{"wire":"Apollo","description":"A wholesale wire of verified report digests off the BlackLeaf/Artemis public-record pool. Each digest carries the report's confirmed facts, recomputed figures, and the hash to cite.","home":"https://blackleaf.app/apollo","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","total":704,"totalVerified":542,"returned":50,"digests":[{"schema":1,"id":"century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar","slug":"century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"A Florida Town's Payroll Fund Owes $6.9M It Never Recorded","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-fl","date":"2026-03-13","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://flauditor.gov/pages/mun_efile%20rpts/2024%20century.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar-century-fl-afr-2024","title":"Town of Century, Florida -- Annual Financial Report, September 30, 2024","sourceUrl":"https://flauditor.gov/pages/mun_efile%20rpts/2024%20century.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"23d0acdf9294d3ef99bcc6b8faee4654b7927293aba2b96a6f7fcba847f17dd7","servable":"full","bytes":1025029,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T04:20:21.441Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar-century-fl-afr-2024/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722042020/https://flauditor.gov/pages/mun_efile%20rpts/2024%20century.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official annual financial report from Florida Auditor (FY2024)","gradedBy":"haiku-pass1-v1","gradedAt":"2026-07-22T04:21:58Z"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar-century-fl-afr-2024","title":"Town of Century, Florida -- Annual Financial Report, September 30, 2024","sourceUrl":"https://flauditor.gov/pages/mun_efile%20rpts/2024%20century.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"23d0acdf9294d3ef99bcc6b8faee4654b7927293aba2b96a6f7fcba847f17dd7","servable":"full","bytes":1025029,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T04:20:21.441Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar-century-fl-afr-2024/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722042020/https://flauditor.gov/pages/mun_efile%20rpts/2024%20century.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official annual financial report from Florida Auditor (FY2024)","gradedBy":"haiku-pass1-v1","gradedAt":"2026-07-22T04:21:58Z"}}],"classification":{"j-city":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.9},"labels":["florida-municipal","annual-financial-report","payroll","fund-deficit","municipal-audit","century-fl","fy2024","auditor-report"],"whyItMatters":"The Town of Century, Florida's independent auditor could not render an opinion on its fiscal 2024 financial statements at all, citing internal-control failures the Town has left unfixed for years. Underneath that disclaimer, the Town's own numbers show its unrestricted net position deficit growing by $7.3 million in a single year -- driven in large part by a Payroll Fund that owes three other Town funds $6.9 million, debt the audit says was never recorded as a receivable on the Town's books.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":16,"claims":[{"id":"disclaimer-of-opinion","text":"HCT Certified Public Accountants & Consultants, LLC issued a disclaimer of opinion on the Town of Century's fiscal 2024 financial statements, stating it could not obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to form an opinion at all.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We do not express an opinion on the financial statements of the Town referred to above. Because of the significance of the matter described in the Basis for Disclaimer of Opinions section of our report, we have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on the financial statements.","locator":"Independent Auditor's Report, Disclaimer of Opinions / Basis for Disclaimer of Opinions, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"gov-unrestricted-deficit-fy24","text":"As of September 30, 2024, the Town's governmental activities carried a deficit of $9,716,508 in unrestricted net position.","value":9716508,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"The Town has a remaining deficit balance of $9.7 million in unrestricted net position.","locator":"Management's Discussion and Analysis, Financial Highlights, p.6; Government-wide Financial Analysis table, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"gov-unrestricted-deficit-fy23","text":"A year earlier, as of September 30, 2023, the Town's governmental activities carried a deficit of $2,680,167 in unrestricted net position.","value":2680167,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2023-09-30","quote":null,"locator":"Government-wide Financial Analysis table, p.8 (2023 comparative column)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"total-unrestricted-deficit-fy24","text":"Combining governmental and business-type activities, the Town's total unrestricted net position was a deficit of $9,187,206 as of September 30, 2024.","value":9187206,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":null,"locator":"Statement of Net Position, p.14; Government-wide Financial Analysis table, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"total-unrestricted-deficit-fy23","text":"A year earlier, as of September 30, 2023, the Town's total unrestricted net position (governmental plus business-type activities) was a deficit of $1,878,697.","value":1878697,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2023-09-30","quote":null,"locator":"Government-wide Financial Analysis table, p.8 (2023 comparative column, Total row)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"payroll-fund-debt-total","text":"As of September 30, 2024, the Town's Payroll Fund owed $6,994,328 to three other Town funds -- and none of that debt was recorded as a receivable on the Town's balance sheet or Statement of Net Position.","value":6994328,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, the Payroll Fund has a Due To (payable) balance of $6.9 million from the Natural Gas Fund ($1.6 million); the General Fund ($ 2.1 million); and the Water and Sewer Fund ($3.3 million). These three balances are not recorded as Due From (receivables)) in the Balance Sheet and Statement of Net Position of the Town as of September 30, 2024.","locator":"Note 10, Interfund Balances, p.35 (interfund balance table, Payroll fund row, and accompanying narrative)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"payroll-fund-debt-natural-gas","text":"Of the Payroll Fund's unbooked debt, $1.6 million is owed to the Natural Gas Fund.","value":1.6,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, the Payroll Fund has a Due To (payable) balance of $6.9 million from the Natural Gas Fund ($1.6 million); the General Fund ($ 2.1 million); and the Water and Sewer Fund ($3.3 million).","locator":"Note 10, Interfund Balances, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"payroll-fund-debt-general","text":"Of the Payroll Fund's unbooked debt, $2.1 million is owed to the General Fund.","value":2.1,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, the Payroll Fund has a Due To (payable) balance of $6.9 million from the Natural Gas Fund ($1.6 million); the General Fund ($ 2.1 million); and the Water and Sewer Fund ($3.3 million).","locator":"Note 10, Interfund Balances, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"payroll-fund-debt-water-sewer","text":"Of the Payroll Fund's unbooked debt, $3.3 million is owed to the Water and Sewer Fund.","value":3.3,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, the Payroll Fund has a Due To (payable) balance of $6.9 million from the Natural Gas Fund ($1.6 million); the General Fund ($ 2.1 million); and the Water and Sewer Fund ($3.3 million).","locator":"Note 10, Interfund Balances, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"accumulated-deficit-payroll-fund","text":"The Payroll Fund itself carried an accumulated deficit of $7.2 million as of September 30, 2024.","value":7.2,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, there are accumulated deficits in fund balances as follows: General Fund $3.0 million; Payroll Fund $7.2 million; and Natural Gas Fund of $1.7 million.","locator":"Note 11, Financial Condition, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"accumulated-deficit-general-fund","text":"The General Fund carried an accumulated deficit of $3.0 million as of September 30, 2024.","value":3,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, there are accumulated deficits in fund balances as follows: General Fund $3.0 million; Payroll Fund $7.2 million; and Natural Gas Fund of $1.7 million.","locator":"Note 11, Financial Condition, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"accumulated-deficit-natural-gas","text":"The Natural Gas Fund carried an accumulated deficit of $1.7 million as of September 30, 2024.","value":1.7,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":"As of September 30, 2024, there are accumulated deficits in fund balances as follows: General Fund $3.0 million; Payroll Fund $7.2 million; and Natural Gas Fund of $1.7 million.","locator":"Note 11, Financial Condition, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"total-governmental-revenue-fy24","text":"The Town's total governmental-activities revenue for fiscal 2024 was $2,532,575.","value":2532575,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-09-30","quote":null,"locator":"Management's Discussion and Analysis, Changes in Net Position table, p.9 (Total revenues, Governmental Activities, 2024 column)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"no-corrective-action-taken","text":"The Town has not taken corrective action on any of the findings and recommendations made in its preceding annual financial audit report.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Corrective actions have not been taken to address the findings and recommendations made in the preceding annual financial audit report.","locator":"Management Letter, Prior Audit Findings, p.55","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"late-filing-fy24","text":"The Town did not meet Florida's statutory deadline for filing its audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Town did not provide evidence of an established financial policies and procedures to allow timely filing; consequently, the Town did not meet the filing requirements for fiscal year ended September 30, 2024.","locator":"Schedule of Findings and Responses, Finding 2023-005 (Audit Filings), 2024 Year Status, p.53","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"deteriorating-financial-condition","text":"The auditor determined the Town met a statutory condition of deteriorating financial condition and applied the Florida Auditor General's required financial-condition assessment procedures.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Town's overall financial condition demonstrates signs of a deteriorating financial condition described in Section 218.39 (5), Florida Statutes.","locator":"Schedule of Findings and Responses, Finding 2023-004 (Financial Condition), p.51; Management Letter, Financial Condition and Management, p.56","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"net-position-swing-amount","label":null,"method":"9187206-1878697","result":7308509,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"payroll-debt-vs-revenue-ratio","label":null,"method":"6994328/2532575","result":2.76,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/century-florida-payroll-fund-deficit-dollar","title":"A Florida Town's Payroll Fund Owes $6.9M It Never Recorded","dek":"The Town of Century, Florida's independent auditor could not render an opinion on its fiscal 2024 financial statements at all, citing internal-control failures the Town has left unfixed for years. Underneath that disclaimer, the Town's own numbers show its unrestricted net position deficit growing by $7.3 million in a single year -- driven in large part by a Payroll Fund that owes three other Town funds $6.9 million, debt the audit says was never recorded as a receivable on the Town's books."}},{"schema":1,"id":"cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar","slug":"cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"CISA's 'Unique Talent' Incentive Reached Nearly Half Its Staff","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2025-09-11","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2025-09/OIG-25-38-Sep25.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-25-38","title":"CISA Mismanaged Cybersecurity Retention Incentive Program and Wasted Funds, Risking Critical Talent Retention (OIG-25-38)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2025-09/OIG-25-38-Sep25.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"373ac94547f313b1c5edf5bbbc34ab3d764577af9e79ad4afaf4ad9914211057","servable":"full","bytes":2557838,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:52:40.052Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-25-38/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722035239/https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2025-09/OIG-25-38-Sep25.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official DHS OIG audit finding: CISA mismanaged cybersecurity retention incentive program with documented fund wastage"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-25-38","title":"CISA Mismanaged Cybersecurity Retention Incentive Program and Wasted Funds, Risking Critical Talent Retention (OIG-25-38)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2025-09/OIG-25-38-Sep25.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"373ac94547f313b1c5edf5bbbc34ab3d764577af9e79ad4afaf4ad9914211057","servable":"full","bytes":2557838,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:52:40.052Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-25-38/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722035239/https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2025-09/OIG-25-38-Sep25.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official DHS OIG audit finding: CISA mismanaged cybersecurity retention incentive program with documented fund wastage"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1,"e-verified":0.3,"d-labor":0.7,"d-governance":0.5},"labels":["audit-report","cisa","dhs-oig","retention-incentive","federal-workforce","waste-of-funds","oig-25-38"],"whyItMatters":"A pay bonus built to retain CISA's rarest cyber talent reached nearly half the agency. A DHS inspector general found $138.2 million paid since FY2020 — including $1.41 million in back pay to 348 people that no record explains.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":21,"claims":[{"id":"f-program-background","text":"In 2015, CISA (then the National Protection and Programs Directorate) implemented the Cybersecurity Retention Incentive (Cyber Incentive) program under Title 5 C.F.R. compensation authorities, designed to help CISA retain mission-critical cybersecurity talent that might otherwise leave for the private sector.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In 2015, CISA -- then known as the National Protection and Programs Directorate -- implemented the Cybersecurity Retention Incentive (Cyber Incentive) program. The program, using compensation authorities from Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), was designed to help CISA retain mission-critical cybersecurity talent needed to execute its mission.","locator":"Background, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-two-categories","text":"The Cyber Incentive program has two tracks: the Cybersecurity Category Incentive Program pays a 10 percent group retention incentive based on NICE Framework work-role duties, and the Cybersecurity Skills Incentive Program pays a 20 or 25 percent individual incentive depending on certifications; employees may draw only one, capped at 25 percent of basic pay.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Cybersecurity Category Incentive Program -- provides eligible CISA cyber employees a 10 percent group retention incentive (of basic pay)... Cybersecurity Skills Incentive Program -- provides eligible CISA cyber employees a 20 or 25 percent individual retention incentive (of basic pay)... Employees may only participate in one of the two incentive categories... with the maximum allowable being up to 25 percent of the employee's annual basic salary.","locator":"Background, p.