Today, Sandra D. Bruce, chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) Federal, State, and Local Coordination Subcommittee, announced that pandemic oversight reports by state and local agencies are now available in the Reports Library. Today’s launch includes over 90 reports from state, county, and city auditors overseeing pandemic response funds. The reports cover unemployment insurance, use of Coronavirus Relief Funds, pandemic preparedness, contact tracing, and more. The reports can be found alongside the PRAC’s pandemic oversight reports by federal auditors.
The PRAC regularly holds discussions related to lessons learned, best practices, and challenges faced by federal, state, and local audit, program, and fiscal partners in their oversight of pandemic response funds. Participants include PRAC member Offices of Inspectors General, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT), the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA), the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and entities responsible for Tribal oversight.
“Coordination with our state, local, and Tribal partners expands the breadth, scope, and reach of our combined oversight efforts as we work to ensure that the $5 trillion-plus in pandemic relief funds are used as intended, reach the targeted recipients, and achieve the desired results,” said Ms. Bruce, U.S. Department of Education Acting Inspector General. “And their “boots-on-the-ground” view as to how these vital federal dollars are disbursed and spent brings to the table potential issues or problems and allows us to work together to address those challenges in real-time.”
Reports will be added as they are published so that the public and policymakers can see a comprehensive inventory of what federal, state, and local agencies have found in their oversight of the more than $5 trillion in pandemic response funding.
“Speaking for the accountability community at the state level, we applaud PRAC’s leadership in ensuring collaboration amongst every level of government as we all work towards the same goal of providing oversight of taxpayer funds,” said Elaine Howle, president of NASACT and California State Auditor. “Many of us have been monitoring how federal pandemic response funds are being used and reporting on challenges, issues, and even fraudulent use of these funds. Having a centralized place where we can quickly access information and learn about what is happening across the country and what themes and challenges other federal, state and local oversight entities identify, helps the oversight community direct its resources in areas where it’s most needed. Together we can increase the transparency and accountability over the trillions of dollars flowing into our states and local governments.”
“PandemicOversight.gov will be a critical link between those accountable for monitoring the use of pandemic-related funding. Auditors across jurisdictions will be able to learn from experiences of others to develop their audit scopes and objectives, as well as evaluating the areas of highest risk for future audit work plans,” said Chris Horton, president of ALGA and county auditor for Arlington County, Virginia. “Operational managers will be able to see lessons learned to improve fund management and help prevent audit findings from even occurring,” he continued.
Find state and local reports in our site’s Reports Library.
For more on the PRAC’s federal, state, local, and Tribal coordination efforts as well as major findings from state and local oversight reports, please check out our infographic.
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The PRAC was established by the CARES Act to promote transparency and support independent oversight of the funds provided by the CARES Act and other related emergency spending bills. In addition to its coordination and oversight responsibilities, the PRAC is tasked with supporting efforts to “prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement [and] mitigate major risks that cut across program and agency boundaries.”
If you have additional questions, please contact Lisa Reijula at lisa.reijula@cigie.gov