Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Huge federal reimbursements to DPS boosted agency budget

LBB just told the House Appropriations Criminal Justice Subcommittee that the Texas Department of Public Safety's budget declined 40% from 2005 to 2006 primarily because of federal reimbursements for 2005 expenditures due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. DPS is a huge agency with around 7,500 employees, so that's a big influx of money.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see an audit of how those funds were spent? What lessons could be learned through such an audit that might help do a better job next time? I mean, remember all those motorists stranded on the highways during Hurricane Rita? However they spent the money, obviously it was a) a huge amount and b) could have been spent more effectively.

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