The Greenville News article: “Clemson faces spending questions,” was very interesting. I applaud the House members, especially Rep. Dwight Loftis, who it appears is leading the effort to audit the Clemson Public Service Activities programs.
I am both surprised and dismayed that Sen. Mike Fair, who, I think is the straightest of the straight-shooters in the General Assembly, is attempting to mediate a solution that will satisfy Rep. Loftis and the other legislators without conducting an audit. But I hope they will stay the course and not be intimidated by influential people who for whatever reason are resisting, and indeed lobbying to get the Legislative Audit Council (LAC) to reject the request for the audit.
I would remind these and other legislators that these influential people hold little sway in the real world of rank and file voters in South Carolina. I would encourage them to work hard to get the support of other legislators in this effort and even consider expanding the scope of the audit to include the entire university.
It has been said that: “those most in need of scrutiny will resist it the most.” If there is “nothing to hide” and the PSA programs are being properly managed, then there is nothing to fear. In fact, if they are clean, the Legislature, in my view, will be more apt to support them on future requests.
And it is just plain taradiddle to claim exorbitant costs to conduct the audit. It will not cost one additional dime. It might delay the audit of another department, but that’s about it.
In my 20 years in the Legislature, I never refused to sign a request for an audit. Well-managed departments should welcome, indeed request, audits of their organizations. The General Assembly’s motto should be: “In God we trust, everybody else we audit.”
If the LAC rejects or even delays the audit, Rep. Loftis as a member of the Ways and Means Committee should begin immediately the effort to completely remove LAC funds from the budget as they would not be performing the functions for which they were created. When audits were necessary, they could out-source them.
Lewis R. Vaughn
Greer
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