SENATE BILL 227
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013
INTRODUCED BY
John M. Sapien
AN ACT
RELATING TO GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY; CREATING THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL AND THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; REQUIRING DEPARTMENT INSPECTORS GENERAL TO REPORT TO THE OFFICE; ALLOWING SERVICE FEES; CREATING A FUND; ALLOWING THE GOVERNOR TO CONSOLIDATE CERTAIN FUNCTIONS BY EXECUTIVE ORDER.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "State Inspector General Act".
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the State Inspector General Act:
A. "executive agency" means a state agency under the control of the governor, an agency administratively attached to a state agency under the control of the governor or an adjunct agency and any other state agency of the executive branch that is not under the control of another elected executive officer;
B. "fund" means the executive government accountability fund;
C. "office" means the executive government accountability office; and
D. "state-funded entity" means a school district; charter school; public post-secondary educational institution, including a branch campus and a community college; and any other recipient of state funding, including government contractors.
SECTION 3. STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL--EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE--CREATED--PERSONNEL.--
A. The "executive government accountability office" is created and is administratively attached to the department of finance and administration. The department shall provide administrative services for the office but shall not prevent, impair or prohibit the office from initiating, carrying out or completing any audit or investigation. The office shall be headed by the "state inspector general".
B. The state inspector general shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration or investigations. The state inspector general shall serve for six years and may be reappointed for succeeding six-year terms.
C. The state inspector general may be removed by the governor for incompetence, malfeasance or willful neglect of duty. If the governor seeks to remove the state inspector general from office, the governor shall communicate in writing the reasons for removal to the legislature not later than thirty days before the removal. The governor shall not remove the state inspector general unless the removal is approved by a two-thirds' vote of the members of the senate.
D. Within available appropriations, the state inspector general may employ such professional and clerical assistants as deemed necessary.
SECTION 4. OFFICE--DUTIES--CONFIDENTIALITY.--
A. The office shall:
(1) have the authority to audit, including internal audits and compliance audits, and investigate executive agencies and programs and all state-funded entities to ensure efficient and effective operations; the proper use of public funding; and the detection and prevention of fraud, waste and abuse;
(2) have unrestricted access to records, data, reports, contracts, memoranda, correspondence and any other information necessary to carry out the duties of the office;
(3) oversee executive agency offices of inspectors general, including reviewing and approving work plans and reports relating to the inspectors general of those agencies, including approving the hiring of inspectors general and staff;
(4) act as inspector general for executive agencies that do not have an office of inspector general;
(5) plan and coordinate the work of the office and the work of inspectors general and report the results to the governor, the legislative finance committee and the legislature;
(6) coordinate activities with the state auditor, the medicaid fraud and elder abuse division of the attorney general's office and the legislative finance committee;
(7) be responsible for recommending changes or corrective action and for reporting on progress made to improve operations and to recover misspent public funding;
(8) refer potential criminal matters to the attorney general or a district attorney and report violations to the state auditor;
(9) as requested by the governor or an interim legislative committee, gather executive agency and state-funded entity information and analyze and validate the information; provided, however, that this duty shall not affect the duty of an executive agency, school district, charter school or public post-secondary educational institution to otherwise provide information in a timely manner upon request of an interim legislative committee;
(10) perform other duties that may be assigned by the governor;
(11) assist executive agencies in resolving financial post-audit findings and reviewing performance measures;
(12) contract for professional services as necessary to carry out the duties of the office;
(13) have the authority to accept federal funds to perform duties consistent with the State Inspector General Act; and
(14) promulgate rules, including the adoption of professional standards, to carry out the provisions of the State Inspector General Act.
B. The office shall not:
(1) perform audits of executive agency financial statements; or
(2) disclose information made confidential by law or release records exempt from the Inspection of Public Records Act.
SECTION 5. EXECUTIVE AGENCY INSPECTORS GENERAL--POWERS AND DUTIES--REPORTS TO STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL.--
A. An inspector general employed by an executive agency shall conduct periodic audits, including internal audits and compliance audits, and shall investigate the misuse of agency funds by the executive agency, contractors or other recipients of executive agency funding to ensure efficient and effective operations; the proper use of public funds; and the detection and prevention of fraud, waste and abuse of public money.
B. Inspectors general of executive agencies shall issue reports on the results of audits and make them available to the state inspector general and the executive agency head and to the general public and shall provide additional reports as requested by the state inspector general.
C. An executive agency inspector general shall be operationally separate from other divisions of the executive agency and shall report directly to the head of the executive agency. The executive agency inspector general shall have unrestricted access to records, data, reports, contracts, memoranda, correspondence and any other information necessary to carry out the duties of inspector general; provided, however, that the executive agency inspector general shall not disclose information made confidential by law or release records that are exempt from the Inspection of Records Act. The executive agency shall not prevent, impair or prohibit its inspector general from initiating, carrying out or completing an audit or investigation.
D. The following executive agencies shall establish and maintain agency-level offices of inspector general:
(1) children, youth and families department;
(2) corrections department;
(3) department of health;
(4) human services department;
(5) public education department; and
(6) taxation and revenue department.
SECTION 6. SERVICE FEES.--
A. The office may charge reasonable service fees to executive agencies and state-funded entities for services rendered in the exercise of its oversight and auditing function.
B. The office shall establish by rule a schedule of fees for services rendered to state agencies and state-funded entities; provided that no fee shall exceed the actual cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged. The office shall consult with the state auditor, the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee prior to development of a fee schedule. A copy of the fee schedule shall be provided to the legislature by filing with the legislative library of the legislative council service.
C. Income from fees collected shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.
SECTION 7. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY FUND--CREATED.--The "government accountability fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, service fees collected by the office and any gifts, grants or donations to the fund. The fund shall be administered by the office, and money in the fund is subject to appropriation by the legislature to provide operational funding for the office.
SECTION 8. GOVERNOR MAY CONSOLIDATE FUNCTIONS.--The governor, by executive order, may consolidate inspectors general and internal audit and related functions and staff from executive agencies into the office.
SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2013.
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