Legislative Joint Auditing - Executive Committee

Folks thank you all for me here we're now called to order the first order business is adoption minutes of the october twelfth twenty twenty three meeting do I have emotion of emotion I have a second on a favor the impose c n n has passed next is a paragraph sea is new business he and I believe we're going to have a briefing on the special audit procedures in service would identify yourself thank you mister chairman i'm frank arey legal council at arkansas legislative audit you folks may have a copy of act seven that you passed during the special session available i'll be referring to a a little bit as you know ax seven made security related records confidential and exempted them from public disclosure under for you under existing law existing code sections audit has a duty to keep things confidential where they if they are confidential where they came from we have to keep them confidential on top of that we also have to honor fully exemption so that existing law would limit our ability to share this information with the public in this specific instance section five of act seven makes clear what we think is existing law that is we can share confidential information with the legislative joint auditing committee act the the provision says this act act seven does not limit the ability of audit to report information it obtains to the arkansas general assembly vvmarkquote well of course we report that information to the assembly through the legislative joint auditing committee which by code is the agency to receive audits so with that understanding of the law we think a couple of things while act seven now protects the confidentiality of these security related records. We think we can still report these matters to the legislative joint auditing committee in the number two while we are still under existing law which is not changed by act seven we are still limited in what we can share with the public there may still be ways that we can issue a report to the public for example we can make information anonymous you use things like person win person to we can do things like that if those methods are not available making a report available to the public may require some red action I mean the ag's been pretty clear about there is a matter of general foil what we come down to within those parameters we think this discussion at this point is really speculative we may not have any findings if we have findings they may not involve confidential matters if they do involve confidential matters we may be able to write a report that would be useful to the public but would still protect the confidentiality of the information involved so are recommendation to the committee is that we wait until legislative audit gets into this particular audit let us find out what information we're talking about at that point we can come back to you with some concrete idea of what we're dealing with and we can discuss how do we draft an auditor how do we present and audit in a way that protects confidentiality and yet is useful to the general assembly end of the general public. And that would be obviously that would be our recommendation i'm happy to answer any questions you have about the foregoing members do I have any questions. Any questions called up since he said he could you recognize just one in and again i'm not i'm generic in nature i'm not talking about the one that you're supposed to do but i'm also talking about now till ten years out if I remember correctly mister norman in this case the legislative auditor they always have the discretion that if there is something criminal that of course that they would really set to the prosecutor have you all looked at their send you don't think that it would bar appear in what you're saying about the public but you don't think it would ever borrow anything as far as our other statute goes do you know separate code section dealing with a separate matter what the legislative auditor has to report to prosecuting attorneys are or the appropriate authority if there's a crime so no sir I don't think any of this would bar mister norman reporting anything if he needed to and let me add this this discussion just goes to senator hickey's second request which is looking at matters that have been made confidential by particular part of that seven it has nothing to do with the other thing we're looking at the first request which was the lecture of the podium that is a separate report it's not implicated by this discussion so I will make sure you know we're not makes an apples and oranges here thank you mister chair appreciate your own letter to for me to especially certain members are there any other questions this sir can you remind us how long this process is anticipated to take and if it's already a fish already began I would probably need i'm a poor dumb history major senator i'd probably need to defer the legislative auditor about the audit process the senator we we were approved at this last meeting and I can't remember the exact date but that same day we began our examination of it be very spec speculative but I think I said in that meeting that possibly by the end of the year. I i'll be surprised if we're able to complete the like turn report bar there but it's it's it's right now it's just a matter of doing our due diligence and approaching things in a methodical manner so we're going to to take whatever time it takes to make sure we do authorities. Members how are there any other questions do I have a motion I have emotion do I ever say I have a second all in favor say I opposed it as proved. Yeah. Moving on to other business. Representative warlow and we have to spend the rules. We probably should in white well this way until it's motion is. Sure you recognize mister first offer what you know that I respect senders enough that I got on the chair I know where my place is first off at we were sin here by council last month to make a motion for you guys to add it and look at the cyber security of these hospitals on the hospital funding so with that mister I guess I need a suspension of the rules and then that motion. Member that's it that's a proper motion to suspend the rules do I have a motion to have a motion I