00                            SENATE BILL NO. 259                                                                         
01 "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the legislative audit division."                                           
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 24.20.271 is amended to read:                                                                      
04            Sec. 24.20.271. Powers [AND DUTIES]. The legislative audit division                                        
05       [SHALL]                                                                                                           
06                 (1)  shall conduct a performance post-audit of boards and commissions                               
07       designated in AS 44.66.010 and of those programs and activities of agencies subject to                            
08       termination as determined in the manner set out in AS 44.66.020 and 44.66.030, and                                
09       make the audit, together with a written report, available to the legislature not later than                       
10       the first day of the regular session of the legislature convening in each year set out                            
11       with reference to boards, commissions, or agency programs whose activities are                                    
12       subject to termination as prescribed in AS 44.66; the division shall notify the                                   
13       legislature that the audit and report are available;                                                              
14                 (2)  shall audit at least once every three years the books and accounts                             
15       of all custodians of public funds and all disbursing officers of the state;                                       

01                 (3)  shall, at the direction of the Legislative Budget and Audit                                    
02       Committee, conduct performance post-audits on any agency of state government;                                     
03                 (4)  shall cooperate with state agencies by offering advice and                                     
04       assistance as requested in establishing or improving the accounting systems used by                               
05       state agencies;                                                                                                   
06                 (5)  shall require the assistance and cooperation of all state officials and                        
07       other state employees in the inspection, examination, and audit of state agency books                             
08       and accounts;                                                                                                     
09                 (6)  shall have access at all times to the books, accounts, reports, or                             
10       other records, whether confidential or not, of every state agency;                                                
11                 (7)  shall ascertain, as necessary for audit verification, the amount of                            
12       agency funds on deposit in any bank as shown on the books of the bank; no bank may                                
13       be held liable for making information required under this paragraph available to the                              
14       legislative audit division;                                                                                       
15                 (8)  shall complete studies and prepare reports, memoranda, or other                                
16       materials as directed by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee;                                              
17                 (9)  shall have direct access to any information related to the                                     
18       management of the University of Alaska and have the same right of access as exists                                
19       with respect to every other state agency;                                                                         
20                 (10)  shall conduct an audit every two years of information found in the                            
21       annual reports required under AS 42.05.211 and AS 42.06.220 regarding compliance                                  
22       by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with the requirements of AS 42.05.175(a) -                                 
23       (e) and of the timeline extensions made by the commission under AS 42.05.175(f),                                  
24       and of other performance measures adopted by the commission;                                                  
25                 (11)  may perform an audit of the money received by an                                              
26       organization from or through the state when the performance of the audit is                                   
27       approved by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee.