BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1820
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 23, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1820 (Portantino and Jeffries) - As Introduced: February
11, 2010
SUBJECT : Office of the California Inspector General:
establishment.
SUMMARY : Establishes the Office of the California Inspector
General (OCIG). Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the OCIG, headed by the California Inspector
General (IG) who is appointed by the Governor with the consent
of the Senate.
2)Specifies that the IG shall serve for a term of four years and
shall be removed from office by a majority vote of the Senate
and the Assembly.
3)Authorizes the Inspector General to appoint a Chief Deputy
Inspector General (Deputy IG) and employ officers and
employees he or she deems necessary.
4)Specifies that the annual salary of the IG shall be equal to
that of agency secretaries of the executive branch of
government.
5)Authorizes the OCIG to investigate all covered agencies.
6)Requires the OCIG to:
a) Prevent and detect fraud, corruption, waste, mismanagement,
misconduct, and abuse in the expenditure of public funds;
b) Investigate allegations of corruption, fraud, criminal
activity, waste of government assets, failure to comply
with federal or state law, conflicts of interest, or abuse
in any covered agency upon the discretion of the IG or upon
receipt of a complaint;
c) Inform the heads of covered agencies of allegations of
wrongdoing and the progress of investigations, unless
special circumstances require confidentiality;
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d) Determine with respect to allegation of wrongdoing whether
disciplinary action, civil action, criminal prosecution, or
further investigation by an appropriate federal, state or
local agency is warranted, and to assist in those
investigations;
e) Prepare and release to the public written reports of
investigations, as appropriate and to the extent permitted
by law, subject to redactions to protect the
confidentiality of witnesses, as specified;
f) Review and examine periodically the policies and procedures
of any covered agency with regard to the prevention and
detection of corruption, fraud, criminal activity,
conflicts of interest, or abuse;
g) Recommend remedial action to prevent or eliminate corruption,
fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest, or abuse
in any covered agency; and,
h) Establish programs for training state officers and employees
regarding the prevention and elimination of corruption,
fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest, or abuse
in any covered agency.
7)Authorizes the OCIG to:
a) Subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses;
b) Administer oaths or affirmations and examine witnesses
under oath;
c) Require the production of any books and papers the OCIG deems
relevant to any investigation, examination, or review it is
conducting;
d) Examine documents or records of any kind prepared,
maintained, or held by a covered agency, regardless of any
law to the contrary;
e) Require an officer or employee in a covered agency to answer
questions concerning any matter related to the performance
of his or her official duties;
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f) Monitor the implementation by a covered agency of any
recommendation made by the IG; and,
g) Perform any other function that is necessary or appropriate
to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of office.
8)Requires every officer and employee of a covered agency to
report to the IG any information concerning corruption, fraud,
criminal activity, conflicts of interest, or abuse by any
other state officer or employee relating to his or her office
or employment or by a person having business dealings with a
covered agency relating to those dealings.
9)States that the knowing failure of an officer or employee to
make a report required by this bill to be cause for
disciplinary action.
10)Requires the head of any covered agency to advise the
Legislature and the Governor within 90 days of the issuance of
a report by the IG as to the remedial action that the covered
agency has taken in response to any recommendation for such
action contained in the report.
11)Defines the following terms:
a) "Covered agency" means all state agencies, constitutional
offices, department, divisions, officers, boards,
commissions, and public authorities and public benefit
corporations the heads of which are appointed by the
Governor.
b) "Office" means the OCIG.
12)States legislative findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW establishes the Bureau of State Audits (BSA),
headed by the State Auditor (SA), to independently examine
records, administer oaths, issue subpoenas, and use other
discovery tools to conduct and report upon, financial and
performance audits of every state agency, constitutional office,
and local governmental agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
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Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "While
there are agencies in California that currently are tasked with
identifying and investigating fraud and waste, there is no
single agency that can act completely and independently to do
these functions. Often, this responsibility arises only through
complaint or by directive from other agencies. Creating the
OCIG in California will create a watch dog that can look
everywhere and will ensure that government money, assets and
effort are used in a manner that supports the publics' trust in
government.
"It recently came to light that state agencies spent over $75
million on vehicles, furniture and conferences last year while
the state was slashing school, health and social service
programs. This included $43.4 million spent for vehicles, $24.9
million for furniture, and $2.2 million for conferences or
meetings. These purchases came during one of the worst fiscal
crises in state history.
"California can not afford to waste any state assets or money.
The OCIG will protect taxpayer dollars and find budget savings
which will be available for education, transportation, and
public safety programs which must be funded appropriately.
Maximizing collection and expenditure of available federal
funding will also be a priority of the IG."
The author indicated intent to amend this bill further to ensure
that the OCIG does not duplicate any existing state oversight
functions.
Background . The SA is the state's independent external auditor
that provides independent, nonpartisan assessments of California
government's financial and operational activities in compliance
with generally accepted government auditing standards. The BSA
reports its findings to the Legislature and recommends actions,
and:
Is independent, nonpartisan, and viewed as the state's external
auditor.
Is the only state entity that is given full access to all
records of state and local agencies, special districts, and
school districts.
Complies with generally accepted government audit standards.
Possesses the authority to perform financial, compliance,
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performance and contract audits as directed by statute or as
approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
Administers the California Whistleblower Protection Act.
May identify, audit, and report on state issues that the SA
recognizes as being at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and
mismanagement, or that have major challenges related to
efficiency or effectiveness.
Issues a high risk list every two years that identifies,
audits, and issues reports with recommendations for improvement
in areas detected.
Follows up on recent audits and reports of any corrective
action taken.
Requires agencies that have not implemented BSA's
recommendations within one year to either report why they have
not implemented them or to state when they will implement the
recommendations.
This bill establishes the OCIG with similar oversight functions
tasks to the SA.
Opposition . The California Correctional Supervisors
Organization (CCSO) writes in opposition, "This bill would cause
the staffing and budget for the OCIG to increase without
decreasing the budget and staffing for the Auditor General.
Thus there would be an increase in state government, and an
increase in cost, to do the same job that is being done today
for less."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301