Photo via Gage Skidmore
By Kiera Riley | State Affairs
How Superintendent Tom Horne answers a list of questions from the Attorney General’s Office on Empowerment Scholarship Account auditing practices may determine whether Kris Mayes ultimately sues for a public monies violation, she told reporters Tuesday.
On Jan. 23, Nathan Arrowsmith, deputy chief counsel for the Solicitor General’s Office, followed up with the department for further information and next steps on a public monies investigation into the auditing and oversight practices for the ESA program.
Arrowsmith asked the department to implement more robust risk assessments for prohibited purchases at the front end and to discreetly adjust the dollar threshold for the department’s automatic purchase process at the back end.
Beyond that, he requested a follow-up meeting to discuss the program’s risk-based auditing procedure, additional information on current purchase review and audit procedures, and a list of accounts the department has suspended for misspending so far.