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-paid","text":"CISA paid more than $138 million (precisely $138,174,600) in Cyber Incentive payments between fiscal years 2020 through 2024 (through Q3 of FY2024), which DHS OIG found CISA did not use efficiently or effectively to retain mission-critical cybersecurity employees.","value":138174600,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) did not properly design, implement, comply with, or manage requirements of the Cybersecurity Retention Incentive (Cyber Incentive) program, which paid more than $138 million between fiscal years 2020 through 2024.","locator":"OIG Highlights, What We Found; Results of Audit, p.6; Table 2, p.10 (exact total $138,174,600)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2020-incentive","text":"In FY2020, 897 CISA employees received the Cyber Incentive, totaling $21,473,977 (average $23,940 per recipient).","value":21473977,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2. OIG Calculated Cyber Incentive Recipients from FY 2020 through FY 2024 Q3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2021-incentive","text":"In FY2021, 984 CISA employees received the Cyber Incentive, totaling $24,379,121 (average $24,776 per recipient).","value":24379121,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2. OIG Calculated Cyber Incentive Recipients from FY 2020 through FY 2024 Q3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2022-incentive","text":"In FY2022, 1,125 CISA employees received the Cyber Incentive, totaling $28,236,173 (average $25,099 per recipient).","value":28236173,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2. OIG Calculated Cyber Incentive Recipients from FY 2020 through FY 2024 Q3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2023-incentive","text":"In FY2023, 1,312 CISA employees received the Cyber Incentive, totaling $32,157,538 (average $24,510 per recipient).","value":32157538,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2. OIG Calculated Cyber Incentive Recipients from FY 2020 through FY 2024 Q3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2024-incentive","text":"In FY2024 (through Q3), 1,493 CISA employees received the Cyber Incentive, totaling $31,927,791 (average $21,385 per recipient) -- the most recipients and dollars of any fiscal year, despite the shortest reporting window.","value":31927791,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2. OIG Calculated Cyber Incentive Recipients from FY 2020 through FY 2024 Q3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-questioned-back-pay","text":"CISA's Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) paid $1.41 million in unallowable back pay to 348 Cyber Incentive recipients between FY2022 and FY2024; OIG reviewed the supporting documentation for these payments, found no explanation or justification for them, and is questioning the cost.","value":1410000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"CISA did not comply with Federal regulations and multiple program requirements, resulting in $1.41 million in unallowed back payments to 348 Cyber Incentive recipients, which we identified as questioned costs. ... CISA OCHCO paid $1.41 million in unallowable back pay to 348 Cyber Incentive recipients. OIG reviewed documentation for these recipients and did not find any explanation or justification for why the employees received back pay from FY 2022 to FY 2024. OIG is questioning this cost.","locator":"OIG Highlights, What We Found; Results of Audit, p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-pp13-2024","text":"During a single pay period (Pay Period 13) of calendar year 2024, 1,401 of CISA's 3,220 General Schedule employees -- 43.5 percent -- received a Cyber Incentive payment, spanning every CISA division and mission-support office.","value":43.5,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"As set forth in Table 1, during a single pay period (#13) in 2024, we determined that 1,401 of 3,220 (43.5 percent) CISA employees received an incentive payment. Recipients spanned each CISA division and its mission support offices.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.7; Table 1, p.7-8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-table1-divisions","text":"By CISA division/office for Pay Period 13 of 2024: Cybersecurity Division 737 of 1,016 employees (72.5%); National Risk Management Center 90 of 138 (65.2%); Stakeholder Engagement Division 78 of 176 (44.3%); Mission Support Offices 240 of 735 (32.7%); Integrated Operations Division 173 of 714 (24.2%); Infrastructure Security Division 72 of 327 (22.0%); Emergency Communications 11 of 114 (9.6%); total 1,401 of 3,220 (43.5%).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024 (Pay Period 13)","quote":null,"locator":"Table 1. Number and Percentage of CISA's Workforce that Received the Cyber Incentive for Pay Period 13 of Calendar Year 2024, p.7-8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-nonmission-support","text":"OIG identified 240 Cyber Incentive recipients from CISA mission-support offices whose roles were not directly related to cybersecurity, including the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans; the Office of the Chief External Affairs Officer (public affairs/media); and the Office of Workforce Engagement.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We identified 240 employees who received the Cyber Incentive from various mission support offices whose role was not directly related to cybersecurity. ... Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans -- leads agency mission strategic planning, national policy coordination, internal governance implementation, and enterprise-wide process improvement. Office of the Chief External Affairs Officer -- raises public awareness of CISA and shares information with the media, external stakeholders, and the public. Office of Workforce Engagement -- communicates and engages with the CISA workforce.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ineligible-range","text":"Employees CISA did not narrowly target to mission-critical cybersecurity roles with unusually high or unique qualifications nonetheless received Cyber Incentive payments ranging from approximately $21,000 to $25,000 annually.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"CISA did not narrowly target mission-critical cybersecurity employees with unusually high or unique qualifications. Ineligible employees received incentive payments, which ranged from approximately $21,000 to $25,000 annually.","locator":"OIG Highlights, What We Found","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-132-instances","text":"Reviewing Cyber Incentive recipients from FY2020 through Pay Period 13 of 2024, OIG found 132 instances in which CISA's own supervisors, on the submission form, indicated the position did not require unusually high or unique qualifications -- which would make the employee ineligible for the incentive under federal regulation.","value":132,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"We reviewed Cyber Incentive recipients for FY 2020 through pay period 13 of calendar year 2024 and found 132 instances where CISA supervisors indicated the position did not require unusually high or unique qualifications, which would make the employee ineligible for the Cyber Incentive.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-25-sample-no-doc","text":"OIG reviewed a judgmental sample of 25 CISA position descriptions across divisions and mission-support offices and found no clear documentation in any of the 25 that the position was mission-critical or required unusually high or unique qualifications -- including positions inside CISA's own Cybersecurity Division.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We reviewed a sample of 25 position descriptions across CISA divisions and mission support offices, and we found no clear documentation in any of the 25 that the positions were mission critical or required unusually high or unique qualifications. This included positions in the Cybersecurity Division, where we expected to find mission critical positions, which did not have its position descriptions documented as such.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.6-7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-policy-broadened","text":"In July 2021, CISA issued a policy statement that broadened Cyber Incentive eligibility by reducing the required share of an employee's time devoted to a NICE cybersecurity work role from 51 percent to 30 percent; that policy expired in July 2022, but CISA OCHCO officials confirmed to OIG they continued operating the program at the lowered 30 percent threshold through the end of the audit in November 2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In July 2021, CISA issued a policy statement that expanded the Cyber Incentive program so more employees could receive retention incentives. CISA reduced eligibility requirements -- based on the amount of work associated with the NICE framework -- from 51 to 30 percent. Although the policy expired in July 2022, CISA OCHCO officials confirmed they continued to operate the program at the lowered 30 percent requirement as of the end of our audit in November 2024.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-quote-internal","text":"CISA's own April 2019 internal Cyber Workforce and Pay Initiatives program guidance stated that mere coding as part of the cybersecurity workforce does not make a position eligible for the incentive -- only positions identified as mission-critical are.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Simply being coded as part of the cybersecurity workforce does not mean a position is eligible for retention incentive programs. Only positions that have been identified as mission critical are eligible.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.9 (sidebar quote, sourced to CISA Cyber Workforce and Pay Initiatives Program Information, April 2019, internal source)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-recommendations","text":"DHS OIG's final report contained 8 recommendations to improve CISA's Cyber Incentive program; CISA concurred with all 8. Based on CISA's response, OIG considered Recommendations 1 through 6 and 8 open and resolved, and Recommendation 7 open and unresolved.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The report contains eight recommendations aimed at improving CISA's Cyber Incentive program. Your office concurred with all eight recommendations. Based on information provided in your response to the draft report, we consider recommendation 7 open and unresolved... Based on information provided in your response to the draft report, we consider recommendations 1 through 6, and 8 open and resolved.","locator":"Transmittal memorandum, September 11, 2025, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rec7","text":"Recommendation 7 directed the CISA Director to determine whether it is appropriate to seek repayment of improper incentive payments to ineligible employees and to recover those costs; CISA concurred and set an August 31, 2026 completion date, but OIG ruled CISA's stated action not fully responsive -- because it addressed only the $1.41 million back-pay question, not the broader universe of improper payments to ineligible employees -- and kept the recommendation open and unresolved.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Recommendation 7: We recommend the CISA Director determine whether it is appropriate to seek repayment of improper incentive payments to ineligible employees and recover those costs. ... CISA Response to Recommendation 7: Concur. Once CISA OCHCO concludes the analysis and evaluation to assess back pay to Cybersecurity Retention Incentive recipients, CISA will assess how to address any identified incentive payment issues for appropriate action. Estimated Completion Date: August 31, 2026. OIG Analysis: This action is not fully responsive to the recommendation, which we consider open and unresolved. This recommendation is not specific to the unallowable back pay, but rather to any improper incentive payments CISA made to ineligible employees. We will close the recommendation when CISA provides documentation to show analysis and evaluation to assess and recover improper payments to ineligible employees.","locator":"Recommendations, p.13; Management Comments and OIG Analysis, Recommendation 7, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-audit-trigger","text":"DHS OIG received a hotline complaint in FY2023 alleging the Cyber Incentive program was marked by widespread fraud, waste, and abuse, with the complainant claiming CISA officials were knowingly approving incentives for ineligible employees; OIG conducted the resulting audit from October 2023 through November 2024, covering Cyber Incentive activity from FY2020 through Q3 FY2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In FY 2023, DHS OIG received a hotline complaint alleging that the Cyber Incentive program was marked by widespread fraud, waste, and abuse. The complainant indicated CISA officials were knowingly approving Cyber Incentives for ineligible employees. We conducted this audit to determine to what extent CISA has implemented the Cybersecurity Retention Incentive available under Title 5 for the cybersecurity workforce and complied with program requirements. ... We conducted this audit from October 2023 through November 2024.","locator":"Background, p.5; Appendix A, Objective, Scope, and Methodology, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-former-employees","text":"OIG found at least two former CISA employees, whose work was related to the Cyber Incentive program's own approval process -- administrative in nature -- received Cyber Incentives between FY2021 and FY2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Separately, within CISA OCHCO, at least two former employees whose work was related to the Cyber Incentive program's approval process -- administrative in nature -- received Cyber Incentives between FY 2021 and FY 2024.","locator":"Results of Audit, p.8-9","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-recipient-growth","label":"Growth in Cyber Incentive recipients, FY2020 to FY2024","method":"(1493-897)/897*100","result":66.44,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-nonmission-share","label":"Non-cybersecurity mission-support offices as a share of Pay Period 13 2024 recipients","method":"240/1401*100","result":17.13,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-participation-spread","label":"Spread between the highest- and lowest-participation divisions","method":"72.5-9.6","result":62.9,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-backpay-share-of-total","label":"Unallowable back pay as a share of total Cyber Incentive spending","method":"1410000/138174600*100","result":1.02,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/cisa-cyber-incentive-oversight-gap-dollar","title":"CISA's 'Unique Talent' Incentive Reached Nearly Half Its Staff","dek":"A pay bonus built to retain CISA's rarest cyber talent reached nearly half the agency. A DHS inspector general found $138.2 million paid since FY2020 — including $1.41 million in back pay to 348 people that no record explains."}},{"schema":1,"id":"fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar","slug":"fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"FDIC Can't Account For $6.6M on a $300M IT Contract","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-01-30","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.fdicoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2026-02/AUD-26-02%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Infrastructure%20Support%20Services%20Contract%20-%20REDACTED%20FINAL%20FOR%20PUBLICATION_V.5_.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-aud-26-02","title":"Oversight of the Infrastructure Support Services Contract (AUD-26-02)","sourceUrl":"https://www.fdicoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2026-02/AUD-26-02%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Infrastructure%20Support%20Services%20Contract%20-%20REDACTED%20FINAL%20FOR%20PUBLICATION_V.5_.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"a61a4f7dd1290323ce25b776a33af436afac9012e4300233e17f69846004e5c4","servable":"full","bytes":3654522,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:52:09.716Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-aud-26-02/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official FDIC OIG audit: oversight of Infrastructure Support Services contract with documented findings on contract administration"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-hotline","title":"Report Waste, Fraud, & Abuse -- FDIC OIG Hotline","sourceUrl":"https://www.fdicoig.gov/oig-hotline","kind":"other","sha256":"be92644b39ba6f5767bf2cdca8edbcc428eaf80bed78200c1c012d74c6d5fd53","servable":"full","bytes":44734,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:52:30.439Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-oig-hotline/v1.html","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722035230/https://www.fdicoig.gov/oig-hotline","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official FDIC OIG hotline page for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse; entry point for whistleblower submissions"}},{"id":"ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-aud-26-02","title":"Oversight of the Infrastructure Support Services Contract (AUD-26-02)","sourceUrl":"https://www.fdicoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2026-02/AUD-26-02%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Infrastructure%20Support%20Services%20Contract%20-%20REDACTED%20FINAL%20FOR%20PUBLICATION_V.5_.