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“The Commission agreed with our recommendation” and then never improved

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Illinois

* Legislative Ethics Commission compliance audit published by the Illinois Auditor General on May 3, 2017…

The Legislative Ethics Commission (Commission) did not comply with certain procedural requirements established by State laws and regulations as described below:

• The Commission did not file a Fiscal Control and Internal Auditing Act certification with the Office of the Auditor General for Fiscal Year 2016 as required.

• The Commission did not timely submit two of two (100%) State property inventory certifications to the Department of Central Management Services. The certification for Fiscal Year 2015 was submitted 52 days late, and the certification for Fiscal Year 2014 was not submitted at all.

• The Commission failed to perform and document 24 of 24 (100%) monthly reconciliations of its expenditures with the Office of the Comptroller’s Monthly Appropriation Status Report. (Finding 1, pages 7-8). This finding has been repeated since 2010.

We recommended the Commission timely submit its FCIAA certification to the Office of the Auditor General, timely submit the required property reports, and document performance of expenditure reconciliations monthly. (Finding 1, pages 7-8). This finding has been repeated since 2010.

We recommended the Commission timely submit its FCIAA certification to the Office of the Auditor General, timely submit the required property reports, and document performance of expenditure reconciliations monthly.

The Commission accepted our recommendation.

* Legislative Ethics Commission compliance audit published October 15, 2015…

• (14-1) The Commission did not timely prepare and file all required reports.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS PROCEDURAL DEFICIENCIES

During our testing of the Legislative Ethics Commission (Commission), we noted procedural deficiencies. Some of the conditions we noted follow:

• The Commission submitted 2 of 2 (100%) Fiscal Control and Internal Auditing Act certifications for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014 with the Office of the Auditor General 28 and 8 days late, respectively.

• The Commission submitted 1 of 2 (50%) inventory certifications with the Department of Central Management Services 99 days late.

• The Commission submitted 1 of 4 (25%) Travel Headquarters reports to the Legislative Audit Commission 73 days late. (Finding 1, pages 7-8). This finding has been repeated since 2010.

We recommended the Commission ensure all required reports are prepared and filed timely as required. The Commission agreed with our recommendation.

* Legislative Ethics Commission compliance audit published January 30. 2013…

• The Legislative Ethics Commission did not timely prepare and file all required reports.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS PROCEDURAL DEFICIENCIES

During our testing of the Legislative Ethics Commission (Commission), we noted procedural deficiencies. Some of the conditions we noted follow:

• The Commission submitted 2 of 2 (100%) Fiscal Control and Internal Auditing Act (FCIAA) certifications for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012 with the Office of the Auditor General 473 and 107 days late, respectively.

• The Commission submitted 1 of 2 (50%) inventory certifications with the Department of Central Management Services (DCMS) 48 days late.

• The Commission submitted 2 of 2 (100%) Annual Real Property Utilization reports for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012 to DCMS 388 and 22 days late, respectively. (Finding 1, pages 7-9)

We recommended the Commission ensure all required reports are prepared and filed timely as required. The Commission agreed with our recommendation.

Full reports and more info can be found here. Audits of the Legislative Inspector General’s office are here.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 2:26 pm

Comments

If the Commission can’t follow the rules on a timely basis or at all, how can we expect them to oversee a set of rules and regulations. CLEAN HOUSE NOW and start over with an entirely new staff and members.

Comment by Anon Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 2:40 pm
The Legislative Ethics Commission has no ethics. Welcome to Illinois.

Comment by IllinoisBoi Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 2:50 pm
Pathetic. Thank you Rich for posting AA’s secondary beef about this shoddy operation. Agree with Anon time for a fresh start.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 2:51 pm
If the ED wasn’t doing any investigating and wasn’t filing paperwork, what the heck was he doing?

Comment by Robert the Bruce Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 3:19 pm
I knew a person who, when she wanted to dismiss a comment made in a group conversation, would turn away from the speaker, then say to no one in particular: “yeah, and so anyway….” and go off on another trail. Somehow that came to mind re: above “Commission” reaction/inaction.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 3:23 pm
I am shocked — SHOCKED — that the legislature has been slow to adopt ethical oversight of itself.

Comment by Just Me Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 5:32 pm
Somehow the last two weeks have been really confusing to me. Something must be wrong with my ipad. The words, ‘ethics’ and ‘legislators’, keeps being used in the same posts. Can anybody out there help me restore my system to the correct defaults?

Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 6:02 pm
OK, so the auditor general (Mautino who is appointed by the Legislature and is currently being investigated by the IRS) cited the Legislative Ethics Commission for noncompliance whos reports are reviewed by the Legislative Audit Commission (LAC). Can’t see anything wrong with this or a conflict of interest, can you?

Comment by justacitizen Monday, Nov 6, 17 @ 8:06 pm