Yesterday Senate Leader Phil Berger filed a bill creating the Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency in the State Auditor’s office. Further, the bill requires the DAVE to review every state agency’s spending and staffing levels to get a complete picture of how they’re utilizing taxpayer funds and determine if the agency should continue to exist.
Senate Bill 474, “The DAVE Act,” is sponsored by Sens. Berger, Tim Moffitt, and Steve Jarvis.
The bill requires each state agency to report to the DAVE on how the agency spends taxpayer funds and detail all positions that have been vacant for six months or more. The State Auditor will then report back to the General Assembly about whether any state agencies and/or divisions or offices within an agency should be dissolved and whether any positions should be eliminated.
“We want our state agencies to work as hard as the citizens that fund them,” Sen. Berger said. “Taking a comprehensive look at state agency spending and staffing to determine if they’re working effectively and efficiently is the right thing to do. If they won’t hold themselves accountable, then the General Assembly will.”
Additionally, the DAVE Act gives the State Auditor the ability to utilize artificial intelligence and other tools to examine an agency’s spending, including the effectiveness of the spending, duplicative spending, and the fiscal soundness of the agency.
“It’s past time for a full-scale examination of state government operations,” Sen. Moffitt said. “As a business owner, I know how important it is to look for savings in every nook and cranny you can. This review will give us a better idea of how we can more effectively run the state and serve our citizens.”
Sen. Jarvis said, “We want North Carolinians to know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely, and this audit will shed much-needed light on agency operations. It’s imperative that we take a critical look at what those tax dollars are being used for so we can root out any waste and get rid of any bureaucratic bloat.”
