Reports

The audit found the agency had significant issues implementing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The agency did not sufficiently review CARES invoices due to changing guidelines, reduced contract oversight staffing during the pandemic, overreliance on contractor-provided information, and the lack of clear and comprehensive Contracting Officer Representative (COR) oversight procedures for CARES invoices. As a result, the OIG questioned more than $16.4 million, or 40 percent of the sampled CARES invoice charges. As of June 8, 2021, NSA reported $917 million in CARES...

The audit concluded that the Alaska Small Business Relief Program disbursed approximately $282 million of CARES Act funds through the issuance of 5,754 grants; however, the distribution rate of grant funds fell far short of expectations. The State expected to distribute $150 million per month, yet only $18 million was distributed by the end of the program’s second month. Additionally, Results of testing found a high rate of unallowable grant awards. Auditors tested 155 grants and identified at least one error for 39 percent of the grants tested.

During our audit, we identified internal control and compliance findings that we believe are either directly, or indirectly, related to a lack of resources available for processing and adjudicating unemployment claims with the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency. To address the rapid rise in unemployment, the federal government provided additional federal funding to states and implemented several new unemployment-related benefits. The Commission struggled to adapt to these changes due to a lack of both staffing and technology resources. As a result, the Commission was not able to...