have a second one in favor say I in the opposite on it is proved so now we just need a motion to back up the council request for a cyber security audience of the hospital funding prudent to the out of money in members I have a motion I have a second all in favor I in your post seen that supproves thank you mister chaired a second request has to do with the pbs um do we need to suspend the rules for that i'm not sure of your procedure yes sir we do memory who have a request to suspend the rules I have emotion do I have a second I have a second on favor say I in the oppose see none it has approved missure of cinderice and our respectfully request legislative audit conduct an examination of the curements and related processes at aet and beginning july first two thousand twenty one third present and provide especially report concerning that review to the four legislative joint audit committee cannot be glad to answer any questions for me the members of it members are there any questions out and who addresses to but I am assuming this will involve who they hire the hiring procedures and we and others been another number of people who have been either terminated or voluntarily quite for this audit include there I think the process is portion of the motion would include that sender sullivan we we had a meeting previous to this where we included some some folks from a legislative audit and this is the motion that we came from that meeting from the stuff that was looked at in in that was a subject in our meeting. Prior to here was the termination in the trying to take in the right words the culture of the environment and leadership at pbs at the moment thank you and this and you I think we've discussed this a little bit but also there is a question about brought to me by one of the whistleblowers that had questioned about whether or not federal money that were grant money that went through to the partner of education and then went to pbs that had specific fc regulations about production and we have one the whistleblowers say that pbf did not follow at c guidance what that be a part of this investigation center we can incorporate that into this okay thank you that's all thank you thank you and I have no objection of incorporating anything else anybody was corporate this motion comes from the subcommittee meeting last month I believe it was it may have been in august my memories not that great in the things that we found out from those invoices I think it's important that we take a deeper dive and look at those processes and make sure there are the agency is following those two it tea and this report will be before the full committee tomorrow yes yes sir in I think i'll make it know now at a the this motion passes would fire tomorrow until we hear of the definite answer from this looking and if that's okay with the executive committee I got another question if you think that if they were there apparently according to whistleblowers were meetings about whether or not they would a follow fcc guidance and production and that there were likely other members of. Who attended that meeting and what the vote is if we can i'd like for that meeting surrounding all of that to be for you to look into that and find out who if they if the PBS decided to circumvent our ignore f c regulations who approve their can we include that and in the investigation great thank you i'm here to mercy members or there any other questions. See none do I have a motion I have emotion do I have a second all in favor of say any opposed say not it is approved. Yeah I think we're down to that membership we have nothing else to add the next meeting of the executive committee will be held on december the seventh per harbor day twenty twenty three only or at a call of the chair i'm sorry go hits her. Thank you mister chairman I just want to make a comment that's more information or for members of the committee and i've spoken to our subcommittee council and into you about this but uh those of us in carries miss pelled me are i'm just concept dealing with the issue of uh communities that have miss bent their find usually it's a road turnback that went into the general find and was spent improperly there's been payback procedures there's been request for a minimum at pay back and I would thank miss charles for what he's doing to help get us information kind of where we are on this but I want to honestly put a bug in your year but that's really what i'm saying be thinking about uh we need to develop a process where we're treating a similarly situated municipalities I don't think we have encountered in this fairly and equitably and I want say well you gave you now representative rise town a break on this and then senator hickies we through the bucket and I don't want to say that I wanted to say that we're we have a formula and it may sometimes seem harsh but it it least is equitable within all the communities that have this problem and in frankly until a servant is served in the idea extended the problem but when we've got a community like we have now that's comment of the proposal to pay back the road finds and take seventy years to do it I think we need to uh can revisit this issue and come up with the policy and if indeed they can't do we need to come up as a legislature we need to come up the policy of how they're going to go forward I just mean as well bankruptcy and in judge even told me that is a possibility although almost unheard of an arkansas. We just if they can't file the law that we try to work it out with the moment many of them been very good about that but it comes down to what I call the turn up theory as in you can't get blood out of a and we've got to have a procedure where we're treating all the communities in an equitable manner in that look like looking like we're playing favorites and within the context literally of what's possible and what's not possible so I just want show I don't have a motion I just want to bring this up to the executive committee so all you can be thinking about it and uh many of your life smarter and more experienced in me and I know you all come up the solution so in what that is all thank you mister chairman yes sir members any questions are in comments. With that we are adjourned.