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"a61a4f7dd1290323ce25b776a33af436afac9012e4300233e17f69846004e5c4","servable":"full","bytes":3654522,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:52:09.716Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar-doc-aud-26-02/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official FDIC OIG audit: oversight of Infrastructure Support Services contract with documented findings on contract administration"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1,"e-verified":0.3,"d-governance":0.8,"m-expenditure":0.7},"labels":["audit-report","fdic-oig","contract-oversight","infrastructure-services","federal-procurement","aud-26-02"],"whyItMatters":"A Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation inspector general audit of the agency's $300 million Infrastructure Support Services contract found FDIC could not verify $4.6 million in resource-unit charges the contractor invoiced, and had left $2 million in service-level credits owed back to it uncollected. The same audit found a contractor employee emailed an internal planning document outside FDIC's network without the incident being reported, and two of the contractor's staff got privileged network access before finishing required security training. FDIC's own senior management asked the inspector general to redact the report when it was first issued in January 2026; the OIG reissued it in June, unredacting the dollar figures because federal law required disclosure. FDIC has given itself until July 31, 2026 to decide whether the $4.6 million was properly spent, and until December 31, 2026 to try to recover the $2 million.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":12,"claims":[{"id":"f-hotline","text":"The FDIC OIG operates a public hotline (1-800-964-3342 / 1-800-964-FDIC) and online portal for reporting suspected fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in FDIC programs, activities, and contractor operations, and does not disclose a reporter's identity without consent absent a legal exception","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"1-800-964-3342 / 1-800-964-FDIC","locator":"FDIC OIG Hotline page, phone and reporting-portal listing","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-contract-award","text":"In January 2021, the FDIC awarded a $300 million Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) for day-to-day IT operational support for its infrastructure facilities, hardware, software, and systems -- the Infrastructure Support Services (ISS) contract, structured around seven service towers","value":300000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"In January 2021, the FDIC awarded a $300 million Basic Ordering Agreement to provide day-to-day information technology operational support for its infrastructure facilities, hardware, software, and systems.","locator":"Executive Summary, What We Found, p.1; Appendix 1, Scope and Methodology (BOA awarded January 27, 2021), p.26","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-questioned-costs","text":"OIG identified $4.6 million ($4,629,334 exactly, per Recommendation 6) in questioned costs on the ISS contract because the FDIC did not retain the supporting data needed to justify those resource-unit charges on contractor invoices","value":4629334,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"We identified $2 million in funds to be put to better use for service level credits due to the FDIC and $4.6 million in questioned costs because the FDIC did not retain the data to support those charges on the ISS contract invoices.","locator":"Results, p.8; Recommendation 6 (exact figure $4,629,334), p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-funds-better-use","text":"OIG identified $2,000,375 in funds that could be put to better use -- service-level credits the contractor owes the FDIC for missed performance targets that the agency has not collected","value":2000375,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"The FDIC provided the OIG data for potential service level credits due totaling $2,000,375... the OIG is recommending funds to be put to better use of $2,000,375 for service level credits due.","locator":"Finding 1, Lack of Service Level Monitoring, p.12-13; Recommendation 2, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-invoice-complexity","text":"Monthly ISS invoices span over 42 resource-unit (RU) categories across seven service towers -- a level of detail key FDIC contract personnel told OIG made it difficult to understand the KPI/credit calculation methodology or verify the completeness and accuracy of the charges","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"According to key FDIC contract personnel, the complexity of the contract and the manual invoice review process made it difficult for them to (1) understand the level of detail, including the methodology to calculate KPI and CSL pass/fail determinations, and (2) verify the completeness and accuracy of the monthly ISS invoices, which include over 42 RU categories across seven service towers.","locator":"Finding 2, Invoice Review, p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-audit-period","text":"OIG conducted the performance audit from September 2024 through December 2025 under GAO's Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, and reviewed a judgmental sample of invoices from February 2023 through December 2024, following an earlier February 2023 Corrective Action Plan on the same contract","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We conducted this performance audit from September 2024 through December 2025 in accordance with the GAO's Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards.","locator":"Appendix 1, Objective, p.26; Scope and Methodology (sample Feb. 2023-Dec. 2024; CAP dated Feb. 2023), p.26","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-data-leak","text":"A contractor employee overseeing one of the seven service towers emailed a non-secure planning document describing the ISS program's operations, tools, and organization chart to two team members' company email accounts; one recipient downloaded it before completing required cybersecurity training or receiving an official FDIC laptop, and the contractor did not self-report the incident to FDIC's Security Response Team as required","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"A service tower lead for the Contractor emailed the link and granted access to the non-secure CONOPS document to two team members' company email accounts. One recipient downloaded the CONOPS document onto a company-provided laptop... this incident was not self-reported by the Contractor to the FDIC Security Response Team (SRT), as required by FDIC policy.","locator":"Finding 3, Protecting FDIC Data, Sensitive FDIC Data Emailed Outside of the FDIC Network, p.21","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-training-gap","text":"Of 15 ISS contractor employees OIG sampled to check training compliance, 2 had not completed required Help Desk Role Based Security Awareness training before being granted privileged access to the FDIC's network and systems","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"We sampled 15 ISS Contractor employees to determine whether they completed their required privileged user training timely... We found that two Contractor employees did not complete Help Desk Role Based training prior to being granted privileged access to the FDIC's network and systems, as required by policy.","locator":"Finding 3, Privileged User and Role Based Training Requirements, p.21-22","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-recommendations","text":"OIG made eight recommendations to improve FDIC's oversight of the ISS contract; the FDIC concurred with all eight and OIG considers all eight resolved but still open pending completion of the agreed corrective actions","value":8,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"We made eight recommendations intended to improve the FDIC's oversight of ISS contracts... The FDIC concurred with the eight recommendations and plans to complete corrective actions... In its response, the FDIC concurred with all 8 recommendations.","locator":"Executive Summary, What We Recommended, p.1; Agency Comments and OIG Evaluation, p.24","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rec6-deadline","text":"Recommendation 6 directs FDIC's Division of Information Technology to determine whether the $4,629,334 in questioned resource-unit charges is supported and allowable, with an expected completion date of July 31, 2026","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07-31","quote":"DIT will coordinate with DOA and the Legal Division to determine the extent to which the $4,629,334 in questioned costs for resource unit charges are supported and allowable. The FDIC will take appropriate action to address any portion of this amount determined to be unsupported and unallowable.","locator":"Appendix 3, Summary of the FDIC's Corrective Actions, Recommendation 6, p.36","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rec2-deadline","text":"Recommendation 2 directs FDIC's Division of Administration, with the Division of Information Technology and Legal Division, to recover the $2,000,375 in service level credits or document a justification for any amount left uncollected, with an expected completion date of December 31, 2026","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-12-31","quote":"DOA, in coordination with DIT and the Legal Division, will determine the amount of service level credits that can be recovered and take appropriate action. The FDIC will document a justification for uncollected credits.","locator":"Appendix 3, Summary of the FDIC's Corrective Actions, Recommendation 2, p.35","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-redaction-reissue","text":"OIG originally issued the report on January 30, 2026 with redactions requested by FDIC senior management; it reissued the report on June 1, 2026, unredacting the two monetary-benefit figures because federal law (5 U.S.C. 405(b)(6)) requires the OIG to publicly disclose monetary benefits resulting from its audit reports","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The redactions in this report are based upon requests from FDIC senior management to protect the Agency's information from disclosure. We reissued the report on June 1, 2026, in accordance with the semiannual reporting requirement that we publicly disclose monetary benefits resulting from audit, inspection, or evaluation reports (5 U.S.C. 405(b)(6)). Those monetary benefit amounts have been unredacted in this reissued report.","locator":"Cover Notice, p.i","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-combined-findings","label":"Combined questioned costs and funds put to better use","method":"4629334+2000375","result":6629709,"unit":"USD","verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"computed-share-of-ceiling","label":"Combined findings as a share of the contract ceiling","method":"6629709/300000000*100","result":2.21,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/fdic-iss-contract-oversight-gap-dollar","title":"FDIC Can't Account For $6.6M on a $300M IT Contract","dek":"A Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation inspector general audit of the agency's $300 million Infrastructure Support Services contract found FDIC could not verify $4.6 million in resource-unit charges the contractor invoiced, and had left $2 million in service-level credits owed back to it uncollected. The same audit found a contractor employee emailed an internal planning document outside FDIC's network without the incident being reported, and two of the contractor's staff got privileged network access before finishing required security training. FDIC's own senior management asked the inspector general to redact the report when it was first issued in January 2026; the OIG reissued it in June, unredacting the dollar figures because federal law required disclosure. FDIC has given itself until July 31, 2026 to decide whether the $4.6 million was properly spent, and until December 31, 2026 to try to recover the $2 million."}},{"schema":1,"id":"nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar","slug":"nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"NSF Broke Pay Caps by $17 Million, Then Forgave Most of the Debt","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2024-10-30","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-10/Audit-NSF-AD-Pay-System-10302024-public.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-ad-pay","title":"Audit of NSF's Administratively Determined Pay System (OIG 25-02-002)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-10/Audit-NSF-AD-Pay-System-10302024-public.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"a709071c17d743532e883689b11962283b7c4fffb497feae1fb933f6b5f01f33","servable":"full","bytes":714140,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:50:33.974Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-ad-pay/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722035033/https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-10/Audit-NSF-AD-Pay-System-10302024-public.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official NSF OIG audit: administratively determined pay system audit with findings on overpayment issues in federal workforce compensation"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-sarc-fall2025","title":"Semiannual Report to Congress, April 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025 (NSF-OIG-SAR-73)","sourceUrl":"https://oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-02/Semiannual%20Report%20to%20Congress%20-%20Fall%202025%20Final.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"ee3fe7f1051edf85024d37eed944961c822d8a05652416fd149d5580bfd87fc1","servable":"full","bytes":1720105,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:51:21.909Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-sarc-fall2025/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official NSF OIG semiannual report to Congress covering federal oversight activities; authoritative compilation of agency findings"}},{"id":"ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-ad-pay","title":"Audit of NSF's Administratively Determined Pay System (OIG 25-02-002)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-10/Audit-NSF-AD-Pay-System-10302024-public.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"a709071c17d743532e883689b11962283b7c4fffb497feae1fb933f6b5f01f33","servable":"full","bytes":714140,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T03:50:33.974Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar-doc-nsf-oig-ad-pay/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722035033/https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-10/Audit-NSF-AD-Pay-System-10302024-public.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official NSF OIG audit: administratively determined pay system audit with findings on overpayment issues in federal workforce compensation"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1,"e-verified":0.3,"d-labor":0.9,"m-expenditure":0.7},"labels":["audit-report","nsf-oig","pay-system","administratively-determined-pay","overpayment","federal-workforce","oig-25-02-002"],"whyItMatters":"A National Science Foundation inspector general audit finds that NSF paid its highest-tier excepted-service employees $17.1 million above statutory salary caps between fiscal years 2014 and 2024 -- a decade traced to a 2017 legal opinion that wrongly treated the caps as self-imposed. NSF fixed its pay bands only after a 2023 pay-raise controversy drew media and OPM scrutiny and the Justice Department ruled the cap did apply. It then waived collection of $15.5 million in overpayments from current and former employees rather than seek repayment, while a separate $1.6 million the audit flagged as unresolved was later confirmed addressed.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":12,"claims":[{"id":"f-corrective-action-confirmed","text":"In its semiannual report covering April 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025, NSF OIG confirmed that NSF 'has implemented all corrective actions' from the Administratively Determined Pay System audit, stating NSF 'has taken significant steps and dedicated resources to address our recommendations to resolve the $1.6 million in unallowable salary payments and strengthen controls over its excepted service pay system.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6, 'Audit of NSF's Administratively Determined Pay System'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ad-workforce-scope","text":"Between FY2014 and FY2023, NSF employed 1,245 excepted-service personnel; 992 of those positions (80%) were in the AD-4 and AD-5 pay bands, which together were paid a total of $784 million of NSF's $854 million in total excepted-service payroll over the period.","value":992,"unit":"PEOPLE","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.1 (Executive Summary) and p.11 (Appendix A, Scope and Methodology)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ex3-overpay-total","text":"633 of NSF's 992 AD-4 and AD-5 employees (64%) received a combined $16,570,205 in basic pay plus locality pay above the EX-III statutory limit between FY2014 and FY2024 (through December 2023).","value":16570205,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.5, Table 2 and accompanying text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ex3-overpay-by-year","text":"Year-by-year amounts paid above the EX-III limit for basic plus locality pay: FY14 $18,931; FY15 $16,861; FY16 $19,479; FY17 $599,856; FY18 $1,097,373; FY19 $1,586,629; FY20 $2,385,178; FY21 $2,690,097; FY22 $3,229,046; FY23 $3,909,638; FY24 (Oct-Dec 2023, estimated) $1,017,117.