Auditor Bumps Up Interest In Making Government Work

Auditor Bumps Up Interest In Making Government Work If the books are off, will look into the deeper issues

+ click to enlarge News staff photo by Andrew Mansfield State Auditor Suzanne Bump speaks on Monday at Williams Restaurant to a group of local business leaders and politicians about the role of her office and the challenges she faces in ensuring the state is run effectively. GARDNER  State Auditor Suzanne Bump visited Gardner to speak to area leaders about the goals of her office, including her paramount focus on establishing public trust. “I spend a lot of time thinking about that. You need to have transparency now in order to have credibility,” she said. Ms. Bump is a Democrat and was elected as state auditor in 2010. She is the first female to serve in the role and is also a former state representative. On Monday, she gathered with members of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Mark Hawke, state Rep. Jon Zlotnik, D-Gardner, the Gardner Rotary Club, the Athol-Orange Rotary Club and the North Quabbin Chamber of Com­merce for a special Legislative Lunch and conversation at Williams Restau­rant on Pearson Boulevard. “She has made it her mission to make government work better,” said Jim Bellina, president and CEO of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Com­merce. Ms. Bump said her office not only audits the finances of state agencies, but also takes a “holistic approach” that reviews their overall performance and the “root causes” of any failings. She cited the Department of Children and Families as an example. The department was audited by her office in 2014 and has come under public scrutiny in recent years with cases of children under their care not being treated properly. The audit found that social workers in the department were not being properly supervised, standard background checks performed on daycare centers were not always being conducted and children were not always receiving mandated medical examinations before being placed into foster care. She said the families that the department serves often lack education, job opportunities and suffer from mental health and substance abuse issues. “Think of the litany of issues the parents are facing and you come to appreciate that the Department of Children and Families cannot solve these problems by itself. There needs to be a lot more emphasis on the collaboration of services (with other state agencies),” she said. “It’s an impossible mission and the news gets out like wildfire. These things were probably happening before without us knowing,” said Mr. Hawke. Ms. Bump said the Department of Children and Families is undergoing changes among its leadership and employees that is helping to fix the agency, which over time will promote more effective management. She also spoke about her desire to spend more time reviewing the revenue side of state government, as opposed to only spending time reviewing how state funds are expended. She said looking at how well tax deductions, credits and incentives are working is an area that receives “insufficient attention.” According to her, the yearly cost of these tax breaks is $3.2 billion. “No one ever goes back to find out how well they’re working,” she said. In order to provide more oversight, she wants the ability to review tax returns. She said Massachusetts is one of only a few states with an income tax that does not allow its auditor to review tax returns. Without the ability to review tax returns, she said she cannot examine whether or not policies such as allowing certain industries to be exempt from paying the sales tax is really promoting business growth, or ensure that businesses are correctly reporting the number of employees they have, among other limitations. “It’s not a matter of red state or blue state, or being business-friendly or not. It’s just a matter of course,” she said. Ms. Bump and her office are scheduled to conduct an audit of a state agency every three years, but there are exceptions. For instance, if there are any red flags, which was the case with the Department of Children and Families, an audit can be tailored to review specific concerns of wrongdoing. Additionally, MassHealth, which Ms. Bump said costs $13 billion a year and is about a third of the state budget, is audited on a continual basis due to its size. “The consequence of failing to convince the public that you have their best interests in mind is dire,” she said.