| 11/19/2009 |
Raptakis to pre-file Inspector General bill in effort to save taxpayers money, prevent waste and corruption
An Inspector General in Rhode Island could have blown whistle on waste and mismanagement at RI Resource Recovery and saved as much as $75M in taxpayer funds
STATE HOUSE -- In 2009, state officials have been struggling to cut waste and reduce the cost of government in a time of economic crisis. 2009 also saw the Attorney General and State Police announce it was too late to pursue criminal charges against those involved in waste, mismanagement and possible fraud at the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.
State Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, East Greenwich, Warwick, West Warwick) is pre-filing legislation he hopes will pass in 2010 to promote more efficient and accountable government, while making sure that scandals in state government are exposed before millions in taxpayer funds are irretrievably lost.
Senator Raptakis is once again introducing a bill that would create an office of Inspector General in Rhode Island, charged with preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in the expenditure of public funds.
“The fact that $75 million in taxpayer funds were lost in a sinkhole of corruption and mismanagement at the Central Landfill should be a wake-up call to every elected official that we need a full-time Inspector General to protect the interests of taxpayers,” said Senator Raptakis. “If we are serious about saving money and preventing the abuses of public trust we saw at Resource Recovery, then we need to pass this bill quickly and put a system in place to help stop public corruption and the misuse of our tax dollars.”
A number of states have established an office of inspector general and within the federal government, there are 69 different Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) charged with overseeing some of the larger agencies which handle large projects involving public funds. Senator Raptakis’ legislation would grant the Inspector General the authority to examine the procurement of supplies, services or construction by state government entities in Rhode Island. The person would be appointed by a majority vote of the Governor, Attorney General and General Treasurer for a five year term and would be selected without regard for political affiliation. The individual would have to have a demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, investigation, or criminal justice administration.
Most importantly, the Inspector General would be able to initiate and conduct investigations, audits and compliance reviews and would have the power to issue subpoenas for the production of all records, reports, audits, documents, correspondence and data necessary to conduct their work.
“At a time when the state is struggling to save money and make government more efficient, we need an Inspector General to make sure state agencies are operating in a transparent manner,” said Senator Raptakis. “And events at the Central Landfill have exposed the urgent need to have someone in place who can alert law enforcement officials to instances of fraud and mismanagement so that steps can be taken before millions of taxpayer dollars go down the drain.”
Senator Raptakis concluded, “That should never be allowed to happen again and the Inspector General legislation is the best way to protect our taxpayers going forward and restore public trust in state government.”
For more information, contact:
Randall T. Szyba, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2457 |
LEGISLATIVE INFO
