Another scandal story today, this one on the front page of the Indianapolis Star, headlined "Official overbilled state for equipment, police say: Amid lax oversight, affidavit says, engineer may have triple-billed for computer gear." Again, the cause looks to include poor supervision. And again, as with many of the other recent scandals, including the BMV, the Lottery and PERF, the entities involved were not subject to the laws and review procedures of normal state agencies. Generally one of the reasons behind the creation of these quasi-publics is to "avoid red tape" -- meaning restrictions on personnel, purchasing and contracting, etc. ... The Star story today concludes:
The Solomon case is the latest in a series of incidents raising concerns about the state's ability to oversee spending, especially by groups that operate with no direct oversight from state government officials.[Note, however, that the FSSA is not a quasi-public; it is/was just, perhaps, too large.]Earlier, the Public Employees' Retirement Fund unknowingly hired a convicted identity thief to help run the state pension fund.
In addition, the former leader of Indiana Web Academy, part of the Intelenet Commission, is under investigation for misspending.
And there have been significant fraud cases in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Family and Social Services Administration.
The Star also has an editorial today making the point that state ethics reform should include the legislative branch:
But why exempt the legislature? Legislators can now immediately jump from lawmaking to lobbying. They also can accept an unlimited number of gifts and meals from lobbyists. There isn't even a limit on the value of such gifts.See also yesterday's entry on state ethics (the second half of the entry). Posted by Marcia Oddi at December 29, 2004 09:57 AM