(Radio Iowa) – A bill introduced in the Iowa Senate would let state agencies hire private C-P-A firms to audit government spending rather than have the state auditor’s office do it. Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny, says private C-P-As can audit state agencies in Illinois. “It is a flexibility that exists today for our cities. In fact the City of Des Moines, the largest city in our state, hires not the state auditor’s office — even though they could, but they hire a private CPA firm,” Bousselot says, “as well as the vast majority of school districts in our state.”

Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says this is the second year in a row Republicans have introduced a bill to limit the authority of State Auditor Rob Sand.  “You know we can all act like there’s no elephant in the room, but there is. We have one Democrat elected statewide — one — and he’s the auditor, unfortunately for you because he’s the guy that can look in to see what the rest of yous are doing,” Bisignano said. “That seems to be a problem here now.”

John McCormally is chief of staff in the state auditor’s office. He told lawmakers it would likely cost the state five MILLION dollars more to have private C-P-As do the work that’s being done now by the state auditor’s office. “Voters make a choice for state auditor every four years and the author of this bill doesn’t like who they chose,” McCormally said, “so he wants to use more taxpayer money to hire somebody else.”

Marlys Gaston recently retired as the chief deputy in the financial audit division in the state auditor’s office. She worked for two Republican state auditors as well as Democrat Rob Sand and she’s raising concerns about the bill. “Allowing the departments to choose their independent auditor would, I think, eliminate economy and efficiency to begin with,” Gaston says. “…You’re increasing costs exponentially.”

A lobbyist for the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants told lawmakers fewer C-P-A firms are willing to audit government agencies due to the nationwide shortage of C-P-As. Bousselot says letting state agencies hire private C-P-A firms for audits might boost the workforce. “The flexibility to hire ethical but private CPAs that are answerable to the same standards as a public CPA,…is something that we could leverage here at the state to get more CPAs and greater expertise in delivering audits for state government.”

The bill has cleared a Senate subcommittee and is likely to be approved by a Senate committee later today (Wednesday).