State audit released on MO General Assembly
By Cara | September 15, 2009
Looks like the Senate needs to work on their timesheets, competitive bidding, and lobbyist expenses. The House needs to stop spending $73 each for “lapel pins and charms” as well as looking more closely at travel expenses. – CJ
from the Missouri State Auditor’s Office:
The following report is our audit of the General Assembly and Supporting Functions – House of Representatives.
No documentation was maintained by the House to support the decision to privatize print shop and copy center activities, or of the procurement process to select a vendor to provide these services. Costs related to this contract totaled nearly $2.5 million during the first 3 years of the contract period. In June 2005, the House entered into a 5-year contract with a private vendor to operate the print shop and copy center. The initial contract period is through June 30, 2010, with the contract to be renewed after that on a monthly basis unless terminated by either party. Prior to June 2005, the House operated the print shop and copy center with its own employees and leased printing and copying equipment from a different vendor.
Current House officials could not locate a formal request for proposals (RFP) or any competitive proposals/bids that were obtained and evaluated prior to the award of this contract. In addition, the House could provide no documentation which indicated an internal cost benefit analysis was performed to support the decision to out-source this operation. The circumstances surrounding the decision to privatize this operation and the selection of the service contractor are troubling and do not provide assurance this decision was made in a proper competitive environment. The audit recommended the House perform an internal cost benefit analysis to determine the most cost effective method to obtain print shop and copy center services when the contract expires in June 2010. If the decision is made to continue to out-source this operation, the House should solicit proposals through a formal RFP process and ensure complete documentation of the bid comparison and selection process is maintained.
Donations are solicited from lobbyists by House members and/or staff for various costs, including staff Christmas parties, retirement receptions, and food for late work sessions. The House did not maintain records of the expenses paid by lobbyists, therefore, the extent of such payments and the lobbyists who paid them could not be readily determined; however, the amounts could be substantial as our audit of the Senate noted over $49,000 was donated by lobbyists during the 3 years ended June 30, 2008, to pay similar expenses of the Senate and its staff. In addition, the House did not notify or remind the lobbyists of the need to report the expenses paid on behalf of the House to the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Actively soliciting donations from lobbyists could give the appearance of, and may result in, a conflict of interest. To promote compliance with laws related to lobbyist activities, the House should notify lobbyists of the reporting requirement when soliciting and receiving donations, and of the need to amend expenditure reports filed with the Ethics Commission for any donations not previously reported.
The House does not require employees to work a minimum of 40 hours per week as is required of employees of most other state agencies. House employees are only required to work a 35-hour work week. In addition, House policy provides annual leave benefits that are more generous than those allowed to most other state employees.
The House reimbursed out-going members for out-of-state travel expenses incurred after their final legislative session, and currently has no policy regarding this situation. The audit noted that three out-going members attended out-of-state conferences after the close of the 2006 legislative session and incurred travel costs totaling $4,560. Another out-going member also attended an out-of-state conference and incurred travel expenses of $909, though records indicate the member participated in a swearing-in ceremony for a national organization’s new officer. Travel expenses incurred by House members to attend out-of-state conferences after the close of their final legislative session do not appear to be necessary or reasonable. In contrast, the Senate does not allow out-of-state travel in similar instances and has established a formal policy which prohibits term limited senators from being reimbursed for out-of-state travel following the close of their final regular session in the legislature.
The House paid $15,149 in January 2007 for lapel pins and charms as gifts for each member of the 2007/2008 legislative class, at a cost of $73 per item. Similarly, in January 2009, the House paid $19,442 for lapel pins and charms for each member of the most current legislative class at an approximate cost of $93 per item. These gifts do not appear to be a necessary or prudent use of state funds.
Property control duties are not adequately segregated, with the employee who is primarily responsible for maintaining the capital asset records also performing the physical inventories. Efforts to investigate items not located during physical inventories are not adequately documented and missing items that still cannot be located after being investigated are not written off in a timely manner. As of November 2008, the records listed 330 items (with a total acquisition cost of approximately $283,000) as missing. In addition, the capital asset records have not always been properly updated to accurately reflect property transactions.
Receipts are not always remitted to the state treasury for deposit on a timely basis. During the 3 years ended June 30, 2008, a total 29 deposits totaling $82,460 were made, or an average $2,843 per deposit.
The following report is our audit of the General Assembly and Supporting Functions – Senate.
Donations are solicited from lobbyists by senators or Senate officials and used to pay various costs, including Christmas parties and gift cards for Senate staff, retirement receptions and gifts for outgoing senators, and food and beverage costs of senators and Senate staff when working late during legislative sessions. These donations have been deposited into a separate bank account maintained outside the state treasury, although it is not clear there is authority to do so. Since the establishment of the account in December 2003, donations totaling $76,070 have been deposited into this account, with $60,945 being disbursed from this account. Donations have been received from over 100 different lobbyists or lobbyist principals. Some of these donations (9 of 15 tested) were not properly reported by the lobbyists to the Missouri Ethics Commission, as required by law. Also, some control weaknesses were noted over the receipt and handling of these monies.
Actively soliciting donations from lobbyists could give the appearance of, and may result in, a conflict of interest. In addition, constitutional and statutory provisions indicate that state funds are to be held and disbursed by the state treasurer. To promote compliance with laws related to lobbyist activities, the Senate should notify lobbyists of the reporting requirement when soliciting and receiving donations, and the need to amend expenditure reports filed with the Ethic Commission for any donations not previously reported.
Support staff employees are not required to sign their timesheets to document the hours worked and any leave taken. In addition, the employees’ supervisors do not routinely review and approve the timesheets of their subordinates or related data in the time management system. For senators’ personal staff, detailed timesheets and records of compensatory time earned and accumulated are not always prepared or centrally maintained. The Senate does not require the time management system used for support staff to be used by senators’ personal staff and senators are allowed to decide how the time worked by their personal staff is to be documented.
The Senate accounts for its capital assets using two separate systems, an internal computerized system with bar coding capabilities and the fixed asset subsystem of the state’s accounting system. The Senate does not periodically reconcile the information on these two capital asset systems. In addition, property control duties are not adequately segregated, with the employee who maintains the records also performing the physical inventories.
The Senate did not always comply with bidding and documentation requirements of its procurement policy. Instances were noted in which competitive bids or proposals were either not obtained or the procurement methods and circumstances were not properly documented. Instances noted included a digital recording system costing $9,775, computers and related equipment costing $21,707, and legal services costing $13,202. In addition, gifts were provided to outgoing senators which were paid from the state’s General Revenue Fund. In June 2006, the Senate paid $2,240 for eight framed and engraved silver trays which were provided as gifts to the senators leaving office in 2006. Similarly, in early fiscal 2009, $1,947 was spent on seven framed silver trays given to outgoing senators in 2008. These gifts do not appear to be a necessary or prudent use of state funds.
The Senate does not have a formal disaster recovery plan for its computer system/data and does not store copies of backup data at an off-site location.
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