State Audit Calls House and Senate Operations 'Good'
By: Jessica Machetta, MissouriNet.com
Updated: March 22, 2013
The audit shows the House provided pay raises to its staff that were not provided to Senate staff or other state employees. These raises totaled approximately $425,000, representing approximately a 5 percent increase to employees, and were in addition to the 2 percent cost of living adjustment provided to all state employees paid less than $70,000 per year.
"The House needs to obtain and retain adequate documentation for items identified as stolen," Schweich's audit says. "In May 2012, three laptops and two printers, totaling $4,952 were identified as stolen and deleted from the general capital asset listing, but neither of the two representatives reporting the assets as stolen provided a police report and/or affidavit stating the circumstances around the theft."
On the Senate side, Schweich says the Senate solicited contributions from lobbyists during fiscal year 2011 for the Senate Administrator's Fund and used the fund to pay various questionable costs.
"During the two years ended
Both bodies lack a formal written policy for the use and retention of e-mail correspondence, and both assert that the Sunshine Law does not apply to records of individual members, but the law related to the matter is ambiguous, Schweich's office reports.
House democrats have responded to Schweich's assertion that neither has a clear policy on the Sunshine Law, saying they support open records policies.
"The House Democratic Caucus
shares State Auditor Thomas Schweich's concerns regarding the claim by House
Republican leaders that the official records of individual state
representatives aren't subject to public disclosure under
To read the full audits, including Citizen's Summaries visit:
