The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (Committee) is established by Joint Rules of the Florida Legislature and its membership consists of between five and seven members appointed from each house.¹ The Senate Alternating Chair serves as the Committee's Chair from the Organizational Session in November of even-numbered years until noon on December 1st of the following calendar year. The House Alternating Chair serves from the completion of the Senate Chair's term until the next general election. [see Joint Rule 4.1 - Standing Joint Committees]
In general, the responsibilities of the Committee are broad and affect all areas of government in Florida. The Committee's responsibilities are designed to provide continuous oversight of government operations, in part, through the auditing and review activities of the Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA).
¹The Committee had been created in law since 1967. During 2011, the Legislature passed a reform package which included revisions to laws and joint rules related to the Committee. Chapter 2011-34, Laws of Florida, repealed the statutory creation of the Committee.
Committee Oversight of the Office of the Auditor General and OPPAGA
The Committee may direct the Auditor General or OPPAGA to conduct an audit, review, or examination of any entity or record as specified in s. 11.45(3), F.S. This includes state agencies, counties, municipalities, special districts, district school boards, charter schools, and numerous other government organizations. This also includes nongovernmental agencies, corporations, and persons that have received any appropriation made by the Legislature.
The Committee is responsible for appointing the Auditor General pursuant to s. 11.42(2), F.S., when there is a vacancy in the position. The appointment is required to be confirmed by both houses of the Legislature. Auditor General, David Martin, was appointed by the Committee and confirmed by the Legislature during the 2007 Legislative Session. He began serving on October 1, 2007, as Florida's fifth Auditor General.
Committee Hearings
The Committee is authorized to investigate any matter within the scope of an audit, review, or examination, granted subpoena power in connection with such investigations, and may conduct hearings as necessary. In addition to hearings before the full Committee, staff of the Committee work with individual members of the Committee and auditees to follow up on critical audits.
Financial Reporting Enforcement; Section 218.32, F.S. and Section 218.39, F.S.
The Committee has the authority to enforce certain provisions of law against a local governmental entity, district school board, charter school, or charter technical career center for failure to submit certain financial reports required by law. When the Committee is notified that an entity has failed to comply with the financial reporting requirements, the Committee may schedule a hearing and shall determine if the entity should be subject to further state action (s. 11.40(2), F.S.). For more information see the Committee’s webpage on local government financial reporting or the webpage on educational (district school board, charter school, and charter technical career center) financial reporting.
Entities That Fail to Correct Audit Findings; Section 11.45(7)(j), F.S. and Section 218.39(8), F.S.
Recent legislation provides the Committee with the authority to take action against educational and local governmental entities that fail to correct audit findings reported in three successive audits. The Auditor General is required to notify the Committee when a state university, Florida College System institution, school district, charter school, county, municipality, or special district has failed to correct these findings. The Committee may request a written statement from the entity to explain why corrective action has not occurred and if it is planned to provide the anticipated action and timing. If the Committee determines the statement is not sufficient, it may require an official of the entity to appear before the Committee. If the Committee is still not satisfied with the entity's effort to correct the audit finding(s), it may proceed with the provisions of s. 11.40(2), F.S. This authorizes the Committee to direct the withholding of selected state funds from certain entities and to proceed with legal action to compel compliance for special districts.
The Committee received the first notifications from the Auditor General in late 2012 and took action to request a written statement from all entities that had been reported to the Committee during meetings on February 11th and 18th, 2013.
Financial Emergencies Act; Section 218.503, F.S.
Local Governmental Entities
The Committee plays a role in the oversight of local governmental entities that either have been determined to be in a state of financial emergency or have met one or more of the financial emergency conditions specified in s. 218.503(1), F.S. A local governmental entity is required to notify the Committee and the Governor’s Office when one or more of the financial emergency conditions has occurred or will occur if action is not taken to assist it. In coordination with the Governor’s Office, Committee staff monitors the financial condition of those local governmental entities that have met one or more of the financial emergency conditions and provides assistance at the discretion of the Committee or the Committee Chairs.
District School Boards, Charter Schools, and Charter Technical Career Centers
The Committee plays a role in the oversight of certain educational entities that either have been determined to be in a state of financial emergency or have met one or more of the financial emergency conditions specified in s. 218.503(1), F.S. A district school board, charter school, or charter technical career center is required to notify the Committee, the applicable charter school or charter technical career center sponsor, and the Commissioner of Education when one or more of the financial emergency conditions has occurred or will occur if action is not taken to assist it. In coordination with the Commissioner of Education’s Office, Committee staff monitors the financial condition of those educational entities that have met one or more of the financial emergency conditions and provides assistance at the discretion of the Committee or the Committee Chairs.
