A Push to Get Rid of the State Auditors Office
Tuesday at the State House a Senate committee heard a proposal to abolish the state auditors office. Senator Andrew Jones (R) Centre, is sponsoring the bill.
Jones says that the state already has an auditing agency , the State Examiners of Public Accounts. ” There’s a misconception that the State Auditor opens the books, fights corruption, and keeps government accountable.”
Senator Jones cites the Constitution of Alabama in saying ” the Auditors responsibility is to inventory state property valued at $500 dollars or more, that’s it.”
State Auditor Jim Zeigler says the state should be working to strengthen the auditors office. He says that the Auditors Office is responsible for exposing the ethics violations of former Gov. Robert Bentley.
“Who knows what the last five years would have looked like if we didn’t have a State Auditor”, says Zeigler.
The State Auditors office currently has nine employees, and operates on a budget of $928,000.
A senate committee carried the proposal over to be heard at a later date.
