If state lawmakers wonder why citizens scoff at their promises to not waste tax dollars, consider their treatment of the guy elected to guard the public trough.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag enjoys an independence grounded in Washington’s constitution to monitor those whose hands move freely in the state’s purse.
When he’s not battling the Department of Social and Health Services on Medicaid, he’s tracking down reasons for receipts turned in by thousands of workers.
The Democrat won a fourth term in November with more votes and by a wider margin than any other candidate for statewide office.
Though it seems he’s rich with political capital, his clout is less apparent. The governor is proposing to cut his budget, state senators eased him from his historic office in the state Capitol and lawmakers won’t pass his proposals for reform.
Budget authors insist no one singled Sonntag out. Everyone must survive on less because of the state’s budget deficit.
Yet, other major departments will get more dollars and Sonn-tag’s budget will shrink. Two years ago, he lost $1 million and he axed 10 positions. Gov. Gary Locke proposes a $500,000 cut this time around, a move that Sonntag said arrived “without explanation or justification and without reason.”
Here’s one: Less money means fewer embarrassing audits. Taxpayers want to know every detail, but those in power may be reticent to share. Do any of us really want to be audited?
For a pure symbolic smack-down, consider Sonntag’s expulsion from the elegant Capitol, the epicenter of government, a place where he most needs to be seen.
When architects designed the building in the early 1920s, they penciled in four offices for posterity – the governor, secretary of state, treasurer and auditor.
But the Nisqually earthquake drove everyone out. In the rebuilding, state Senate leaders and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen made an offer that Sonntag didn’t refuse. He’s off to the building next door and Owen now occupies his old digs.
It all baffles Jason Mercier of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a purveyor of conservative thought, critic of lawmaker spending choices and a Sonntag fan.
He surmised the auditor hit a political tripwire with a January review of monies spent at the governor’s mansion. In it, the auditor questioned whether spending on 20 events, including the governor’s holiday office lunch, complied with state rules.
“It does look like there’s been a concentrated effort in reaction to that management letter,” Mercier said.
Sonntag offers no explanation. “I can’t offer a good guess.”
Lawmakers will soon get another chance to demonstrate their resolve for protecting tax dollars from misuse.
In the coming legislative session, Sonntag will push for performance audits that compare what agencies spend against services they deliver. The aim is to root out wasteful programs. Attempts to pass such a law failed in each of the last two years
“Taxpayers want us to account for every dollar,” Sonntag said.
Time will tell if he’ll be allowed to do his job.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 7 a.m. Monday on the “Morning Show” on KSER (90.7 FM). He can be reached at 360 352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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