GOP leaders defend shutdown of nonpartisan unit that targeted NC waste, fraud, abuse
The North Carolina legislature’s nonpartisan division tasked with evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of public services is being dissolved, Republican leaders confirmed after a former staffer broke the news on Twitter this week.
The nearly 15-year-old unit said to have saved the state millions, known as the Program Evaluation Division, has more than a dozen staffers. They will be replaced by partisan staff tasked with similar duties in the coming weeks. Legislative leaders did not say whether staff would be laid off or transferred.
Most state legislatures have a similar division — often sheltered from political influence — with a mandate of assisting lawmakers with oversight and accountability.
North Carolina was one of the last states to create such a unit. Eliminating it would put the state back in the minority of state legislatures without one.
The goal in eliminating it, however, is to improve efficiency when it comes to exposing problems and finding solutions within the government, House Speaker Tim Moore’s spokesperson, Joseph Kyzer said in a phone interview Wednesday.
“Lawmakers feel that a lot of these problems aren’t being addressed in a timely or satisfactory way,” Kyzer said. “We are intent on getting effective oversight and reform that makes timely fixes to state government that benefits taxpayers.”
Eliminating the Program Evaluation Division will also remove “bureaucratic red tape” in the oversight process, Kyzer said.
The committee that currently oversees the division — the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Governmental Operations — also has a mandate similar to the unit’s, Senate leader Phil Berger’s spokesperson, Lauren Horsch, said in an email Wednesday.
Horsch also said the committee has more teeth than the unit.
State Senate Democratic Whip Jay Chaudhuri, of Raleigh, said the decision was made without Democratic input.
PED frustrated some
Democrats aren’t alone in their discontent with the sudden change.
Former Republican Rep. Craig Horn, who worked closely with the division as a chair of the committee that oversees it, said he was disappointed in the decision to eliminate the division.
“Transparency wasn’t always in the best interest of some,” Horn said. “To me that is the very essence of what we’re to do. That was our charge. When you start stepping on toes, people scream. I’m not surprised there was some considerable pressure on legislative leadership to put PED out of business.”
Established in 2007 after receiving unanimous support from the General Assembly, the Program Evaluation Division was led by John Turcotte until his retirement in September and has produced well over 100 reports. It operates like Congress’s U.S. Government Accountability Office, evaluating agencies or programs at the request of legislators.
Though the unit was created by law, legislators aren’t necessarily required to use it, Horsch said.
Turcotte announced on Twitter Monday morning the elimination of the division, saying since its inception, it has saved the state some $38.6 million annually, plus an additional $37.7 million.
The elimination of the unit will save the legislature some $2 million annually, Turcotte said.
“My concern is that we’ve got a system of government now that is depending too much on belief and not on science and not on evidence,” Turcotte said.
Division staffers have a wealth of public policy experience; at least three staffers have PhDs, and two are lawyers. Many previously worked for state agencies. All evaluators hold advanced degrees or are certified or licensed professionals, according to the division’s website.
“I found PED to be very useful,” said former Republican Rep. Chuck McGrady. “It helped me solve problems where we didn’t have full time staff to do the types of studies that really need to be the predicate for legislation that might need to be filed.
But the division also sparked frustration among both lawmakers and state agencies.
In one case, Horn said, the unit found the Department of Administration was selling laptops instead of providing them to needy students.
The department was “not very happy with PED for uncovering many of the examples of waste, fraud and abuse,” Horn said.
For every problem the division uncovered, it would also recommend a remedy to address the issues discovered, Horn said, though even he didn’t always agree with the proposal.
“Just because PED uncovered it and proposed wording for a bill doesn’t make it law,” Horn said. “All the agencies still had the opportunity to come and fight their battles with the General Assembly.”
Horn said he has contacted legislative leaders about the elimination.
“I see it as a mistake,” Horn said. “I don’t think that it’s in the best interest of either the General Assembly or the people of the state.”
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This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 10:26 AM with the headline "GOP leaders defend shutdown of nonpartisan unit that targeted NC waste, fraud, abuse."
