SB 279

This bill requires the state auditor to appoint within the Legislative Audit

Bureau an inspector general who is assigned to and housed at the headquarters of

the Department of Transportation and whose services are paid for by DOT. The state

auditor appoints the inspector general for a six-year term expiring on March 1 of the

odd-numbered year.

The bill provides that the inspector general may examine the accounts and

other financial records of DOT and may review the performance and program

accomplishments of DOT. The inspector general must at all times with or without

notice have access to any books, records, or other documents maintained by DOT

relating to its expenditures, revenues, operations, and structure.

Under the bill, the inspector general must investigate fraud in DOT programs

or activities and report any finding of fraud to the Department of Justice, as well as

investigate waste, abuse, or inefficiency in DOT programs or activities. The

inspector general must report any finding of waste, abuse, or inefficiency to the

speaker of the assembly, the senate majority leader, the Joint Legislative Audit

Committee, the assembly and senate committees on transportation, and the

chairpersons of standing committees whose committee jurisdiction includes

oversight and accountability of government operations. In addition, in investigating

waste, abuse, or inefficiency, the inspector general must endeavor to identify savings

for DOT that would pay at least the costs incurred by the inspector general in

carrying out the investigations.

Under the bill, the inspector general must submit an annual report of inspector

general activities to the speaker of the assembly, the senate majority leader, the Joint

Legislative Audit Committee, the assembly and senate committees on

transportation, and the chairpersons of standing committees whose committee

jurisdiction includes oversight and accountability of government operations.

The bill provides that the speaker of the assembly and the senate majority

leader, jointly, may direct the inspector general to examine the records or programs

of DOT. The chairpersons of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, the assembly

and senate committees on transportation, and the chairpersons of standing

committees whose committee jurisdiction includes oversight and accountability of

government operations may also direct the inspector general to examine the records

or programs of DOT.

Under the bill, upon request of the inspector general, legislative service

agencies must assist the inspector general in performing any of his or her duties or

exercising any of his or her powers.

Finally, the bill provides that the inspector general may review claims by any

person whose substantial interest has been adversely affected by a DOT action or

order. A person requesting such a review must do so before the commencement of

a contested case or other similar state agency review process. If the inspector general