Reports

As a part of our audit of the State of Louisiana’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and our work related to the Single Audit of the State of Louisiana for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, we performed procedures at the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) to provide assurances on financial information that is significant to the state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report; evaluate the effectiveness of LWC’s internal controls over financial reporting and compliance; and determine whether LWC complied with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, we determined whether management...

To evaluate the State’s readiness to provide essential information needed to respond to the global pandemic, this operational audit focused on COVID-19 data collection and reporting processes at the Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency), Department of Health, and Division of Emergency Management during the period March 1, 2020, through October 9, 2020. As subsequently described, the number of entities reporting data, apparent inaccurate or incomplete data reported to the State by those entities, and the lack of effective access controls in the systems used to gather data, impacted the...

In this performance audit, we reviewed financial activity from federal funding provided by the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. Middlesex Community College (MCC) received grant funding under two components of the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund: direct funding from the United States Department of Education (US DOE) and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE). The purpose of our audit was to determine whether MCC administered the CARES Act, CRRSAA, and ARP Act...

In FY 2020-21, state agencies administered $20.8 billion in federal financial assistance, including $6.6 billion that was expended related to the public health emergency and that was separately identified in the State’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. Our audit focused on 24 federal programs that accounted for 82.3 percent of the federal financial assistance administered. We found that state agencies generally complied with federal requirements, and we provided an unmodified opinion on federal compliance for 22 of the programs we reviewed. However, we qualified our opinion on...

As a part of our audit of the Louisiana State University (LSU) and our work related to the Single Audit of the State of Louisiana for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, we performed procedures at the LSU and Related Campuses to provide assurances on financial information that is significant to the LSU's financial statements; evaluate the effectiveness of LSU and Related Campuses’ internal controls over financial reporting and compliance; and determine whether LSU and Related Campuses complied with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, we determined whether management has taken...

This audit report provides the results of our evaluation of the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s (LWC) Unemployment Insurance program and federally-funded COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment assistance programs. The purpose of this audit was to determine if the IRS Form 1099-Gs (1099s) filed by LWC with the IRS accurately reported the amount of unemployment benefits paid to claimants during calendar years 2020 and 2021. Overall, we found that LWC filed accurate 1099s for unemployment benefits paid to 698,372 (99.7%) of 700,204 claimants in calendar year 2020. However, we found that LWC did...

From May 21, 2021 to November 9, 2021, the Louisiana Department of Education (DOE) paid $486,050 on two emergency contracts without first obtaining the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (BESE’s) approval. The Louisiana Administrative Code requires that professional and consulting services contracts recommended by the Superintendent of Education at, or above, a certain amount (currently $50,000) be approved by BESE. By paying contractors for professional and consulting services prior to obtaining BESE’s approval, DOE may have violated a provision of the Louisiana...

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.

The Emergency Rental Assistance program helps individuals affected by the public health emergency to cover the cost of rent and utilities. Through June 2021, DOA received $434.7 million in federal funds through the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act for the program. From March 2021 through September 2021, the program provided $64.0 million in benefits for 15,968 households. We make recommendations for DOA to improve how it administers the Emergency Rental Assistance program, including by improving the program’s application process, modifying the process for...

The Student Success Act provides an extra $1 billion of tax money a year for early childhood education and K-12 school improvement. It requires the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to track district performance and work with districts to improve, building on other recent state and federal initiatives and bringing the state the closest it has been to meeting the funding recommendations of the Quality Education Model. This advisory report identifies five key risks we found that could undermine K-12 system improvement as the state implements the 2019 Student Success Act. The report draws on...