Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Fiscal Accountability

$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement
CBS Colorado, State

$29M in errors, 30% staff vacancy: Audit uncovers years Colorado prison system budget mismanagement

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado An audit of the Colorado Department of Corrections has uncovered "erroneous information and incorrect calculations" over four years of budget requests reviewed. An independent third party conducted the audit that resulted in nearly three dozen recommended changes. CDOC Executive Director Moses "Andre" Stancil told the state's Joint Budget Committee he agrees with the recommendations in the 101-page report that found CDOC's approach to budgeting is unlike any other prison system in the country, and not in a good way. "Everything has been such a fluid mess over the years," said budget writer and Republican state Rep. Rick Taggert of Grand Junction. The audit found CDOC's budget requests have had "inaccurate, incomplete, and inco...
“Thank you, President Trump”: Musk exits DOGE, $175B saved—says mission will endure
Approved, Daily Wire, National

“Thank you, President Trump”: Musk exits DOGE, $175B saved—says mission will endure

By Hank Berrien | Daily Wire “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government”  On Wednesday night, Elon Musk made it clear that the reason he was leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project was due to a rule limiting special government employees to 130 days of service rather than any rumored feud with President Donald Trump. This week, Musk publicly criticized the tax and spending package championed by Trump, saying, “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.” Musk’s departure from government work coincides with his recent remarks indicating he would focus m...
Walcher: Want to fix Congress? Break the budget process first
Approved, Commentary, GregWalcher.com, National

Walcher: Want to fix Congress? Break the budget process first

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A popular blogger called Taylor Cone gave some great advice for budding inventors, discussing the process of prototyping: build it, then break it, then fix it. That’s a strategy Congress ought to try. The House Appropriations Committee, Congress’s most powerful panel, has 63 members, only 8 of whom have ever voted to do what the law requires of them, namely, to pass 12 appropriation bills to fund government agencies and programs. In fact, Congress has passed the required bills on time only 4 times in the last 40 years, the last time 26 years ago. Only 25 of the 435 House members and 8 of the 100 Senators were even in Congress then, all of them now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. They may not even remember how it was supposed to work. The b...