The Auditor General serves as the fiscal watchdog for Pennsylvanians. The office investigates the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded programs by ensuring that money is being spent properly and that the programs are producing results.
Below are key areas that I will focus on as Auditor General.
Finding savings.
Given the incredible budgetary strain facing Pennsylvanians in recent years, the office of Auditor General is even more critical. I will run audits that will identify any wasteful and inefficient spending that can be eliminated, freeing up money for critical programs. My record in identifying savings is clear—I kept my legislator expenses so low that I returned more than $36,000 in unused taxpayer money to the state.
Improving job creation.
The most important issue for Pennsylvania is job creation. I will consistently audit all economic development programs in order to identify those that are succeeding and those that are not so that we can either revise or eliminate them. We need to get the results that taxpayers deserve and our economy requires.
Protecting the environment.
On my first day in office as your Auditor General, I will order an immediate performance audit of the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure our constitutional right to pure water has not been compromised by natural gas drilling.
Funding education, health care, and public safety.
While we need to eliminate wasteful spending, we also need to make sure that critical programs have the funding that they need. The enormous cuts last year to education and health care programs are already taking a heavy toll on Pennsylvanians, and now eliminating hundreds of police officers is on the table. I will use the office to not only identify savings but to promote how these savings can be used. For example, I will continually monitor the tobacco settlement funds and all health programs in an effort to find savings so that we can restore the AdultBasic program.