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.5, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-root-cause-2017-opinion","text":"NSF attributed the sharp rise in overpayments starting in FY2017 to an opinion from its then-General Counsel, given during review of the proposed 2017 AD pay bands, that the salary limits tied to NSF's AD pay bands were 'self-imposed' by NSF rather than statutory -- contradicted by the annual Pay Agent Memorandum, which subjects NSF's AD-appointed employees to the EX-III cap once locality pay is authorized.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-2023-pay-raise-controversy","text":"In early 2023, NSF's pay bands drew media attention after NSF initially announced and then reversed a planned 1% pay raise for AD-4 employees -- below the 4.6% average increase available to other NSF staff. OPM contacted NSF in February 2023 regarding its compliance with Title 5 pay limitations as a result.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-doj-olc-opinion","text":"In September 2023 (oral) and November 2023 (written), the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel opined that the 5 U.S.C. 5373 pay cap does apply to NSF Act-appointed employees, and that NSF had 'no authority that would permit [it] to exceed the pay cap' beyond 'taking the time necessary to implement the pay cap in an orderly fashion.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6-7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-debt-waiver","text":"In January 2024, NSF revised its AD pay bands for EX-III compliance and elected to waive collection of $15,481,362 in overpayments incurred in FY2017-2023 -- $12,908,815 owed by current employees and $2,572,547 owed by former employees -- citing good-faith reliance on its prior General Counsel's opinion.","value":15481362,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.7, Table 3 and accompanying text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-pay-band-ceiling-overpay","text":"Separately, 15 AD-4 and AD-5 employees received a combined $617,633 in salary payments that exceeded NSF's own internally established AD pay band ceilings in FY2014-2021; of that amount, $216,157 paid to 6 of the 15 employees also exceeded the EX-IV statutory limit on basic pay.","value":617633,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.7-8, Table 4 and accompanying text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-overpayments","text":"OIG identified $17,117,695 in total overpayments to NSF Act-appointed AD employees across all salary-limit categories (EX-III, EX-IV, and internal pay band ceilings) for FY2014-2023 plus the estimated FY2024 first-quarter EX-III overpayment, after adjusting to avoid double-counting payments that exceeded more than one limit.","value":17117695,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, Table 5 (Summary of Overpayments)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-unresolved-overpayment","text":"After subtracting the $15,481,362 debt waiver, OIG found $1,636,333 in overpayments that NSF had not resolved -- covering FY2014-2016 EX-III overpayments, the FY2024 first-quarter estimate, and the separate AD pay band ceiling overpayments -- and recommended NSF assess and resolve that balance.","value":1636333,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, Table 5 and p.10, Recommendation 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-recommendations","text":"OIG issued two recommendations to NSF's Office of Information and Resource Management, in coordination with the Office of the General Counsel: strengthen policies and controls to keep AD salaries within EX-III/EX-IV and pay band limits, and assess and resolve the remaining $1,636,333 in unaddressed overpayments. NSF agreed with both.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.10, Recommendations and Agency Response","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-total-overpay-check","label":"Total overpayments, recomputed from the report's own category totals","method":"16570205 + 617633 - 70143","result":17117695,"unit":"USD","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-unresolved-check","label":"Unresolved balance, recomputed as total minus the debt waiver","method":"17117695 - 15481362","result":1636333,"unit":"USD","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-pct-workforce-affected","label":"Share of NSF's AD-4/AD-5 employees who received an EX-III overpayment","method":"633/992*100","result":63.8100806451613,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/nsf-ad-pay-overpayment-dollar","title":"NSF Broke Pay Caps by $17 Million, Then Forgave Most of the Debt","dek":"A National Science Foundation inspector general audit finds that NSF paid its highest-tier excepted-service employees $17.1 million above statutory salary caps between fiscal years 2014 and 2024 -- a decade traced to a 2017 legal opinion that wrongly treated the caps as self-imposed. NSF fixed its pay bands only after a 2023 pay-raise controversy drew media and OPM scrutiny and the Justice Department ruled the cap did apply. It then waived collection of $15.5 million in overpayments from current and former employees rather than seek repayment, while a separate $1.6 million the audit flagged as unresolved was later confirmed addressed."}},{"schema":1,"id":"americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar","slug":"americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"YouthBuild's Broken Timekeeping Puts $12.65M at Risk","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2024-03-29","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-04/Audit-AmeriCorps-Grants-YouthBuild.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar-doc-oig-ar-24-05","title":"Performance Audit of AmeriCorps Grants Awarded to YouthBuild USA (OIG Report No. AR-24-05)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-04/Audit-AmeriCorps-Grants-YouthBuild.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"346017e0534e8167680377517eaf891a02b4676c63020837d037c5dd6f8c544f","servable":"full","bytes":2808721,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:51:32.731Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar-doc-oig-ar-24-05/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025132/https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-04/Audit-AmeriCorps-Grants-YouthBuild.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal OIG audit of AmeriCorps YouthBuild grant compliance identifying timekeeping control gaps."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar-doc-oig-ar-24-05","title":"Performance Audit of AmeriCorps Grants Awarded to YouthBuild USA (OIG Report No. AR-24-05)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-04/Audit-AmeriCorps-Grants-YouthBuild.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"346017e0534e8167680377517eaf891a02b4676c63020837d037c5dd6f8c544f","servable":"full","bytes":2808721,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:51:32.731Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar-doc-oig-ar-24-05/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025132/https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2024-04/Audit-AmeriCorps-Grants-YouthBuild.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal OIG audit of AmeriCorps YouthBuild grant compliance identifying timekeeping control gaps."}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-education":0.5,"d-labor":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7,"e-gap":0.8},"labels":["timekeeping-gap","audit-compliance","grant-monitoring","federal-oversight"],"whyItMatters":"An AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General audit tested 5 of YouthBuild USA's 82 subgrantees and found $6.69 million in questioned costs and funds put to better use -- most of it tracing to a timekeeping system YouthBuild never required anyone to independently check, and to one subgrantee, San Jose Conservation Corps, that recruited its own employees as AmeriCorps members and let them earn education awards for hours worked on the job they already had. Because every subgrantee ran on the same non-compliant policy, OIG classified $12.65 million in education awards across all 82 subgrantees of YouthBuild's two audited grants -- about 23% of the $55.28 million AmeriCorps awarded YouthBuild since 2018 -- as resting on hours nobody can verify were actually served. AmeriCorps has formally refused to recover any of it.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":17,"claims":[{"id":"fact-total-award","text":"Of the $55,282,828 awarded to YouthBuild between September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2022, $43,037,010 (approximately 78 percent) was subawarded to its 82 subgrantees.","value":"$55,282,828","unit":null,"asOf":"2018-09-30 to 2022-12-31","quote":null,"locator":"Executive Summary, 'Why We Did This Audit,' p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-audit-scope","text":"The scope of the audit included expenditure activity by YouthBuild and five of its 82 subgrantees: Crispus Attucks Charter School, Connection Training Services, Philadelphia Youth for Change Charter School, Change Inc., and San Jose Conservation Corps, for two National Direct Grants and one VISTA Grant.","value":"5 of 82 subgrantees tested","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"I. Introduction, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-total-monetary-impact","text":"We identified several instances of non-compliance with Federal Regulations and AmeriCorps Grant Terms and Conditions by YouthBuild and its subgrantees resulting in $6,692,146 of monetary impact -- $2,695,430 of questioned Federal costs, $908,925 of questioned match costs, and the classification of $3,087,791 as funds put to better use.","value":"$6,692,146","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"II. Audit Results, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-noncompliant-match-waived","text":"We also identified $1,042,851 of non-compliant match costs, which we are not questioning due to AmeriCorps' waiver of match requirements for fiscal years 2019, 2020, and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.","value":"$1,042,851","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"II. Audit Results, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-table1-breakdown","text":"Table 1 -- Monetary Impact of Audit Findings. YouthBuild's Member Timekeeping Practices: $520,827 Federal questioned, $0 match questioned, $0 non-compliant match, $3,087,791 funds put to better use. San Jose Conservation Corps Employees served as AmeriCorps Members: $2,125,096 Federal questioned, $900,683 match questioned, $918,971 non-compliant match, $0 funds put to better use. YouthBuild Did Not Adequately Monitor Subgrantee Financial and Policy Compliance: $49,507 Federal questioned, $8,242 match questioned, $123,880 non-compliant match, $0 funds put to better use. Totals: $2,695,430 Federal questioned, $908,925 match questioned, $1,042,851 non-compliant match, $3,087,791 funds put to better use.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-reg-gap-2009","text":"AmeriCorps officials were aware of inconsistencies between the Federal Statute and the Federal Regulations since 2009, when the Serve America Act went into effect. We reviewed electronic correspondence between AmeriCorps officials from 2019 that discussed inquiries from AmeriCorps grantees about the Federal share limitations on member living allowance and member support costs included in the Federal Regulations. In that correspondence, AmeriCorps' Associate General Counsel acknowledged that the Federal Regulations were not updated and advised AmeriCorps' Senior Grants Officer to direct grantees to the Federal Statute for the correct guidance.","value":"aware since 2009, unresolved as of the 2024 report","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1, p.6-7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-inequity-64pct","text":"Grant data analyzed by the OIG shows that an average of 64 percent of ASN grants from 2019 through 2023 were administered in compliance with the Federal Regulations on member support costs and member living allowance as written. This means the majority of grantees relied on the outdated Regulations and did not receive consistent, direct, and transparent communication from AmeriCorps on the discrepancy between the Federal Statute and the Federal Regulation.","value":"64% of ASN grants, 2019-2023","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Auditor Evaluation of YouthBuild's Comments for Finding 1, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-timekeeping-mechanics","text":"YouthBuild subgrantees were using YouthBuild's timekeeping template to enter the number of AmeriCorps service hours served by each member... a subgrantee staff member would manually transfer AmeriCorps member service time from daily service site logs or school attendance sheets to the YouthBuild timekeeping template. Subgrantees did not adequately document member time by maintaining the daily service logs as source documentation... During interviews with subgrantee staff, we determined that the hours transferred to the YouthBuild timekeeping template were not reviewed by another subgrantee staff member to ensure that the transfer was complete and accurate... In addition... the YouthBuild member timekeeping policy is not compliant... because the policy does not require subgrantees to record the total time AmeriCorps members spend on all activities. Rather, YouthBuild only requires that members record AmeriCorps service time.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Finding 2, p.10-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-education-awards-at-risk","text":"All YouthBuild ASN members who earned an education award based on successful term completion did so under YouthBuild's non-compliant member timekeeping practices and policy. Given the insufficient internal controls and documentation, the validity of hours served towards earning these education awards cannot be verified. Therefore, $12,651,304 related to education awards earned by members of all subgrantees of the two AmeriCorps State and National grants covered by the scope of this audit, 16NDHMA001 and 19NDHMA003, is at risk of non-compliance.","value":"$12,651,304","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Finding 2, p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-table2-education-awards","text":"Table 2 -- Education Awards. Education awards to all subgrantees: Total $12,651,304, Paid $1,870,544, Outstanding $10,780,760. Education awards: Subgrantees Tested: Total $3,608,618, Paid $520,827, Outstanding $3,087,791. Remaining Disbursements at Risk: Total $9,042,686, Paid $1,349,717, Outstanding $7,692,969.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 2, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-recommendations-456","text":"Recommendations: We recommend that AmeriCorps: 4. Recover from YouthBuild $520,827 of education awards that were paid to members for subgrantees within the audit scope. 5. Require that YouthBuild pay the $3,087,791 outstanding AmeriCorps Education awards yet to be distributed to the members of subgrantees within the audit. 6. Assess the remaining $9,042,686 of at-risk funds to determine if sufficient supporting documentation for the hours claimed exists. If sufficient documentation does not exist, recover from YouthBuild the $1,349,717 already paid by the Trust and require that YouthBuild pay the $7,692,969 outstanding AmeriCorps Education awards yet to be distributed to members.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Finding 2 recommendations, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-americorps-disagrees","text":"AmeriCorps partially concurs with the audit finding. AmeriCorps does not concur with recommendations 4, 5, and 6 and will not implement them, but partially concurs with recommendation 7.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Summary and Evaluation of AmeriCorps' Comments for Finding 2, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-americorps-intent-defense","text":"AmeriCorps considers YouthBuild's timekeeping policy to be consistent with its 'intended Terms and Conditions.' The Management Comments state that AmeriCorps' error in drafting its Terms and Conditions contributed to YouthBuild's subgrantees subsequently being non-compliant with these Terms and Conditions... AmeriCorps only expects grantees to track a member's AmeriCorps service time because members are not employees under 45 C.F.R. Section 2510.20.