LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley and government watchdog group Common Cause are among those concerned that a bill being pushed by the University of Nebraska would put taxpayers in the dark.
Under the measure (LB674) from Sen. Danielle Nantkes of Lincoln, some documents generated during internal audits conducted by the university would not be considered public.
University officials said the bill is primarily needed to ensure the names of whistleblowers are kept secret to encourage them to come forward. Under an amendment to the bill, they said that public documents would not be made private just because they became part of an audit.
Currently, whistleblowers who might expose fraud or other financial wrongdoing cannot be assured that they will have anonymity, said NU lobbyist Ron Withem. So-called “working papers,” that might reveal the names of whistleblowers can currently be made public.
“The university takes seriously its obligation…to use tax dollars wisely and be open about how it’s done,” Withem said.
Nantkes said the bill would “make it possible for persons who see taxpayer dollars being wasted to tell someone about it,” and not worry about their name being made public.
She added that the bill would put the university’s rules in line with other auditors, including Foley.
But Foley said the comparison is flawed. Internal auditors like those at the University of Nebraska are vulnerable to hiding documents because they are employed by the same groups they are supposed to audit for possible wrongdoing.
He asked that the bill include an amendment that would make working papers remain public. He pointed out that the university receives nearly $500 million a year in state tax dollars.
“The citizens of our state who supply those funds deserve a full accounting of how their dollars spent,” Foley said.
Jack Gould of Common Cause Nebraska said the group opposed the bill because the university “has not been forthcoming in the past with requests for public documents.”
He described an exhaustive, four-year attempt by the group from 1998 to 2002 to track money the university spent on lobbying that was successful only after legal action was threatened.
Nantkes balked at suggestions that the university wanted the bill to keep people in the dark.
“There’s not any insidious intent here,” she said.
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