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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	December 12, 2014 12:00 PM
From:	Senator Rob Teplitz
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Legislation - Audits of General Assembly

In the near future, I will be re-introducing two bills relating to independent audits of the General Assembly.

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Document #1

Description:

I will be re-introducing Senate Bill 690 from last session.  This bill addresses the separation of powers issue that currently exists and will provide constitutional authorization for an independent audit of the General Assembly and its accounts by the Auditor General.   Under state law, the Auditor General is prohibited from auditing the General Assembly or any of its accounts, including the multi-million-dollar legislative reserve fund.  In my prior role as chief counsel to the Auditor General, I found myself in the position of defending lawsuits all the way up to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that sought to compel such audits despite the current state law.  We prevailed in that litigation, but the public overwhelmingly believes that such audits should occur, and I agree.  The status quo of the legislature contracting out for its own audits does not provide the independent and meaningful review that is critical to earning and maintaining the public trust.   Previous co-sponsors of SB 690 were Senators Boscola, Folmer, Rafferty, Schwank, Vulakovich, and Yudichak.    Please join me in co-sponsoring this important reform measure.

Document #2

Description:

In the near future, the second piece of legislation I will be re-introducing is Senate Bill 691 from  last session.  This bill would amend the Fiscal Code to require annual legislative audits by the Auditor General, with the State Treasurer withholding future payments to the General Assembly until any required corrective action resulting from the audit is taken.  The language tracks the Fiscal Code’s language for all other audits performed by the Auditor General.  The results of the audits would be made public.   Previous co-sponsors of SB 691 were Senators Blake, Boscola, Vance, Vulakovich, and Yudichak.   Please join me in co-sponsoring this important reform measure.