Bill Text: HI HCR183 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Focused Financial and Performance Audit; Cable Television Division
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-04-16 - (S) Referred to CPN/WAM. [HCR183 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2012-HCR183-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
183 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
requesting the auditor to perform a Focused financial and performance audit of the Cable television division of the Department of Commerce and consumer affairs.
WHEREAS, the Legislature in its 2011 Regular Session considered requesting the State Auditor to audit the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs with a particular focus on the Cable Television Division; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature was concerned, among other issues, that the Cable Television Division was not accountable for the performance of the four entities under its jurisdiction that receive significant moneys for operating and capital expenses from the fees paid by cable service customers; and
WHEREAS, these entities, known as public, educational and governmental access organizations (PEG organizations), operate with their own boards, staff, and equipment; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs assured the Legislature that, given sufficient funds, it could procure and manage a performance audit of the PEG organizations that would allay the Legislature's concerns; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature appropriated $200,000 for each year of the current biennium for performance audits, expecting the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to procure and accept only credible, substantive work; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has instead accepted, at the cost of approximately $70,000, a contractor's report for the largest of the PEG organizations, a report containing only generalized, mostly complimentary, statements that appear to skim over problems that have been brought to the Legislature's attention over the span of many years; and
WHEREAS, upon closer scrutiny, the Legislature finds that this contractor has numerous conflicts of interest with respect to bidding for and carrying out the performance audit, since it was already under contract with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Cable Television Division, and the PEG organizations, including for assistance in setting rates that result in revenues to the PEG organizations; and
WHEREAS, not only is the remainder of the 2011 appropriation to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs at risk of funding unacceptable work, the Legislature has no faith that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs can or will perform its oversight function on behalf of the cable subscribers whose fees support the organizations; and
WHEREAS, however the contract work for a performance audit was procured and managed within the Cable Television Division, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and any related administrative entities are also responsible for the expenditure of public and special fund moneys as state entities, and all parties' performance in this instance may be symptomatic of problems within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to perform a focused financial and management audit of the Cable Television Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and any of the PEG organizations for their performance toward their respective missions and responsibilities and on any other areas of departmental management that the Auditor determines merit audit scrutiny; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested
to submit the results of the audit, including any proposed legislation, to the
Legislature no later than 20 days prior the convening of the Regular Session of
2013; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs is requested to suspend any further expenditure of funds for a
contracted performance audit of PEG organizations under the jurisdiction of the
Cable Television Division; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Focused Financial and Performance Audit; Cable Television Division
