Free Republic

University Administrator Declares Christmas 'Forbidden' By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent December 16, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - An administrator at California State University, Sacramento has banned decorations pertaining to Christmas and the 4th of July, among other holidays, from her office because they represent "religious discrimination" and "ethnic insensitivity." "Time has come to recognize that religious discrimination, as well as ethnic insensitivity to certain holidays, is forbidden," Patricia Sonntag, director of the Office of Services to Students with Disabilities, stated in the directive she e-mailed to members of her staff on Dec. 9. Cybercast News Service obtained the directive from the non-profit...

Audio link courtesy of TVW: 6/2/05 Inside Olympia OLYMPIA—Appearing on the June 2 edition of TVW’s Inside Olympia hosted by David Ammons, State Auditor Brian Sonntag agreed with the criticisms offered by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) and Initiative 900 sponsor Tim Eyman concerning the performance audit law passed this session. EFF and Eyman have complained that under the new performance audit law (HB 1064), an unelected political board unnecessarily restricts the state auditor’s ability to conduct performance audits. The text of HB 1064 clearly states that the unelected board will “establish criteria for performance audits” as well as be...

OLYMPIA—A compromise to secure Republican votes for transportation tax increases was reached today in the Senate. The adopted compromise authorizes performance audits of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Today’s vote directly conflicts with the Senate’s previous vote on ESHB 1064 (performance audits for state government). Senate Democrats previously rejected amendments offered on ESHB 1064 by Sen. Bill Finkbeiner and Sen. Pam Roach that would have granted the state auditor authority to conduct independent comprehensive performance audits of all of state government, including DOT. As approved, ESHB 1064 exempted DOT (transportation reviews were left to an unelected Transportation Audit Board) and...

Boo. Hiss. The Legislature is missing an opportunity to pass a piece of meaningful performance-audit legislation. It has approved a watered-down bill instead, all but ensuring a citizens' initiative will tackle the job later this year. Performance audits are checks on government programs that find if they are getting desired results, are redundant or efficient. Right now, the state auditor's office audits agencies to make sure money is going where it is supposed to be going, but these financial checkups do not assess a program's worth or impact. Democratic State Auditor Brian Sonntag has done an exemplary job auditing the...

It's official: a majority of our legislators don't trust the state auditor. How else do you explain their refusal to grant the state auditor the authority to conduct independent comprehensive performance audits of state government without having to first receive the permission of an unelected political board? Never mind the fact that the state auditor is elected by the people and is directly accountable to us; apparently this check and balance isn't comforting enough for Olympia, which fears the state auditor may run amok on an accountability power trip. And that would be a bad thing for the taxpayers? For...

Any private business that does not welcome a financial audit from a qualified and objective source, and then does not quickly implement recommendations, deserves what it gets: continued inefficiencies, loss of customers and ultimately going out of business. Many of our 175 state agencies can't or won't follow that simple logic. For these agencies, the boss and the customers are the same: Washington state's taxpaying public. State Auditor Brian Sonntag's office on Monday released a 193-page compilation of audit findings for last year, and two giant red flags were hoisted immediately: According to the auditor, some agencies drag their feet...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's ferry system and other state agencies have chronic problems handling millions in taxpayer dollars, and some departments are miserable for auditors to work with, the state auditor said Monday. Auditor Brian Sonntag asked Gov. Christine Gregoire and the Legislature for help in improving how agencies spend and safeguard tax dollars. He released a 193-page compilation of audit findings for last year, commenting on everything from illegal payment of unemployment benefits to an agency buying new furniture without bid. Sonntag does financial audits on 175 state agencies, ranging in size from the superagency Department of Social and...

OLYMPIA—Today State Auditor Brian Sonntag released the 2004 Statewide Accountability Report highlighting 41 audit findings issued against state agencies. Of the 41 audit findings, 23 are repeat findings from last year's audit. An additional 16 management letters (problems identified that don't rise to the level of a finding) were issued to agencies (including 7 regarding audit findings from last year that have not been resolved). In addition to the 41 audit findings, the state auditor highlighted the following "audit challenges": • In addition to refusing to provide electronic records, agencies are using other methods to cause delays in our audits...

OLYMPIA—Sen. Pam Roach (R-Auburn) introduced a new performance audit bill today (SB 6076) which closely resembles the draft bill the state auditor's office (SAO) and House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) previously worked on but was never brought to the House floor for consideration. With today's deadline for bills to be passed out of committee looming, it is unlikely SB 6076 will meet the deadline. However, with the full Senate yet to take action on the performance audit bill passed by the House (ESHB 1064), it is possible Sen. Roach's new performance audit bill could resurface as a striker amendment to...

Performance audits have become a hot topic in Olympia with multiple proposals on the table to authorize these much needed performance reviews. As of this writing, three bills have been dropped in the legislature (including one companion bill) and an initiative to the people has been filed to permit the state auditor the ability to conduct performance audits. The value of performance audits is unquestionable. Performance audits are a valuable management tool, carefully structured around tough, nationally recognized auditing principles—principles that cannot be ignored if the best intentions of legislators and the desires of the public are to be realized....