Transparency Florida Website; Section 215.985, F.S.
During the 2009 Legislative Session, the Committee was assigned responsibilities related to Transparency Florida, a website that provides details of government spending of taxpayer dollars. The first phase of the website includes expenditures for all three branches of government and all state agencies. As required by law, the Committee submitted its initial recommendations to expand the information available on the website in a report that was due by March 1, 2010. The Committee is required to submit an annual report detailing the progress of the website and any recommendations for enhancement by November 1 each year. During the 2011 Legislative Session, the Legislature deleted the Committee's responsibility to oversee and manage the Transparency Florida website but retained the requirement for the Committee to submit annual reports. For more information, see the Committee's webpage about this initiative.
Annual Audit of the Department of the Lottery; Section 24.123, F.S.
The Committee is required to contract with an independent certified public accountant (CPA) for the annual financial audit of the Department of the Lottery. For many years the Committee issued a Request for Proposal and entered into a contract with a public accounting firm to conduct the audit. Since 2003, the Committee has directed the Auditor General and OPPAGA to conduct the annual audit. See the Auditor General’s website for the two most recent audit reports and OPPAGA’s website for its reports on the Department.
Other Reporting to the Committee
In addition to the reports previously discussed, Florida law also requires a number of other reports to be provided to the Committee. Some of these include:
Six-Month Reports from state agencies: s. 20.055(5)(h), F.S., requires state agencies to report on the status of corrective actions taken in response to findings in Auditor General and OPPAGA reports. See recent Six-Month Reports filed with the Committee.
Investigation of Whistle-blower Complaints: s. 112.3189, F.S., requires the Governor’s Chief Inspector General to provide the Committee with final reports of whistle-blower investigations conducted as a result of complaints by state agency employees.
Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund and Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association: s. 766.105(3)(e), F.S. and s. 766.315(5)(d), F.S., respectively, require the fund and the association to provide an annual financial audit report to the Committee.
Significant Findings and Financial Trends of Local Governmental Entities, District School Boards, Charter Schools, and Charter Technical Career Centers: s. 11.45(7)(f), F.S., requires the Auditor General to annually compile this information based on their review of audit reports submitted to his office and the audits of district school boards conducted by his office. These reports are posted on the Auditor General’s website.
Summary of most recent Report on Significant Financial Trends and Findings Identified in Local Governmental Entity Audit Reports and Annual Financial Reports (audit reports prepared by certified public accountants (CPAs) and submitted to Auditor General)
Summary of most recent Report on Significant Financial Trends and Findings Identified in Charter School and Charter Technical Career Center Audit Reports (audit reports prepared by CPAs and submitted to Auditor General)
Summary of most recent Report on Significant Financial Trends and Findings in Audit Reports of District School Boards (47 audits performed by the Auditor General's Office and 20 performed by other CPAs)
Treasury Investment Committee: s. 17.575, F.S., requires the Treasury Investment Committee to provide the Committee with an annual report outlining its activities and recommendations.
Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund: Chapter 2008-59, Laws of Florida, requires the following reports related to the State Board of Administration’s (SBA’s) Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund to be filed with the Committee:
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Section of Law |
Responsible Party |
Action Required |
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SBA trustees |
Annually certify that the Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund is in compliance with the law and that the trustees have conducted a review of the trust fund and determined that the management of the trust fund is in accord with best investment practices. |
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SBA or professional money management firm |
Provide a monthly report (or more frequent if a material event occurs) of material impacts on the Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund, any action taken to address such impacts, and a management summary. |
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SBA trustees |
Provide a quarterly report indicating that the trustees have reviewed and approved the monthly reports and any actions taken (see preceding item). |
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Auditor General |
Conduct annual financial audit of the Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund and provide the audit report to the Committee. |
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SBA trustees |
Within 30 days of the release of the annual financial audit (see preceding item), the trustees shall report to the Committee that they have reviewed the audit and certify that any necessary items are being addressed by a corrective action plan that includes target completion dates. |
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Participant Local Government Advisory Council |
Prepare and submit a biennial report that describes the activities and recommendations of the council. |
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SBA or professional money management firm |
Provide a monthly report (or more frequent if a material event occurs) of material impacts on the Fund B Surplus Funds Trust Fund, any action taken to address such impacts, and a management summary. |
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SBA trustees |
Provide a quarterly report indicating that the trustees have reviewed and approved the monthly reports and any actions taken (see preceding item). |
April 2013