Imagine a business the size of Washington state without a chief financial officer.
Unlikely as it may seem, that's exactly the scenario in which Washington finds itself, State Auditor Brian Sonntag said Thursday at AWB's weekly Lobby Lunch meeting.
Although there is an Office of Financial Management, it's a budget office, Sonntag said, and not one with the powers of a true chief financial officer.
As the state struggles to balance its budget following the recession, adding an office with that capability is just one several things that officials could do to better prepare for the future, he said.
Plenty more ideas could emerge soon as the Auditor's Office works through a plan to evaluate 30 state government programs between now and June 2013.
The programs include major components of the state's education, social service and health-care systems, as well as the workers' compensation system.
Reforming workers' comp ranked high on the business community's legislative agenda going into the 2010 legislative session, and the issue gained urgency when Sonntag's office released an audit showing that part of the system was in danger of becoming insolvent soon.
Even so, lawmakers will not act this year on workers' comp.
The performance audit work plan is the result of Initiative 900, the successful 2005 measure that gave the Auditor's Office the authority to conduct performance audits.
The plan represents a more refined approach to the audits, but the goal has always been to make make government more efficient, Sonntag said.
"It's not a gotcha," he said. "Our mission, really, is to help governments do a better job."
As evidence of success, Sonntag noted that despite the push-back that often comes from officials from agencies that are the subject of an audit, the overall compliance rate with his office's recommendations is better than 86 percent.
As lawmakers struggle to balance the state budget following the recession, Sonntag said they need to take a big-picture view and be willing to consider any and all ideas.
Regarding state-run liquor stores, he reiterated his belief that Washington does not need to be in the business of selling booze. That does not mean it cannot continue to regulate liquor.
Sonntag said officials went about the process of developing "priorities of government" backwards. They traveled around the state sharing the priorities with people after they compiled them, instead of meeting with people first and asking for their opinion.
And Sonntag joined with some others in saying he does not believe that the state's finances will return to pre-recession levels any time soon.
"We're going to be in a different place," he said. "State government needs to recognize that and do things differently."
