News 14 Carolina

 

July 6, 2005

 

Attorney general reviewing Legislature audit findings

North Carolina's attorney general is reviewing a state auditor's report on the $14 million in accounts controlled by three top legislators last year.

Auditor Les Merritt asked Cooper to look at constitutional and other legal issues involving the funds.

Merritt's 83-page report sheds light on a budget process that gave rank-and-file lawmakers little time to review the new accounts when they were created last July. It also explains how the state came to hire a political ally of House Speaker Jim Black.

The attorney general plans to issue a legal opinion, but no timetable has been set.

The money was part of $4.6 million in "reserve funds" at Black's discretion in the state's 2004-2005 budget. The budget also included millions controlled by Senate leader Marc Basnight and then-Co-Speaker Richard Morgan.

Critics called the accounts "slush funds" reminiscent of pork barrel spending often abused by lawmakers.