Audits are supposed to lead to action. But the California legislature routinely ignores negative audits of state government agencies.

Every year, the California State Auditor, a nonpartisan watchdog, conducts dozens of audits to root out waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, and mismanagement across state government. 

Some of these audits are requested directly by the legislature. Others begin with whistleblower complaints from inside agencies. All of them are paid for by taxpayers, and each one is intended to serve as a roadmap for fixing what is broken in California’s government.

But a troubling recent report suggests that the legislature ignores about three in four audit recommendations.

Think about that. The state of California spends time and money identifying its own failures, lays out specific steps to correct them — and then largely ignores the advice.

The legislature is supposed to oversee the executive branch. Oversight is not optional. It is how we ensure that programs are working, dollars are being spent wisely, and agencies are........

© New York Post