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Summary of AmeriCorps' Proposed Corrective Actions, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-oig-rebuttal","text":"AmeriCorps' comments do not address the fact that YouthBuild did not have effective internal controls over its timekeeping practices and that adequate documentation was not maintained for member time... Federal grants, however, are not governed by intentions, but rather by Federal Statutes, Regulations, and AmeriCorps' general and specific Terms and Conditions relevant to the award... Ultimately, AmeriCorps' decision related to this audit finding will harm the OIG's ability to perform effective oversight of grantee timekeeping and put hundreds of millions of dollars at greater risk.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Auditor Evaluation of AmeriCorps' Corrective Actions, p.13-14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-30pct-investigations","text":"Thirty percent of all OIG investigations opened since 2019 relate to allegations of false or problematic timekeeping. This is the single biggest issue that the OIG currently encounters in its audits and investigations... The OIG has identified the issue as a Top Management Challenge for AmeriCorps related to Prioritizing Grant Fraud Prevention and Detection in its Programs.","value":"30% of OIG investigations since 2019","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Increased Fraud Risks, p.14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sjcc-recruitment","text":"We are concerned about the practices at subgrantee San Jose Conservation Corps (SJCC), where prospective and existing SJCC employees were recruited as AmeriCorps members and permitted to earn education awards for hours worked while fulfilling their normal employment duties.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"II. Audit Results, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-youthbuild-mission","text":"YouthBuild has been an AmeriCorps grant recipient since 1994 and is currently administering AmeriCorps State and National (ASN) National Direct and VISTA Grants as a direct recipient... members are low-income young people aged 16-24 who work toward their GED or high school diploma while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income individuals.","value":"AmeriCorps grantee since 1994","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"I. Introduction, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"finding-sum-check","label":null,"method":"520827 + 3087791 + 2125096 + 900683 + 49507 + 8242","result":6692146,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"tested-plus-remaining","label":null,"method":"3608618 + 9042686","result":12651304,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"share-of-total-award","label":null,"method":"12651304 / 55282828 * 100","result":22.89,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"share-of-subgrantees-tested","label":null,"method":"5 / 82 * 100","result":6.1,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/americorps-youthbuild-timekeeping-gap-dollar","title":"YouthBuild's Broken Timekeeping Puts $12.65M at Risk","dek":"An AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General audit tested 5 of YouthBuild USA's 82 subgrantees and found $6.69 million in questioned costs and funds put to better use -- most of it tracing to a timekeeping system YouthBuild never required anyone to independently check, and to one subgrantee, San Jose Conservation Corps, that recruited its own employees as AmeriCorps members and let them earn education awards for hours worked on the job they already had. Because every subgrantee ran on the same non-compliant policy, OIG classified $12.65 million in education awards across all 82 subgrantees of YouthBuild's two audited grants -- about 23% of the $55.28 million AmeriCorps awarded YouthBuild since 2018 -- as resting on hours nobody can verify were actually served. AmeriCorps has formally refused to recover any of it."}},{"schema":1,"id":"bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar","slug":"bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Bristol, VA Carries Virginia's Highest Local Debt Per Resident","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar)","jurisdiction":"mixed","date":"2026-04-26","kind":"dataset","sourceUrl":"https://dlasprodpublic.blob.core.windows.net/apa/093D6F15-1079-4D72-87B5-CBBFEF1FDA47.xlsx"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-data-xlsx","title":"Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures, For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 (Exhibits A-H, Transmittal Letter)","sourceUrl":"https://dlasprodpublic.blob.core.windows.net/apa/093D6F15-1079-4D72-87B5-CBBFEF1FDA47.xlsx","kind":"dataset","sha256":"28d234dba52c0b69f06d3422d55ee46a912a266e2a69301257c6bc0f32195e84","servable":"full","bytes":1184104,"contentType":"application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:50:55.417Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-data-xlsx/v1.bin","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025055/https://dlasprodpublic.blob.core.windows.net/apa/093D6F15-1079-4D72-87B5-CBBFEF1FDA47.xlsx","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Virginia Auditor comparative government revenues and expenditures dataset; official multi-year local government financials."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-bristol-fy26-budget","title":"City of Bristol, Virginia -- Administration Recommended Budget for 2025-2026 (with Budget Comparison)","sourceUrl":"https://www.bristolva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6191/FY26-ADMIN-RECOMMENDED-BUDGET","kind":"report","sha256":"965d1d6edff36fed4d5541255d521db1b9df0b3dc3f6850be620c9cf908eb684","servable":"full","bytes":7162269,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:51:14.762Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-bristol-fy26-budget/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025113/https://www.bristolva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6191/FY26-ADMIN-RECOMMENDED-BUDGET","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"City of Bristol, Virginia recommended budget document; official municipal budget proposal for fiscal year 2025-2026."}},{"id":"ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-data-xlsx","title":"Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures, For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 (Exhibits A-H, Transmittal Letter)","sourceUrl":"https://dlasprodpublic.blob.core.windows.net/apa/093D6F15-1079-4D72-87B5-CBBFEF1FDA47.xlsx","kind":"dataset","sha256":"28d234dba52c0b69f06d3422d55ee46a912a266e2a69301257c6bc0f32195e84","servable":"full","bytes":1184104,"contentType":"application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:50:55.417Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-data-xlsx/v1.bin","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025055/https://dlasprodpublic.blob.core.windows.net/apa/093D6F15-1079-4D72-87B5-CBBFEF1FDA47.xlsx","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Virginia Auditor comparative government revenues and expenditures dataset; official multi-year local government financials."}},{"id":"ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-report-page","title":"2025 Final Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures","sourceUrl":"https://www.apa.virginia.gov/local-government/reports/comparative-reports/23740","kind":"report","sha256":"bad8f2417e1a040b5fce35b87e7a924c43956f37d0404f2b5630ed0a7688fd8f","servable":"full","bytes":43212,"contentType":"text/html; charset=utf-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:50:47.398Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar-doc-apa-report-page/v1.html","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722025046/https://www.apa.virginia.gov/local-government/reports/comparative-reports/23740","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts official report landing page for 2025 comparative local government financial data."}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"j-city":0.7,"m-expenditure":1,"m-revenue":0.7,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1},"labels":["state-data","comparative-report","local-government-financials","virginia"],"whyItMatters":"Bristol, Virginia carries $317.4 million in local government debt against 16,512 residents -- $19,222 per person, the most of any Virginia city or county that had filed FY2025 financial data with the state auditor, and nearly $6,000 more than the runner-up.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":12,"claims":[{"id":"f-bristol-go-ratio","text":"Bristol's own Financial Policy Ratios show General Obligation Debt as a Percentage of Assessed Value against a 5% policy goal at 7.60% (FY2023 actual), 9.40% (FY2024 actual), 7.19% (FY2025 projected), and 5.80% (FY2026 estimated).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"FY2023-FY2026 (FY2026 estimated)","quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, 'Financial Policy Ratios' table, row 'General Obligation Debt as a Percentage of Assessed Value'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-bristol-swdf-ratio","text":"Bristol's Financial Policy Ratios show Debt as a Percentage of Operating Expenditures for the Solid Waste Disposal Fund (SWDF) against an 8% policy goal at 24.84% (FY2023 actual) and 23.53% (FY2024 actual); the FY2025 and FY2026 columns for this fund are listed 'Not Applicable.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"FY2023-FY2024 actual","quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, 'Financial Policy Ratios' table, row 'Debt as a Percentage of Operating Expenditures Per Fund', line 'SWDF'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-bristol-debt-total","text":"Bristol's total gross local government debt outstanding as of the year ended June 30, 2025 was $317,398,417.","value":317398417,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G (Summary of Outstanding Debt), Cities section, row No. 2 'Bristol', column 'Total Gross Debt'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-bristol-pop","text":"Bristol's population estimate as of July 2024 was 16,512.","value":16512,"unit":"PEOPLE","asOf":"2024-07","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit H (Demographic and Tax Data), Cities section, row No. 2 'Bristol', column 'Population Estimates July 2024'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-bristol-debt-by-function","text":"Of Bristol's $317,398,417 in gross debt, $48,897,738 is attributed to Education, $0 to Streets/Roads/Bridges, $268,208,751 to Other General Government, and $291,928 to Enterprise Activities.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Cities section, row No. 2 'Bristol', 'Gross Debt by Function' columns","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fallschurch","text":"Falls Church's total gross local government debt was $210,359,064 against a July 2024 population estimate of 15,868.","value":210359064,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Cities section, row No. 11 'Falls Church'; Exhibit H, Cities section, row No. 11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-winchester","text":"Winchester's total gross local government debt was $363,426,598 against a July 2024 population estimate of 29,294.","value":363426598,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Cities section, row No. 38 'Winchester'; Exhibit H, Cities section, row No. 38","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-richmond","text":"Richmond's total gross local government debt was $2,793,102,879 against a July 2024 population estimate of 233,039.","value":2793102879,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Cities section, row No. 30 'Richmond'; Exhibit H, Cities section, row No. 30","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cities-total","text":"The Cities section's Total Gross Debt across all 38 Virginia independent cities is $19,275,606,776.","value":19275606776,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Cities section, 'Total' row (No. 38 total line)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-counties-total","text":"The Counties section's Total Gross Debt across all 95 Virginia counties is $37,973,753,448.","value":37973753448,"unit":"USD","asOf":"year ended 2025-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"Exhibit G, Counties section, 'Total' row (No. 95 total line)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-nonreporting","text":"As of the report's April 26, 2026 publication, 32 localities -- including the cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Franklin, Hopewell, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Norton, Portsmouth, Radford, and Roanoke, sixteen counties, and six towns -- had not submitted fiscal year 2025 transmittal data and audited financial reports to the Auditor of Public Accounts, so this final publication of the 2025 Comparative Report excludes their financial data; the Office plans to publish an amended version once that information arrives.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"as of 2026-04-26","quote":"As of the date of this report, the Cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Franklin, Hopewell, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Norton, Portsmouth, Radford, and Roanoke; the Counties of Amherst, Brunswick, Buckingham, Caroline, Floyd, Halifax, Isle of Wight, King and Queen, King William, Lee, Northumberland, Pulaski, Richmond, Russell, Sussex, and Warren; and the Towns of Big Stone Gap, Blacksburg, Broadway, Clifton Forge, Richlands, and Vinton have not submitted fiscal year 2025 transmittal data and audited financial reports to our Office. Accordingly, this final publication of the 2025 Comparative Report does not include financial data for these 32 localities.","locator":"Transmittal Letter sheet, paragraph beginning 'As of the date of this report'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-report-scope","text":"The Comparative Report is published under Code of Virginia Sec. 15.2-2510, which requires cities, counties, and towns meeting the statutory reporting threshold to file a detailed statement of revenues and expenditures with the Auditor of Public Accounts annually by December 15, accompanied by the locality's audited financial report.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"as of 2026-04-26","quote":"In accordance with Sec. 15.2-2510 of the Code of Virginia, all cities and counties, and towns meeting the statutory reporting threshold, are required to file a detailed statement of revenues and expenditures (transmittal data) accompanied by the locality's audited financial report with the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts (Office) annually by December 15.","locator":"Transmittal Letter sheet, second paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-swdf-ratio-multiple","label":null,"method":"23.53 / 8","result":2.94,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-go-ratio-multiple","label":null,"method":"9.40 / 5","result":1.88,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-bristol-percap","label":null,"method":"317398417 / 16512","result":19222.29,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-fallschurch-percap","label":null,"method":"210359064 / 15868","result":13256.81,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-bristol-vs-fallschurch-gap","label":null,"method":"(317398417 / 16512) - (210359064 / 15868)","result":5965.48,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-reporting-localities-total-debt","label":null,"method":"19275606776 + 37973753448","result":57249360224,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-other-gg-share","label":null,"method":"268208751 / 317398417 * 100","result":84.5,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-bristol-ranks-highest","label":null,"method":"ranked per-capita gross debt (Total Gross Debt ÷ Population Estimate July 2024) for the 107 of 133 Virginia cities and counties with reported (non-zero) FY2025 data in Exhibit G and Exhibit H; a ranking, not a single arithmetic formula","result":null,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/bristol-va-debt-burden-dollar","title":"Bristol, VA Carries Virginia's Highest Local Debt Per Resident","dek":"Bristol, Virginia carries $317.4 million in local government debt against 16,512 residents -- $19,222 per person, the most of any Virginia city or county that had filed FY2025 financial data with the state auditor, and nearly $6,000 more than the runner-up."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar","slug":"ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Auditors flag $70.6M in misspent Covid aid to rural, tribal hospitals","publisher":"U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-02-20","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11484/A-09-23-01001.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-oig-a09230-1001","title":"Fourteen of Thirty Selected Indian Health Service and Rural Providers Did Not Comply or May Not Have Complied With Terms and Conditions and Federal Requirements for Expending Provider Relief Fund Payments (A-09-23-01001)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11484/A-09-23-01001.