#state-audit

#state-audit

Texas governor Greg Abbott and lieutenant governor Dan Patrick have ordered an investigation of Texas Southern University, a historically Black institution in Houston, after a state audit found evidence of financial mismanagement and bookkeeping inconsistencies, The Texas Tribune reported. The audit found 700 invoices, totaling $280 million, linked to contracts that were listed as expired in the institution's database. Another 800 invoices, worth $160 million, were dated before the purchases were approved, the Tribune reported.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio held a rally on Wednesday to pressure the State House into complying with the audit of the state Legislature voters passed into law last year. In 2024, 71.6% of voters answered "yes" on the ballot in support of auditing the state Legislature. Nearly a year since the initiative became law, the state has yet to allow the audit to be conducted, DiZoglio said.

The audit found serious problems, including crazy long lag times for investigating urgent complaints (almost three months for high-priority situations, such as patient deaths) and more than a year for less dire complaints (meaning problems can fester and put patient safety at risk). It also found that when the state brought its weight to bear on unlicensed homes illegally providing services, regulators didn't always bother to venture out to see for themselves what was actually happening.

The city has met two of the seven recommendations from the state audit regarding improvements in tracking and measuring effectiveness of homeless services.