PA 2008 Election for Auditor General

At the last meeting, we discussed the upcoming PA election. I researched the Auditor General. Here is my report.

Auditor General – Independent fiscal monitor. In addition to monitoring fiscal matters, the auditor general also looks at the effectiveness and efficiency of laws, government programs, and legislative changes.

2008 Election

Democrat- Jack Wagner, Incumbent. In office since 2005. Jack is pictured above.

Republican – Chet Beiler

Libertarian – Betsy Summers

Beiler, 45, of Lancaster County, is a businessman whose primary enterprise is AmishGazebos.com. Hmm.) He is a fiscal conservative. Beiler criticizes Wagner for not regulating the accuracy of gasoline pumps and taking too long to release his report on PA higher education.

Summers has held the office of PA Judge of the Elections. She believes abortions should always be legal, but not publicly funded in any way. She is for gay marriage and wants to end affirmative action.

Get to know the candidates for Auditor General: http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/pa/state/race/paau/

Since Wagner is the Incumbent, the most information is available on him. Here is a summary of Wagner’s performance. These reports also give some information on the state of affairs in PA.

Education report from 2007 found:

-schools will not have enough money to cover budget costs in the following year if spending is not adjusted now.

-lack of proper documentation for bus drivers (some drivers did not have a child abuse or criminal background check).

Wagner produced a report about the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources addressing their elimination of life guards in state parks. His report concluded that DCNR should reinstate life guards and provide better signage in the interim. Basically, the DCNR had said that “it’s a trend to not use life guards.” To see the report: http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us/Department/Info/DCNRBeachesSpecialRpt051408.pdf

Charter Schools - He identified several charter schools that were receiving more funding than necessary for their operations. When a child transfers from a public school to a charter school, the charter school receives funding from the public school for that child. Since the charter school starts out with a base amount of money for operations, if too many kids transfer, the charter school can turn a profit. Wagner said he supports charter schools but encourages Randall to properly monitor their funding so that they do not place unnecessary burden on public schools and taxpayers.

Audited PHEAA for the first time in it’s 45 year history. (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistant Agency). Uncovered 7.5 million of bonuses given to employees. To see the report: http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us/Department/Press/WagnerFindsPHEAAGaveMillionsInBonuses.html

Audit of Megan’s law calls for more complete and accurate info to be posted to website. Also, Wagner suggests that increasing the scope of the information on website (adding physical description) will increase the safety that law provides to children. He also points out the need for the state police website to improve organization of the information on the website, so that it is easier to sort through to find the most violet predators (roughly 110 out of the 8,100 listed.)