State Auditor Les Merritt - North Carolina

Reserve funds spent by legislative leaders without adequate review need a further look from the state attorney general

Thanks to State Auditor Les Merritt, North Carolinians have an unvarnished, by-the-numbers look at how three powerful members of the General Assembly spent $14 million in reserve funds from the state budget as if they ruled from thrones and not the people's chairs.

Merritt has sent his report to Attorney General Roy Cooper, who ought to review this unseemly practice and offer his own legal opinion about it. The reasons that is important include the fact that, as Merritt said, the reserve funds were put in the budget at the last minute when they could not be reviewed by the public. And the money was essentially appropriated to three state agencies just to be held until powerful lawmakers decided how they wanted the funds spent.

In other words, this was a sort of shell game. The Department of Cultural Resources got some of the money, but didn't spend it because department officials, presumably, knew the funds were to be divided under the authority of Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, Democrat of Manteo, and House leaders Jim Black (Democrat of Matthews) and Richard Morgan (Republican of Moore County). Black and Morgan were co-speakers during the formation of last year's budget.

The budget theme song chorus apparently was, "We Three Kings of Jones Street are/bearing gifts we traveled so far."

Basnight controlled $6.5 million, Black $4.6 million and Morgan $2.9 million. Oh, make no mistake. The money went to nonprofits and agencies in need. Worthy causes and all that. The problem is the way the money was handled, as if it were a perk of power for legislative leaders.

That's an insult to taxpayers. Appropriations should go through the review of all legislators, and win approval on merit, not based on whether a given organization is in favor with the big guns on Jones Street.

It's also a reckless way to do the state's business. Two of the agencies told the auditors that they had no plans to monitor how the money was spent, which makes sense why would an agency want to cross some of the most powerful men in state government?

It's also troubling that so many millions of dollars were put in the reserves when a number of critical government programs were cut in a tight budget.

Merritt has gone as far as he could, but he wisely passes the baton to Cooper. The A.G. owes it to state residents to take Merritt's handoff and give this unacceptable practice a good going-over. Beyond the questions of simple propriety in the spending of public funds, it would seem there might be separation of powers issues as well.

A full airing might soothe the public's faith in government, assuming that the leaders were prepared to swear off this kind of stuff. Because the real message is: It's not your money, guys. And don't forget that.