State Auditor Elaine Howle oversees the department that gives independent evaluations of state government activities… One unit— for whistleblowers—gives state workers the opportunity to confidentially report abuse or misuse of state taxpayer dollars or functions.  

Howle says new legislation will expand those protections to auditors in individual departments—who have previously not been able to report that their recommendations have been ignored by management. 

“We think that’s going to be another function that will end up with more efficient government programs out there, departments that are more conscious of the use of taxpayer dollars and hopefully end up with more prudent use of public money…” 

Howle says she expects the new law will result in more allegations coming to her office for potential review—and she says it will likely be necessary to beef up the number of investigators in the coming year to deal with the volume of complaints.