INDIANAPOLIS – The public-accountability legislation that Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller supported won final passage in the Indiana General Assembly late Wednesday and now is on its way to the governor’s desk.
“The hard work of legislators on both sides of the Statehouse and all parts of the state has forged an effective tool that we can use statewide to recover missing funds for the public,” Zoeller said. “With this legislation, we will learn of missing public funds earlier and can act swiftly to seek recovery for taxpayers.”
House Enrolled Act 1514 passed by a vote of 62-35 in the Indiana House and a vote of 47-3 in the state Senate during the final minutes of the Legislature’s regular session Wednesday night before adjournment.
Zoeller has supported legislation to boost accountability and transparency in the monitoring of public funds in local governments and schools. To achieve that, HEA 1514 does several things:
– Brings the Attorney General’s office into the investigative process earlier. Under current law, if there are suspicions public dollars have been diverted or stolen from a government office, then the State Board of Accounts performs an audit. That process could take anywhere from several months to more than a year before a final certified audit is referred to the Office of the Indiana Attorney General. In the meantime, any remaining funds might be at risk.
HEA 1514 accelerates the process so the Attorney General’s office will be notified much earlier. The State Board of Accounts will provide a preliminary audit of a substantial loss early in its examination – not just at the end. The attorney general then can move at the outset to seek a court order freezing the funds of the office or school so they won’t be depleted, diverted or squandered. After a final audit is completed, then the attorney could file a lawsuit against the individual responsible to recover any missing public funds.
– Raises the bond amounts that public officials must post. Government officials who handle public money have to post a surety bond – in essence, an insurance policy to cover financial losses in case funds are stolen or missing. Under current law, the minimum bond requirement for most officials is $15,000 and can be posted just once in an official’s four-year term. But with HEA 1514, the bond officials must carry will be higher – $30,000 – and they must post it once a year. That reflects the need to have larger amounts available to reimburse public coffers in case of theft or embezzlement.
During the session’s final days, provisions from other, unrelated bills were amended into HEA 1514.
“Compromise and negotiation are part of the legislative process, and not everything we had sought ended up in the final version. Nonetheless, the important achievement is that the overall public-accountability bill passed,” Zoeller said.
Zoeller thanked the House author of the bill, state Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, the Senate sponsor, Sen. Richard Bray, R-Martinsville, and other legislators who brought the final pieces together to pass HEA 1514 on Wednesday.
Once signed into law, House Enrolled Act 1514 takes effect July 1.
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