HARRISBURG, Pa. - There is a surplus of $118.4 million in the General Assembly. In the 2017-2018 Pennsylvania state budget there is a deficit of billions of dollars. The Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale. would like to complete an audit of the General Assembly to see if the surplus money can be used in a better way. Under Pennsylvania law the Auditor General does not have the authority to complete an audit of the General Assembly without permission. The General Assembly is audited, but hires its own auditors. DePasquale says he feels he could be more transparent and give a recommendation for how much money is saved in case of a budget stalemate. He would further like to see if too much money is being put away and if it could be used to fix other issues.
"I don't know how you can simply say we are going to look at closing a state prison. We are going to look at people with mental disabilities and potentially remove some of their healthcare and not touch that $118 million," said DePasquale.
He does not have a timeline of when he maybe approved to complete the audit, but says if and when approval comes through it will be a top priority.