Economic Development Audit Calls for Improvements

Last week, the Legislative Audit Bureau released a comprehensive audit report of state economic development programs. At some point during the 2007-09 and 2009-11 biennia, eight state agencies administered 196 economic development programs in our state, in order to encourage economic growth in different areas.  2007 Wisconsin Act 125, a law passed to address concerns raised in a 2006 audit of economic development programs, set specific requirements for state agencies to report on October 1 of each year on quantifiable outcomes of each program. The Audit Bureau found that in October 2010, information was only available for slightly more than two thirds of programs administered that year, and that quantified outcomes were reported for less than half of the programs. My colleagues and I on the Joint Audit Committee intend to look further into these reporting lapses at a public hearing later in the year.