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"1d363b7c1092bfcc9b07647eda177ff8cb564e23f2be9b2a02e72644cdd707fb","servable":"full","bytes":1949618,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:46:34.203Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-oig-a09230-1001/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722024634/https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11484/A-09-23-01001.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal HHS OIG audit of Indian Health Service and rural provider compliance with Provider Relief Fund terms and conditions."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-crs-r46897","title":"The Provider Relief Fund: Frequently Asked Questions (R46897)","sourceUrl":"https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R46897.html","kind":"report","sha256":"1de57adb8de634bcb1311e05cbe7d1a309b44c603b3654f7bcd2fbc4fa1740e1","servable":"full","bytes":78077,"contentType":"text/html","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:46:53.748Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-crs-r46897/v1.html","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722024653/https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R46897.html","grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Congressional Research Service frequently-asked-questions guide on the Provider Relief Fund; accessed via secondary mirror."}},{"id":"ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-oig-a09230-1001","title":"Fourteen of Thirty Selected Indian Health Service and Rural Providers Did Not Comply or May Not Have Complied With Terms and Conditions and Federal Requirements for Expending Provider Relief Fund Payments (A-09-23-01001)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11484/A-09-23-01001.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"1d363b7c1092bfcc9b07647eda177ff8cb564e23f2be9b2a02e72644cdd707fb","servable":"full","bytes":1949618,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:46:34.203Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar-doc-oig-a09230-1001/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722024634/https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11484/A-09-23-01001.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal HHS OIG audit of Indian Health Service and rural provider compliance with Provider Relief Fund terms and conditions."}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.7,"d-health":1,"d-governance":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8,"e-gap":0.7},"labels":["federal-audit","compliance-audit","healthcare-oversight","provider-relief","ihs"],"whyItMatters":"A federal audit of 30 tribal and rural health providers that received Provider Relief Fund payments during the pandemic found that 14 did not comply with the program's rules. Twelve spent $70.6 million on unallowable costs -- salaries over the federal pay cap, expenses with no supporting records, costs unrelated to Covid-19 -- and two could not support or had miscalculated $19.7 million in lost-revenue claims. The 14 noncompliant providers had received $570.8 million in pandemic aid altogether. HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration agreed to seek repayment.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":16,"claims":[{"id":"f-prf-appropriation-corroborated","text":"A total of $178 billion was appropriated to the Provider Relief Fund across three laws: $100 billion in the CARES Act, $75 billion in the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, and $3 billion in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"A total of $178 billion was appropriated to the fund across three laws, as follows: $100 billion in the CARES Act, $75 billion in the PPPHCEA, and $3 billion in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.","locator":"Provider Relief Fund appropriations summary","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-prf-appropriation","text":"Congress appropriated a combined $178 billion to HHS across three 2020-2021 laws to establish the Provider Relief Fund (PRF); as of October 2024, HRSA had distributed $145.9 billion of it to providers","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"These Federal laws appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a combined $178 billion in funds, which HHS used to establish the Provider Relief Fund (PRF).","locator":"Introduction, Why We Did This Audit, p.1 and footnote 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-audit-scope","text":"The audit covered nearly $1.56 billion in PRF payments to a nonstatistical sample of 30 IHS and rural provider taxpayer identification numbers, drawn from a sampling frame of 4,516 IHS and rural providers that received and kept PRF payments totaling approximately $25.2 billion; each of the 30 selected providers received more than $5 million in PRF payments and was located across 20 States, with 2 IHS facilities and 28 part of rural provider systems","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Our audit covered nearly $1.56 billion in PRF payments to a nonstatistical sample of 30 IHS and rural provider taxpayer identification numbers (TINs)... The 30 sampled providers each received more than $5 million in PRF payments during our audit period and were located in 20 States. Two of the sampled providers were IHS facilities and 28 were part of rural provider systems that included hospitals.","locator":"How We Conducted This Audit, p.6 and footnotes 19, 21","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-headline-finding","text":"Of the 30 selected providers, 14 did not comply or may not have complied with PRF terms and conditions: 12 used PRF payments for unallowable expenditures totaling $70,590,911, and 2 of those 14 also inaccurately calculated or could not support $19,709,036 in lost revenues; the 14 noncompliant providers collectively received $570.8 million in PRF payments","value":70590911,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"As a result of these deficiencies, 14 of the 30 selected providers used PRF payments for unallowable expenditures totaling $70.6 million and inaccurately calculated or could not support lost revenues totaling $19.7 million... These 14 providers received a total of $570.8 million in PRF payments.","locator":"What OIG Found, p.1; Findings, p.7; footnote 23","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-remaining-compliant","text":"The remaining 16 of the 30 selected providers used PRF payments for allowable general and administrative and health care-related expenses and to properly offset lost revenues","value":16,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"The remaining 16 providers used PRF payments for allowable expenditures and lost revenues.","locator":"What OIG Found, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-salary","text":"Four providers used PRF payments for salaries exceeding the federal Executive Level II limit ($197,300 in CY2020; $199,300 in CY2021), for a combined total of $1,234,994: two providers paid 49 executives and other employees $900,921 over the limit, one provider paid 21 executives and medical professionals $328,981 over the limit, and one provider paid two employees $5,092 over the limit","value":1234994,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Four providers used PRF payments for salaries for executives and other employees that exceeded the Executive Level II salary levels for CYs 2020 and 2021 by a total of $1.2 million.","locator":"Salary Costs Exceeded the Federal Executive Level II Salary Limit, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-unsupported","text":"Three providers did not maintain documentation to support $10.3 million in PRF-funded expenses: one used $7.1 million in reclassified salary/other expenses with no supporting documentation, one used $1.8 million for lab-testing expenses plus $22,453 for salaries with no documentation, and one did not document $1.4 million it said it intended to remove in a later reporting period","value":10300000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Three providers did not maintain documentation to support the use of PRF payments to cover lab testing, salary, and other expenses, totaling $10.3 million.","locator":"Costs Not Adequately Supported, p.8-9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-unallowable","text":"Two providers used $36 million in PRF payments for expenses unrelated to COVID-19: one reported $35.2 million in personnel and general-administration expenses it told HRSA were not COVID-related, and the other used $749,640 for an unrelated equipment rental ($26,200) and accrued-but-unpaid bonuses ($723,440)","value":36000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Two providers used PRF payments totaling $36 million for expenses not related to COVID-19 and other expenses.","locator":"Unallowable Costs, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-charged-not-incurred","text":"Two providers used $1.9 million in PRF payments for costs charged but not actually incurred during the period of availability: one used $1.5 million in unemployment-insurance expenses the state had already forgiven plus $57,200 in canceled drug orders, and the other reported $317,757 in expenses incurred outside the covered period","value":1900000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Two providers used PRF payments totaling $1.9 million for expenses that were charged but not actually incurred during the period of availability.","locator":"Costs Charged but Not Incurred, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-reimbursed-other","text":"Six providers used $20.4 million in PRF payments for expenses or lost revenues that were also reimbursed, or obligated to be reimbursed, by other funding sources: one provider's $19.7 million in lost revenues obligated to be reimbursed by other sources, four providers' $614,781 reimbursed by other federal sources, and one provider's $26,896 reimbursed by a non-federal source","value":20400000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Six providers used PRF payments for expenses or lost revenues, totaling $20.4 million, that were reimbursed or obligated to be reimbursed by other sources.","locator":"Costs or Losses Reimbursed or Obligated To Be Reimbursed by Other Funding Sources, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-duplicate","text":"Four providers used PRF payments to cover duplicate expenses totaling $765,562: $400,516 in salary costs claimed twice in the same period by two providers, $26,318 for the same equipment claimed twice by one provider, and $338,728 in lab services one provider had already claimed in a prior reporting period","value":765562,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Four providers used PRF payments to cover duplicate expenses totaling $765,562.","locator":"Duplicate Expenses, p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-cat-lost-revenue-calc","text":"Two providers inaccurately calculated or could not support $19.7 million in lost-revenue claims: one overstated lost revenues by $8.2 million by incorrectly excluding offsetting revenue, and the other could not support an $11.5 million lost-revenue calculation after an IT system update","value":19709036,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Two providers inaccurately calculated lost revenues or could not support lost revenue calculations totaling $19.7 million. Specifically, one provider incorrectly excluded expenses that offset patient revenue, resulting in $8.2 million in overstated lost revenues. The other provider could not support its lost revenue calculation totaling $11.5 million.","locator":"Inaccurate or Unsupported Lost Revenue Calculations, p.11-12; footnote 23","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-potentially-unallowable","text":"Two of the 14 noncompliant providers used PRF payments for $382,656 in expenditures that may not have been supported or allowable -- $328,174 in salary expenses partially undocumented, and $54,482 in Critical Access Hospital expenses that may have already been reimbursed by Medicare","value":382656,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Two providers used PRF payments to cover expenses, totaling $382,656, that may have been unallowable because the expenses were not fully supported or reimbursed by other funding sources.","locator":"Some Selected Providers Used Provider Relief Fund Payments for Potentially Unallowable Expenditures, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-recommendations","text":"OIG made three recommendations to HRSA: require the 12 providers with $70,590,911 in unallowable expenditures to return or replace the funds; require the 2 providers with $19,709,036 in inaccurate/unsupported lost revenues to identify and return or replace the amounts; and work with the 2 providers on the $382,656 in potentially unallowable expenditures to determine proper allocation. HRSA concurred with all three recommendations and said it would review the relevant records and seek repayment as appropriate","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In written comments on our draft report, HRSA concurred with our recommendations and indicated that it will review the relevant records and seek repayment, as appropriate.","locator":"Recommendations, p.13; HRSA Comments and OIG Response, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-other-matters","text":"In an Other Matters section (not a formal recommendation), OIG recalculated lost revenues for 27 of the 30 providers -- who had reported $2.3 billion in lost revenues under HRSA's flexible quarterly-comparison method -- using an annualized method instead; under that stricter method, those 27 providers would not have been able to report $1.5 billion of the lost revenues they claimed and applied PRF payments against","value":1500000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Twenty-seven of the thirty selected providers reported lost revenues totaling $2.3 billion... If HRSA had required reporting entities to use option 1 and annualize their revenues instead of allowing stand-alone quarterly calculations, 27 of the 30 selected providers would not have been able to report a total of $1.5 billion in lost revenues and would not have been able to apply PRF payments to offset this amount.","locator":"Other Matters, p.14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-hrsa-rebuttal","text":"HRSA disputed OIG's Other Matters framing, stating it was legally required to allow providers to use 'any reasonable' method to determine revenue losses and that OIG's analysis and conclusion were at odds with the flexibilities Congress and HRSA guidance afforded providers","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Regarding our Other Matters section, HRSA noted that it was legally required to allow providers to use \"any reasonable\" method to determine revenue losses, and OIG's analysis and conclusion were at odds with flexibilities afforded to providers.","locator":"HRSA Comments and OIG Response, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[],"article":{"slug":"ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ihs-rural-provider-relief-fund-dollar","title":"Auditors flag $70.6M in misspent Covid aid to rural, tribal hospitals","dek":"A federal audit of 30 tribal and rural health providers that received Provider Relief Fund payments during the pandemic found that 14 did not comply with the program's rules. Twelve spent $70.6 million on unallowable costs -- salaries over the federal pay cap, expenses with no supporting records, costs unrelated to Covid-19 -- and two could not support or had miscalculated $19.7 million in lost-revenue claims. The 14 noncompliant providers had received $570.8 million in pandemic aid altogether. HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration agreed to seek repayment."}},{"schema":1,"id":"nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar","slug":"nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"NASA's Watchdog Questions $170.9 Million Paid to Boeing","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-30","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/final-report-ig-26-011-nasas-management-of-its-commercial-crew-program.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-26-011","title":"NASA's Management of Its Commercial Crew Program (IG-26-011, A-24-15-00-HED)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/final-report-ig-26-011-nasas-management-of-its-commercial-crew-program.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"9fadb89b4a5482476d19935b8bc5dad1ede2a416bc0f260850b6c0d706ad0c5a","servable":"full","bytes":6360104,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:20:51.995Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-26-011/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722022051/https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/final-report-ig-26-011-nasas-management-of-its-commercial-crew-program.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"2026 NASA OIG audit report establishing deficiencies in Commercial Crew Program cost controls and contract management oversight"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-20-005","title":"NASA's Management of Crew Transportation to the International Space Station (IG-20-005)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IG-20-005.