In the News
Dave Yost: State doesn’t need new class of felonies
The Columbus Dispatch | Dave Yost In the classic comedy Animal House, the dean of Faber College is informed of the latest outrage perpetrated by the problem Delta fraternity house, and he declares he has had enough. When informed that the fraternity is already on probation, he hesitates, and then thunders: “Well, as of this
Read moreRead moreOhio auditor: Closed Columbus charter school owes state $340,000
The Columbus Dispatch | Catherine Candisky A North Side charter school that shut its doors in 2015, stranding about 300 students, has not repaid the $340,770 it owes the state, according to an audit released Thursday by state Auditor Dave Yost. The FCI Academy was closed in August 2015, just prior to the start of
Read moreRead moreYost supports move for stricter oversight of state spending on unbid IT contracts
The Columbus Dispatch | Randy Ludlow Saying that state spending on information-technology consultants and contract workers has more than doubled in five years, Auditor Dave Yost supports a budget proposal that would require state agencies to seek bids on all such contracts. A provision inserted into the state budget bill by Rep. Keith Faber, R-Celina,
Read moreRead moreAuditor Dave Yost digging into no-bid state contracts after Dispatch stories
The Columbus Dispatch | Randy Ludlow Expressing concern about public officials’ unwillingness to justify spending, state Auditor Dave Yost has instructed his staff to gather “additional facts” about millions of dollars in no-bid state contracts uncovered by The Dispatch. An investigation by The Dispatch, published Sunday, revealed that Ohio Department of Administrative Services officials have
Read moreRead moreSen. Sherrod Brown Wants A Liberal Legislator On The Supreme Court
The Daily Caller | Auditor of State Dave Yost Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown announced his opposition to the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court almost before the words were out of the President Trump’s mouth. He should reconsider and pay more attention to the people of Ohio than the Washington, D.C. shrieking
Read moreRead moreCorrectional facility employees accused of misspending money on liquor, travel, strip club
The Columbus Dispatch | Dean Narciso Employees of a southern Ohio correctional facility misspent more than $20,000 in public funds, forged receipts and stole property, state investigators have found. A special audit of the STAR Community Justice Center in Scioto County by the Ohio Auditor’s office that began in 2015 showed that 11 employees —
Read moreRead more357 Ohio governments violated public records law in 2016, auditor says
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Jackie Borchardt COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials in hundreds of Ohio cities, villages, school districts and other local governments did not receive public records training or follow other parts of Ohio’s public records law requirements, according to Ohio Auditor Dave Yost’s office. State auditors issued 414 public records-related citations to 357 public entities in
Read moreRead moreOhio Republicans urge Sherrod Brown not to block Neil Gorsuch vote
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Jeremy Pelzer COLUMBUS, Ohio–Ohio Republicans on Wednesday urged U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown to rethink his opposition to Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and allow a Senate confirmation vote. “There’s an old proverb that says a fool judges a matter before he’s heard it,” said state Auditor Dave Yost, a candidate for
Read moreRead more4 Northeast Ohio providers owe Medicaid department more than $1 million, state auditor says
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Jackie Borchardt COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four Northeast Ohio Medicaid providers together must pay back more than $1 million in overpayments, says Ohio Auditor Dave Yost. Much of that was received by G.S. Burton Development in Summit County. State auditors calculated $895,617 in overpayments were made to Burton for errors that occurred between
Read moreRead moreOhio bill would add photo ID to food-stamp cards
The Toledo Blade | Jim Provance COLUMBUS — State-issued electronic food-stamp cards would include photos of their primary beneficiaries under a bill that is aimed primarily at those who trade the federally funded cards for cash or drugs. States such as Maine and Massachusetts already have moved in this direction. “This is one of the
Read moreRead moreEditorial: A checkup for fiscal health
The Columbus Dispatch No one can see the future, but there are ways to get an inkling of where things are headed. Leading indicators have been used for decades by economists, business people and policy makers to try to project where an economy, an industry or a business is likely to head in the near
Read moreRead moreOhio auditor warning cities, counties headed for financial cliff
The Columbus Dispatch | Dean Narciso, Jim Siegel Things aren’t all bad for Ohio’s counties and cities, but some are in danger of falling off a financial cliff, according to a new analysis by state Auditor Dave Yost designed to predict future budget troubles. Yost unveiled new searchable online reports Wednesday that scores Ohio’s 247
Read moreRead moreAuditor Dave Yost announces run for Ohio attorney general
The Columbus Dispatch | Randy Ludlow As long expected, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost has announced his campaign for the Republican nomination for attorney general in 2018. “As a former prosecutor, and as your auditor of state, I have fought to find the truth and to bring forth justice,” Yost said in a Tuesday statement. “I will continue
Read moreRead moreOhio House agrees on new rules for removing officials who act improperly with taxpayer money
The Repository | Robert Wang The Ohio House on Tuesday approved Senate changes to a local legislator’s bill that provides a new process to remove a county auditor or treasurer for misconduct. The bill is in response to a legal battle to remove then-Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler in 2010 and 2011. House Bill 10,
Read moreRead moreOhio Auditor urges local governments to shore up fraud protection
Columbus Business First | Doug Buchanan Ohio Auditor Dave Yost wants local governments to consider investing in better fraud protection. Specifically, he’s recommending they consider adding a service at their bank called Positive Pay to safeguard against check fraud. Positive Pay allows customers to provide a list of checks scheduled for payment, with the bank withholding payments for any
Read moreRead moreState audit: food stamps issued to 36 dead people
WKYC | Amir Samarghandi Dead people, duplicates and out-of-state purchases were just some of the fraudulent activities discovered in an audit of Ohio’s food stamp program, according to a release by State Auditor David Yost. Yost’s audit of Ohio’s $2.5 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) released Tuesday found weaknesses — including $24,406 for dead
Read moreRead moreAnti-monopoly amendment clears Ohio House panel
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Jackie Borchardt COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio House panel gave initial approval Tuesday to a constitutional amendment that would prevent monopolies from being written in the state constitution and block ResponsibleOhio’s plan to legalize marijuana this fall. House Joint Resolution 4 cleared the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee and now heads to a
Read moreRead moreState auditor: Buckeye Valley allowed public money to back bond levy
The Columbus Dispatch | Dean Narciso A public-relations firm should not have used public money to promote a bond levy campaign for the Buckeye Valley Local School District last year and school officials should not have allowed it, the Ohio auditor’s office has ruled. According to an audit released on Thursday by Auditor Dave Yost,
Read moreRead moreYost to host charter summit to help operators with rules
The Columbus Dispatch | Catherine Candisky Ohio Auditor Dave Yost says he supports charter schools but it hasn’t stopped him from being tough on many of the privately operated schools for improperly spending the millions in tax dollars they receive each year. This summer he will host a statewide Charter School Summit, Aug. 11-12 in
Read moreRead moreOhio is paying charter schools for kids that aren’t in class, Auditor Yost finds
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Patrick O’Donnell COLUMBUS, Ohio – The state continues paying charter schools, particularly dropout recovery schools, to educate students who don’t show up to class, state Auditor David Yost said Monday. A series of unannounced visits to charter and traditional district schools in November by Yost’s staff found that on average, only one of
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