April 29, 1999
The meeting of the Legislative Audit Commission Topic Selection Subcommittee was called to order by Representative Dan McElroy on Thursday, April 29, 1999 at 7:50 a.m. in Room 400 South, State Office Building.
Members Present:
| Representative Lynda Boudreau | Senator Sheila Kiscaden |
| Representative Phil Carruthers | Senator David Knutson |
| Representative Chris Gerlach | Senator Claire Robling |
| Representative Mindy Greiling | Senator Deanna Wiener |
| Representative Phil Krinkie | |
| Representative Peggy Leppik | |
| Representative Dan McElroy | |
Members Not Present:
| Representative Kris Hasskamp | Senator William Belanger, Jr. |
| Representative Mary Jo McGuire | Senator Dave Johnson |
| Representative Wes Skoglund | Senator Keith Langseth |
| Senator James Metzen | |
| Senator Thomas Neuville | |
| Senator Ember Reichgott Junge |
Inasmuch as a quorum was not present when the meeting was called to order, Representative McElroy indicated a presentation on the fire services best practices review would be given first.
Representative McElroy recognized Jody Hauer, project manager for the fire services best practices review. Ms. Hauer introduced evaluation specialists who worked on the study, Valerie Bombach and Caryn Mohr. Ms. Hauer reviewed reasons for conducting the study, background, services provided by different fire departments, and reviewed two major recommendations contained in the report. She indicated that copies of the full report were sent to the fire chief in all 800 fire departments around the state, and each city manager received a summary. In addition, she will be writing articles for a number of fire services publications and speaking at a number of meetings. Ms. Hauer answered questions from members.
With a quorum present, Representative McElroy recognized Roger Brooks, Deputy Legislative Auditor for Program Evaluation. Mr. Brooks reviewed the evaluation proposals for seven topics, along with the results of a survey of legislators. He suggested the Commission select four large studies; that three would begin now and one could begin later plus a smaller one that could be done during the interim. He noted that staff have started work on the topic of welfare reform chosen at a previous meeting. He answered questions from members concerning scope and focus of the various topics.
Staff were directed to conduct program evaluation studies of state parks management, school district finances, state mandates, and state employee compensation. They were also directed to prepare a status report on the higher education system merger that resulted in MnSCU and to present the topic of K-12 school building preventive maintenance to the Best Practices Advisory Council as a possible best practices review.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
Representative Dan McElroy, Chair
Jean Barnhill, Recording Secretary
