The House Government Operations and Audit committee defeated a bill that allowed the legislature more oversight and review of state agencies. The bill sailed pass the Senate floor last week with a vote of 30-4 but then died in committee.
Senate Bill 165 allows the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council, to schedule evaluations for South Dakota’s state agencies. Once every five years, the Governors Operations and Audit committee would review each agency with the assistance of the Legislative Audit. This bill narrowly passed Senate committee last week but the Senate floor overwhelmingly showed their support. Dusty Johnson with the Governor’s office says this bill is not needed.
"Simply imposing a performance management process on traditionally managed organization may sound good, but in practice it is not likely to make any real difference. To make real improvements, organizational culture must also be addressed," Johnson says.
Johnson says he believes improvements are already being made by state agencies addressing organized culture. Lawmakers in favor of this measure feel it could help remove errors from state agencies, along with creating more possibilities for the future. House Government Operations and Audit committee killed the bill with a 4-1 vote.
