STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP’S office is legally required to audit 210 agencies every three years, but she has fallen short of that mark 29 times recently.
Three cabinet-level agencies — energy and environmental affairs, housing and economic development, and labor and workforce development — were all supposed to be audited two-and-a-half years ago, but they haven’t been done yet.
The Board of Bar Examiners, which tests individuals on their competency to become lawyers, was supposed to be audited over five years ago, but the board remains unaudited.
The auditor missed the deadlines for the Office of the State Comptroller (February 2017), UMass Boston and UMass Medical School (May 2017), the Board of Registration in Medicine (July 2017), and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (December 2017). June deadlines were missed for the Department of Revenue, the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, the Department of Youth Services, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, and the Appeals Court.
Bump’s spokesman issued a statement saying audits sometimes become more “protracted” than expected. “Since taking office, Auditor Bump has prioritized the quality and impact of the audits conducted by the office,” the statement said.
Jim Stergios, the executive director of the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank, said the missed deadlines may help explain why problems in state government go uncovered for a long time.
“Without such checks being done on a routine basis, we should not be surprised by the problems we see now with the State Police, and previously at agencies like the Department of Children and Families,” he said.