Common Sense: Odds and ends
Governor Cuomo on just about the last day he could approve or veto legislation for 2015 signed a bill sponsored by State Senator Marty Golden (whom I serve as chief of staff) that might be one of the most important anti-fraud and waste pieces of legislation that has come out of Albany in years. Called the Enterprise Fraud Law, it’s not the type of legislation that catches the headlines unless you run a good government group or watch government closely.
The bill requires agencies and public authorities to provide New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office with electronic data that can be analyzed. This is the type of data that is typically made available in the private sector to CPA firms doing audits. Due to the nature of the files, the information can quickly and efficiently be processed.
The end results should greatly aid the rooting out of waste and fraud. Of course, the comptroller simply audits and recommends. The agencies under the control of the governor will still need to adopt the audit recommendations. Like me, you are probably wondering why this was not already taking place and why it required legislation. Let’s just say that the governor was resistant to a change that allowed for additional oversight of his agencies.