(The Center Square) – One of the men in charge of the legislature’s audit committee says he’d been forced to use the audit process to get the answers the Evers administration is reluctant to provide.
Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Racine, told The Center Square that agency directors under Gov. Tony Evers have made a habit out of ignoring questions from lawmakers.
“We find that, working through the Legislative Audit Bureau, because of its history, I normally can get better answers than a committee can,” Wittke said. “These agencies don’t feel that they have to answer to anyone.”
Wittke has specific questions about two recent audits – the audit into Wisconsin’s broadband spending, and the audit into empty offices and the number of people working from home.
He plans to have public hearings on both in the coming weeks.
“We’re working on a timeline now, but it will be sometime later on in January or early February,” Wittke said.
The office space and work from home audit found many state offices are at least 25% empty most days of the week. The same audit found some state employees are showing up in person as little as two days a week.
“All I ever hear from these agencies is ‘you don’t fund enough employees for us,’” Wittke added.
He said he wants his hearings to focus on “things that directly service taxpayers,” and “what kind of service are taxpayers getting.”
The other audit that will get a public hearing is the audit into Wisconsin’s broadband expansion program.
“The Public Service Commission had $20 million to $30 million for broadband, and we don’t know how the contractors were selected,” Wittke said. “We’re looking at a billion-dollars (overall) for broadband, and not being able to figure out what’s going on.”
The Legislative Audit Committee has asked some of the same questions in the past, but Wittke said he hasn’t gotten the answers he’s looking for.
“We will keep asking questions and keep digging until we get some answers,” Wittkke said. “I’ve told agencies this, over and over again, I’m not here for partisan gotchas. I am here for oversight. If you are concerned with that, it kinda leads me to believe there is something we need to dig further for.”