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"15727a2f95ed5fa71ee842def2e5ced824c5a6c6cfc67385633eebfd7dc4fe65","servable":"full","bytes":4368488,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:21:02.888Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-20-005/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722022102/https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IG-20-005.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"2019 NASA OIG audit report on Commercial Crew Program cost and schedule control practices for crew transportation"}},{"id":"ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-26-011","title":"NASA's Management of Its Commercial Crew Program (IG-26-011, A-24-15-00-HED)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/final-report-ig-26-011-nasas-management-of-its-commercial-crew-program.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"9fadb89b4a5482476d19935b8bc5dad1ede2a416bc0f260850b6c0d706ad0c5a","servable":"full","bytes":6360104,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T02:20:51.995Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar-ig-26-011/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722022051/https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/final-report-ig-26-011-nasas-management-of-its-commercial-crew-program.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"2026 NASA OIG audit report establishing deficiencies in Commercial Crew Program cost controls and contract management oversight"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.7,"d-governance":0.7,"d-labor":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.6,"e-gap":0.7},"labels":["commercial-crew","starliner","program-management","payment-oversight","cost-controls","contract-management","ig-audit"],"whyItMatters":"Twelve years after NASA signed $6.8 billion in fixed-price contracts for two companies to fly astronauts to the space station, Boeing's Starliner still is not certified to carry crew. NASA's own inspector general says the agency has already advanced $170.9 million toward a Starliner flight, across two separate audits, that it now calls far from certain to happen.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":20,"claims":[{"id":"fact-total-investment","text":"Since 2014, NASA has made significant investments of over $9.8 billion into developing, testing, and certifying safe crew transportation capabilities to the Station.","value":9.8,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2026-04","quote":"Since 2014, NASA has made significant investments of over $9.8 billion into developing, testing, and certifying safe crew transportation capabilities to the Station.","locator":"Conclusion, p.23","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-contracts-at-award","text":"In 2014, NASA awarded two fixed-price commercial crew transportation contracts to SpaceX for $2.6 billion and Boeing for $4.2 billion.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In 2014, NASA awarded two fixed-price commercial crew transportation contracts to SpaceX for $2.6 billion and Boeing for $4.2 billion.","locator":"Introduction, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-contracts-current","text":"As of April 2026, SpaceX's current contract stands at $4.9 billion (51% of NASA's total investment) and Boeing's current contract stands at $3.7 billion (38%), with $1.1 billion (11%) in direct Commercial Crew Program funding, for a total CCtCap investment of $9.8 billion.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"NASA's Total CCtCap Investment $9.8 billion / Current SpaceX Contract $4.9 billion, 51% of NASA's total investment / Current Boeing Contract $3.7 billion, 38% of NASA's total investment / Commercial Crew Program Funding $1.1 billion, 11% of NASA's total investment","locator":"Figure 1, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-cost-growth","text":"SpaceX's contract costs have grown approximately 11 percent, or $126.8 million, over initial estimates while Boeing's contract costs have grown approximately 14 percent, or $269.4 million, to meet additional NASA requirements for design, development, testing, and evaluation.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Specifically, SpaceX's contract costs have grown approximately 11 percent, or $126.8 million, over initial estimates while Boeing's contract costs have grown approximately 14 percent, or $269.4 million, to meet additional NASA requirements for design, development, testing, and evaluation.","locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-questioned-127-9","text":"Since its prior 2019 audit, NASA OIG questions an additional $127.9 million NASA has spent on milestone payments to Boeing for Starliner-3, a flight that is far from certain.","value":127.9,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":"Similarly, based on Starliner's numerous technical challenges, we question whether Boeing will be able to fly three post-certification missions to the ISS before the planned end of the Station's operational life in 2030. As a result, since our prior audit in 2019, we question an additional $127.9 million NASA has spent since 2019 on milestone payments to Boeing for Starliner-3, a flight that is far from certain.","locator":"p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-questioned-43-2019","text":"In its 2019 report, NASA OIG questioned $43 million of costs NASA paid to Boeing for Starliner-3 earlier than contractually required.","value":43,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2019-11-14","quote":"As a result, in our 2019 report, we questioned $43 million of costs NASA paid to Boeing for Starliner-3 earlier than contractually required.","locator":"p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-17m-spacex","text":"NASA paid an additional $17 million in total to SpaceX to accelerate two flights on a compressed schedule, to maintain its nominal crew rotation after Boeing could not fulfill flights originally assigned to it.","value":17,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":"As a result, NASA paid an additional $17 million in total to SpaceX for these two flights, accelerating the schedule, to ensure the Agency was able to maintain its nominal crew rotation schedule.","locator":"p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-287m-2018","text":"In 2018, based on Boeing's delivery delays and NASA's overconfidence in the provider's use of heritage space flight systems, NASA added $287 million to Boeing's contract to help accelerate its readiness to fly crewed missions.","value":287,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2018","quote":"Specifically, in 2018, based on Boeing's delivery delays and NASA's overconfidence in the provider's use of heritage space flight systems, NASA added $287 million to Boeing's contract to help accelerate its readiness to fly crewed missions.","locator":"p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-cft-extended-stay","text":"During the June 2024 Starliner crewed flight test, NASA extended the stay of astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams on the ISS to 286 days -- from an intended mission of 8 days -- due to technical and performance failures during flight and docking.","value":286,"unit":"DAYS","asOf":"2024-06","quote":"During this mission, Agency officials extended the stay of NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on the ISS to 286 days—from an intended mission of 8 days—due to several technical and performance failures during flight and docking to the ISS.","locator":"p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-6-degrees-freedom","text":"During CFT, five of the service module's thrusters failed from overheating, and Commander Wilmore was forced to take manual control after the vehicle lost six degrees of freedom of automated control -- a loss of control NASA's own assessment called a nearly catastrophic mission.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"After propellant system failures caused a temporary total loss of control of the Starliner, which led to—in NASA's assessment—a nearly catastrophic CFT mission, Boeing identified approximately 100 IFAs and flight observations. [p.10] ... Both propulsion systems in the service module and crew module experienced failures during CFT. Specifically, five of the service module thrusters failed due to overheating from the thrusters' close proximity to each other... As a result, Commander Wilmore was forced to take manual control of the vehicle because automated control lost six degrees of freedom of control, which is the ability to maneuver the spacecraft into the six different movements possible in three-dimensional space. [p.11]","locator":"p.10-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-21-month-delay","text":"NASA did not classify the CFT mission as a Type A mishap -- its most severe designation, the category used for the Challenger and Columbia disasters -- until February 2026, 21 months after the mishap occurred.","value":21,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":"Nonetheless, NASA did not classify the CFT mission as a Type A mishap until February 2026—21 months after the mishap occurred.","locator":"p.21","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-certification-2027","text":"NASA OIG found it unrealistic that Boeing could achieve human-rating certification by fall 2026 as NASA officials projected; certification may instead be delayed to 2027, leaving a window of only about three years of crewed flights before the ISS's planned 2030 decommissioning.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"While NASA officials have noted fall 2026 as the likely time frame for Starliner’s certification, we found this to be unrealistic given the current delays for the Starliner-1 launch and lack of clarity on the progress this uncrewed cargo flight will accomplish on Starliner’s certification plan... As a result, the human-rating certification may be delayed to 2027, leaving a limited window of only being able to provide crewed flights to 2030, the planned end of the ISS’s operational life.","locator":"p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-workforce-21pct","text":"As of April 2025, the Commercial Crew Program had lost approximately 21 percent of its workforce due to attrition and Agency reorganization.","value":21,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2025-04","quote":"Compounding the challenges to the already-thin workforce, as of April 2025, CCP lost approximately 21 percent of its workforce due to attrition and Agency reorganization.","locator":"p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-soyuz-comparison","text":"Between 2006 and 2024, before any commercial provider was certified, NASA purchased 68 Soyuz seats worth over $3.6 billion from Russia's Roscosmos to ferry U.S. and partner astronauts to and from the ISS.","value":3.6,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2024","quote":"Between 2006 and 2024, NASA purchased 68 Soyuz seats worth over $3.6 billion to ferry U.S. and partner astronauts to and from the Station.","locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-6-recommendations","text":"NASA OIG made six recommendations, including deferring further Starliner-3 milestone payments to Boeing until human-rating certification is complete; NASA management concurred with all six.","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"As the contract allows, defer payments, including partial or advanced payments, to Boeing for any Starliner-3 milestones until the human-rating certification of Starliner is complete... We provided a draft of this report to NASA management who concurred with all six of our recommendations and described planned actions to address them.","locator":"p.24","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-starliner1-cargo-value","text":"By flying Starliner-1 as an uncrewed cargo mission rather than a crewed one, NASA is using one of Boeing's contracted post-certification missions -- valued at over $300 million -- to let Boeing conduct what is effectively a third uncrewed orbital flight test.","value":300,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":"By using one of its contracted post-certification missions—valued at over $300 million—to allow Boeing to conduct what is effectively a third uncrewed orbital flight test, NASA will incur the cost of purchasing at least one additional post-certification mission for crew from either Boeing or SpaceX.","locator":"p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-oft1-delay","text":"Boeing's first uncrewed orbital flight test, OFT-1, launched 2.7 years after its first scheduled launch date.","value":2.7,"unit":"YEARS","asOf":null,"quote":"OFT-1 ... 2.7 years from first scheduled launch to actual launch date","locator":"Figure 5, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-oft2-delay","text":"Boeing's second uncrewed orbital flight test, OFT-2, launched 1.4 years after its first scheduled launch date.","value":1.4,"unit":"YEARS","asOf":null,"quote":"OFT-2 ... 1.4 years from first scheduled launch to actual launch date","locator":"Figure 5, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-cft-delay","text":"Boeing's crewed flight test, CFT, launched 6.9 years after its first scheduled launch date.","value":6.9,"unit":"YEARS","asOf":null,"quote":"CFT ... 6.9 years from first scheduled launch to actual launch date","locator":"Figure 5, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-spacex-certified-2020","text":"SpaceX's Crew Dragon received human-rating certification in November 2020 and has since safely flown 12 crewed missions to and from the ISS.","value":12,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-06","quote":"The SpaceX Crew Dragon received human-rating certification in November 2020 prior to launching its first crewed post-certification mission, Crew-1, to the ISS.","locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"total-questioned-both-audits","label":null,"method":"43+127.9","result":170.9,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"investment-growth-vs-award","label":null,"method":"(9800-6800)/6800*100","result":44.12,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"questioned-share-of-current-boeing-contract","label":null,"method":"170.9/3700*100","result":4.62,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/nasa-starliner-questioned-payments-dollar","title":"NASA's Watchdog Questions $170.9 Million Paid to Boeing","dek":"Twelve years after NASA signed $6.8 billion in fixed-price contracts for two companies to fly astronauts to the space station, Boeing's Starliner still is not certified to carry crew. NASA's own inspector general says the agency has already advanced $170.9 million toward a Starliner flight, across two separate audits, that it now calls far from certain to happen."}},{"schema":1,"id":"artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar","slug":"artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"NASA's Canceled Artemis Hardware Cost $5.9 Billion, Double the Plan","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-24","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/interim-memo-ml-26-002-nasas-management-of-programs-and-projects-after-mission-termination-artemis-campaign-systems.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oig-memo","title":"Interim Memorandum: NASA's Management of Programs and Projects after Mission Termination — Canceled or Repurposed Artemis Campaign Systems (Report No. ML-26-002, Assignment No. A-26-06-00-SARD)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/interim-memo-ml-26-002-nasas-management-of-programs-and-projects-after-mission-termination-artemis-campaign-systems.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3c779a29e49f8d68d659072d1cfd948c89391585c5182b6767527d40aa8eebd6","servable":"full","bytes":1432774,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T01:50:50.791Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oig-memo/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"NASA OIG audit memo on management of canceled/repurposed Artemis campaign hardware; issuer-hosted federal primary independently corroborated by oversight.gov listing."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oversight-mirror","title":"NASA's Management of Programs and Projects after Mission Termination — Canceled or Repurposed Artemis Campaign Systems (oversight.gov listing)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/reports/nasas-management-programs-and-projects-after-mission-termination-canceled-or-repurposed","kind":"report","sha256":"fd3a18860338466bacc05aba2c1aa0268c719389207f91d468686120883bad55","servable":"full","bytes":36108,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T01:50:52.287Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oversight-mirror/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":1,"descriptor":"oversight.gov mirror listing of NASA OIG audit on canceled Artemis hardware; official secondary source independently corroborating oig.nasa.gov primary."