LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING - STATE AGENCIES

The Legislative Joint Auditing-State Agencies committee held a meeting where they adopted minutes from their September 10th meeting and reviewed audit reports. Mr. Bolington presented two reports with findings and seven reports without findings. The committee voted to file the seven reports without findings. For the Department of Health FY25 report, Mr. Bolington highlighted one finding: the Arkansas Commission (AC) awarded a contract for cancer research services that were already covered under existing contracts with the same vendor. This resulted in a significant value of the contract not being competitively procured. The Department of Health representatives, Don Adams and Matt Gailmore, explained that while each individual contract was competitively procured, combining them into one without re-solicitation was an error. They stated that they have since stopped the contract and put it out for competitive bidding. The committee voted to file this report with findings. Next, Mr. Bolington presented a finding from the Department of Labor in Licensing FY25 report. The audit found multiple deficiencies in travel expenditures and reimbursements for one employee, resulting in overpayments totaling almost $2,400. The AC management allowed these deficiencies, including commute miles and excess mileage claims. The department has taken steps to address this issue by having the employee make a one-time payment of $219 and begin bi-weekly payments for the remaining balance. Representative Meeks asked if other employees were tested and whether it was a training issue that had been resolved. Mr. Bolington confirmed that only one employee showed issues, and Don Adams stated that the training issue has been addressed. The committee voted to file this report with findings as well. No further discussion or votes were noted in the transcript.