adoption of practices. Representative Hansen said many legacy programs have been evaluated repeatedly and that the central question is whether current spending produces measurable water-quality improvements. "We actually funded plans in many of these areas so that we would have the measurement, the baseline to do that," he said, urging stronger evaluation.
Representative Quam urged consolidation and uniform testing across agencies to create a reliable baseline and reduce overlap. Multiple committee members asked MDA to work with legislative committees to refine statutory language, contingency use and monitoring plans; members flagged the 2032 Clean Water Fund renewal as a horizon for evaluating program outcomes and accountability.
