Olympia, WA - 2/7/02 - The Evergreen Freedom Foundation will hosted a press conference in the Senate Rules Room to discuss the startling findings of the State Auditor’s annual report.

Among the facts revealed by the State Auditor’s report:

+ The last year of the budget cycle - long before September 11th - the state spent $1.1 billion more than its actual revenue.

+ $275,121 in fraud was uncovered at state agencies in 2000-01.

+ Only 30% of the 160 agencies surveyed are complying with a 1996 law mandating that every agency have an internal audit function.

+ Individuals ineligible to receive health insurance subsidies are asking for and receiving them anyway. The Health Care Authority does not know how much it overpaid to individuals.

+ On July 2, 2001 $46,552 in checks were discovered missing from DSHS. No reason has been given and the funds have not been found.

+ The Liquor Board cannot properly account for $421 million in sales.

+ Drugs at Western State Psychiatric Hospital are missing or have been misappropriated.

+ For the 14th year in a row, money collected from ferry passengers cannot be accounted for.

Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, addressed these findings and discuss how they relate to the current budget crisis.

For more information, click here: www.effwa.org

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