Aisia Davis

The hearing convened to address a performance evaluation audit of the Department of Human Services' Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grants. A significant concern raised was the identification of documents that BHA either backdated or created after the audit commenced, which undermines audit integrity. Key findings detailed non-compliance with single source grant requirements, resulting in approximately $3.1 million awarded inappropriately without competitive bidding for 14 grants, and a $1.6 million grant lacking proper justification. Payment issues included over $915,000 paid for work completed before agreements were finalized and $42,000 paid for work not performed. Non-compliance with grant monitoring was evident, with over $13 million paid despite missing or past-due progress reports, and 27 required monitoring visits not performed or documented. Independent financial reconciliation of 44 payments found questioned amounts totaling approximately $296,000 due to inadequate documentation. Furthermore, 27 post-award evaluations were incomplete until after documentation requests. The audit also noted systemic issues, including insufficient employee training for grant management tasks and concerns regarding BHA leadership valuing employee input. A recommendation was made to the legislature to clarify oversight expectations for certain non-grant appropriation payments.

The primary discussion topic for the meeting is the presentation of key findings and recommendations from the performance audit concerning the Department of Human Services: Behavioral Health Administration Grants, to be presented by staff from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

The Subcommittee on the Legislative Audit Finance Committee convened to review a performance audit on statewide overtime and shift bonus pay spanning from July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024. The audit focused on five agencies with the highest overtime expenditures, totaling approximately $367 million in overtime and $37 million in shift bonuses statewide during that period. The audit objective was to determine compliance with criteria related to these payments across the five agencies tested: the Department of Human Services, Department of Corrections, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Natural Resources. The auditors concluded that while agencies generally complied, seven findings were noted. Five findings related to overtime payment inaccuracies and documentation issues across all five agencies. Two findings concerned shift bonus payments, specifically noting that the Department of Human Services failed to retain necessary approval documentation from MMB and continued paying bonuses after the program expired, amounting to about $6.6 million. The Department of Corrections also had documentation issues and paid ineligible employees. The Department of Corrections provided testimony acknowledging the findings and detailing corrective actions, emphasizing the use of overtime and shift bonuses to maintain critical staffing levels due to personnel challenges.

The forecast discusses the state's revenue and expenditures, economic outlook, and budget outlook. It covers the U.S. economic outlook, including real GDP growth, inflation, monetary policy, personal consumption, private investment, corporate profits, and the labor market. The forecast also addresses trade, exchange rates, and alternative economic scenarios. It mentions the impact of federal policies, trade, tariffs, immigration, and potential disruptions from federal agency closures and the recent federal shutdown.

The Legislative Audit Commission Evaluation Subcommittee convened to review background papers on 10 semifinalist evaluation topics for the office of the auditor, aiming to select four to recommend to the full audit commission for approval for program evaluations in 2026. Discussions included autism spectrum disorder services in public schools, policies and procedures of the DHS Office of Inspector General, enterprise talent development, and LCCMR.