Columbus -

Video of signing Senate Bill 4

Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost
joined Governor John Kasich for the signing of Senate Bill 4 (Performance Audits) this afternoon.
 
“When you’re doing surgery, it matters what, when and how you cut,” Auditor Yost said. “Ohio government needs several operations – this bill provides the diagnostic tests for successful treatment.”

Auditor Yost announced that he would be meeting in the next couple weeks with the first three state agencies scheduled to undergo performance audits under the bill: the Departments of Transportation, Education, and Job and Family Services. As promised, the first state entity to undergo a performance audit during Yost’s tenure will be his own Auditor of State’s office.
 
Auditor Yost also introduced Ernest Knight, the State Performance Audit Director for his office.  Knight has an MBA from Harvard and extensive private sector business experience.  He comes to the Auditor of State’s office from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company where he served as director of Nationwide Mutual Capital.  Knight is tasked with the job of leading the state agency audits.
 
Senate Bill 4, sponsored by Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) and passed unanimously by both the Ohio House and Senate, requires performance audits of state agencies and creates the Leverage for Efficiency, Accountability and Performance Fund (L.E.A.P. Fund); a $1.5 million fund to advance costs of a performance audit to state agencies and local governments that might otherwise not be able to afford to have one conducted. Costs will be repaid the following year from the savings reaped from the audit’s recommendations and sown again into new performance audits.
 
The Senate bill mirrors House Bill 2 sponsored by former State Representative Todd Snitchler (R-Uniontown) and Representative Peter Stautberg (R-Anderson Township).
 
“I greatly appreciate the leadership of the General Assembly on this important issue,” said Auditor Yost. “Performance audits drive better, leaner government based on objective measures and preserve scarce resources for priority programs.”

The Auditor of State is one of five independently elected offices under the Ohio Constitution. Auditor Yost’s office is responsible for auditing over 5,600 state and local government agencies. Staff also works in partnership with state and local governments to deal effectively with financial, accounting and budgetary issues.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
(614) 728-7198