}},{"id":"ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oig-memo","title":"Interim Memorandum: NASA's Management of Programs and Projects after Mission Termination — Canceled or Repurposed Artemis Campaign Systems (Report No. ML-26-002, Assignment No. A-26-06-00-SARD)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/interim-memo-ml-26-002-nasas-management-of-programs-and-projects-after-mission-termination-artemis-campaign-systems.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3c779a29e49f8d68d659072d1cfd948c89391585c5182b6767527d40aa8eebd6","servable":"full","bytes":1432774,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T01:50:50.791Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar-doc-oig-memo/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"NASA OIG audit memo on management of canceled/repurposed Artemis campaign hardware; issuer-hosted federal primary independently corroborated by oversight.gov listing."}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.6,"d-governance":0.6,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.5,"e-gap":0.5},"labels":["nasa-artemis","canceled-hardware","project-termination","oig-audit","program-management","equipment-disposition","federal-audit","space-program"],"whyItMatters":"A NASA Inspector General memo values the four Artemis systems NASA announced in February 2026 it will cancel or repurpose -- a rocket upper stage, a stage adapter, a mobile launch tower, and a lunar-station module -- at a combined $5.9 billion, more than double the $2.8 billion the agency first budgeted for them, with delivery dates already pushed back as much as seven years before the work stopped. As of the memo's June 24, 2026 issuance, NASA had not decided what, if anything, gets salvaged from the hardware, and a fuller audit assessing the cancellations' impact on the workforce, contractors, and international partners was still in progress.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":23,"claims":[{"id":"f-scope-four-systems","text":"The audit, initiated in March 2026, examines NASA's management of developed assets for four Artemis systems the Agency recently announced plans to cancel or repurpose: the SLS Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), SLS Universal Stage Adapter (USA), Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2), and Gateway's Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-combined-original","text":"Over the course of their life cycles, the combined contract values for the four systems (EUS, USA, ML-2, HALO) started at nearly $2.8 billion.","value":2800,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.12, Conclusion","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-combined-current","text":"The combined current contract value for the four systems had ballooned to $5.9 billion by the time NASA announced plans to cancel or repurpose them, with contracted delivery dates extended by up to 7 years.","value":5900,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.1, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reformulation-context","text":"In February 2026, NASA announced it was reformulating the Artemis campaign under the President's National Space Policy (Executive Order 14369, Dec. 18, 2025), increasing SLS mission cadence and no longer planning to upgrade the SLS to a more powerful configuration using EUS, USA, and ML-2; NASA also shifted from using Gateway as a lunar staging point toward building a permanent Moon base.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-02-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-no-recommendations","text":"The interim memorandum makes no recommendations; the information it presents will be folded into a later, still-in-progress OIG audit that will assess NASA's management of the terminated missions' developed assets and the impacts of their cancellation on the associated workforce, contractors, and international partners.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.12, Conclusion","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-repurpose-undecided","text":"As of the memorandum's issuance, NASA was still evaluating potential alternative uses for the EUS, USA, ML-2, and HALO hardware; decisions on whether, and to what extent, the hardware can be repurposed had not been finalized.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.12, Conclusion","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-eus-original","text":"NASA added Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) work to its existing SLS Core Stages contract with Boeing in February 2017 for $962 million, with first-EUS delivery originally due March 2021.","value":962,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-eus-current","text":"By the time NASA issued a stop-work order on EUS in March 2026, the contract's EUS portion had grown to almost $2 billion -- more than double its original value -- with the delivery date for the first flight-ready EUS left unspecified.","value":2000,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-eus-projected","text":"Boeing's own March 2026 financial management report estimated the first EUS would cost $2.9 billion to complete, with a best-case NASA delivery date of August 2028; the OIG's own projection, based on Boeing's historical cost and schedule trends, put completion cost at $3.7 billion -- nearly $750 million above Boeing's own estimate -- with delivery slipping to November 2028, about 7.5 years behind the original schedule.","value":3700,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-eus-unsatisfactory-rating","text":"NASA rated Boeing's EUS performance 'unsatisfactory' for the evaluation period ending May 2025, citing unrealistic production schedules, no clear improvement plan, and limited confidence in Boeing's internal task-scheduling and project-management systems.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-05-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-usa-original","text":"NASA contracted with Dynetics, Inc. in June 2017 to design, build, and test the Universal Stage Adapter (USA) for $131 million, with delivery and integration originally due by August 2021.","value":131,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-usa-current","text":"By the time NASA issued a stop-work order on the USA in February 2026, the contract value for the first USA and its Payload Separation System had grown by nearly 170 percent to almost $353 million, and the delivery and integration schedule had slipped 7 years to September 2028.","value":353,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-usa-projected","text":"The OIG projects that, had the USA contract continued, costs would have climbed to $497 million -- nearly 4 times the original plan and about $133 million above Dynetics' own latest estimate -- with delivery slipping to May 2030, about 9 years behind the original schedule; per the contract, NASA had included an additional 3 years after delivery of the first adapter for vehicle integration, testing, launch operations support, and post-launch analysis before any Artemis launch could use it.","value":497,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ml2-original","text":"NASA contracted with Bechtel National, Inc. in June 2019 to design, build, and test Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2) for $383 million, with delivery originally due by March 2023.","value":383,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ml2-current","text":"By the time NASA issued a stop-work order on ML-2 in February 2026, the contract value had grown 314 percent to almost $1.6 billion, and the delivery schedule had slipped more than 3 years to May 2026; NASA's own June 2024 Agency Baseline Commitment had already put ML-2's cost at $1.8 billion with a September 2027 delivery date.","value":1600,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.7, footnote 10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ml2-projected","text":"The OIG projects that, had the ML-2 contract continued, costs could have climbed to $2 billion -- 5 times the original plan and over $140 million above Bechtel's own latest estimate -- with delivery slipping to December 2026, more than 3.5 years late; NASA would then have needed 1 to 2 years of post-delivery verification and validation testing, meaning ML-2 likely would not have been operational until at least 2028.","value":2000,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ml2-award-fees","text":"Prior NASA OIG audits of ML-2 questioned nearly $6 million in award fees NASA paid Bechtel despite the contractor's performance weaknesses; for the period ending September 2025, NASA rated Bechtel's performance only 'satisfactory' and cited management deficiencies in subcontractor oversight, supply scheduling, and workflow efficiency.","value":6,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-halo-original","text":"NASA sole-sourced the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for its Gateway lunar space station to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems in July 2019, later converting it to a firm-fixed-price contract in 2021 with a combined value of $1.3 billion through module delivery, originally targeted for May 2025.","value":1300,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-halo-current","text":"By the time NASA issued a stop-work order on HALO in April 2026, the contract value had grown to $1.9 billion and delivery had slipped to October 2026; Northrop Grumman was still working to address corrosion found throughout HALO's primary structure, discovered by its manufacturing subcontractor in 2025, which had already pushed the contractor's own estimated delivery date back 6 months to July 2028.","value":1900,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.10-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-halo-projected","text":"The OIG projects that, had the HALO contract continued, the module would not have been delivered to NASA until July 2031 -- a 6-year delay from the contractor's own estimate -- and, accounting for post-delivery integration and the roughly 10 months needed to reach lunar orbit, that Gateway would not have been operational until at least 2032; data limitations meant the OIG could not complete a full cost projection for HALO.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-halo-schedule-realism","text":"Gateway's independent Standing Review Board found a 0 percent likelihood that HALO would meet its (already-slipped) October 2025 launch readiness date, and noted that the Gateway Program's 'lack of schedule realism may be driving suboptimal engineering decisions during development.'","value":0,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-nasa-response","text":"In its written response, NASA said the challenges the memorandum documents -- cost growth, schedule slips, contractor performance issues, and evolving mission requirements -- 'reinforce the rationale' behind its February 2026 decision to streamline the Artemis architecture, but stressed that the OIG's projections 'rely on past performance under outdated architectural assumptions' that predate its reformulation.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-18","quote":null,"locator":"p.15-16, Enclosure II","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-scope-methodology","text":"The OIG reviewed contract files, monthly contractor financial management reports, project schedule data, and award-fee performance evaluations for each system, and used its own Schedule Analysis Tool plus an exponential smoothing model applied to contractor-reported historical cost growth to generate its completion projections; it did not interview NASA officials for this interim memorandum.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.13-14, Enclosure I","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-combined-original-sum","label":"Sum of the four systems' original contract values","method":"962+131+383+1300","result":2776,"unit":"USD_M","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-combined-current-sum","label":"Sum of the four systems' contract values at stop-work","method":"2000+353+1600+1900","result":5853,"unit":"USD_M","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-combined-growth-pct","label":"Combined contract value growth, all four systems","method":"(5900-2800)/2800*100","result":110.71428571428571,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-eus-growth-pct","label":"EUS contract value growth","method":"(2000-962)/962*100","result":107.90020790020789,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-halo-growth-pct","label":"HALO contract value growth","method":"(1900-1300)/1300*100","result":46.15384615384615,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/artemis-canceled-hardware-value-dollar","title":"NASA's Canceled Artemis Hardware Cost $5.9 Billion, Double the Plan","dek":"A NASA Inspector General memo values the four Artemis systems NASA announced in February 2026 it will cancel or repurpose -- a rocket upper stage, a stage adapter, a mobile launch tower, and a lunar-station module -- at a combined $5.9 billion, more than double the $2.8 billion the agency first budgeted for them, with delivery dates already pushed back as much as seven years before the work stopped. As of the memo's June 24, 2026 issuance, NASA had not decided what, if anything, gets salvaged from the hardware, and a fuller audit assessing the cancellations' impact on the workforce, contractors, and international partners was still in progress."}},{"schema":1,"id":"texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap","slug":"texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"9 of 14 Texas Colleges Skipped a Required Pay-Supplement Disclosure","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap)","jurisdiction":"state-tx","date":"2026-02-01","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://sao.texas.gov/reports/main/26-016.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap-sao-tx-26-016","title":"A Report on Salary Supplements at Public Higher Education Institutions and State Agencies (Report No. 26-016)","sourceUrl":"https://sao.texas.gov/reports/main/26-016.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"71bc03e8bf5409fa72b0e5d546a0c9658c64b7cfdec280eb7a905d270bb8f998","servable":"full","bytes":777406,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:50:32.294Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap-sao-tx-26-016/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722005031/https://sao.texas.gov/reports/main/26-016.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Texas State Auditor's Office official audit report on salary supplement disclosure practices at public higher education institutions"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap-sao-tx-26-016","title":"A Report on Salary Supplements at Public Higher Education Institutions and State Agencies (Report No. 26-016)","sourceUrl":"https://sao.texas.gov/reports/main/26-016.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"71bc03e8bf5409fa72b0e5d546a0c9658c64b7cfdec280eb7a905d270bb8f998","servable":"full","bytes":777406,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:50:32.294Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap-sao-tx-26-016/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260722005031/https://sao.texas.gov/reports/main/26-016.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Texas State Auditor's Office official audit report on salary supplement disclosure practices at public higher education institutions"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-education":1,"e-primary":1,"e-gap":1,"e-quantitative":0.6},"labels":["salary-supplements","state-auditor-office","higher-education","disclosure-gap","public-institutions","texas-sao","audit-findings","compensation-transparency","personnel-costs","budget-oversight"],"whyItMatters":"Fourteen of Texas's 112 public colleges and universities accepted outside money in 2023-2025 that a donor designated to boost a specific employee's, position's, or endowment's pay. State law requires posting the dollar amount of each one online; nine of the fourteen did not, according to the Texas State Auditor's Office.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":13,"claims":[{"id":"f-scope","text":"The State Auditor's Office surveyed 190 applicable state entities -- 112 public higher education institutions and 78 executive-branch state agencies -- about salary supplements funded by outside gifts, grants, donations, or other consideration for fiscal years 2023-2025; all 190 responded.","value":190,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-01-22","quote":"the State Auditor's Office surveyed 190 applicable state entities: 112 public higher education institutions and 78 state agencies in the executive branch of state government. All 190 state entities surveyed submitted a response to the survey.","locator":"p.1-2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reporting-14","text":"Of the 112 public higher education institutions surveyed, 14 (13%) reported receiving gifts, grants, donations, or other consideration that the donor designated to be used as a salary supplement for a named person, position, or endowment during fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.","value":14,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"Of the 112 public higher education institutions (including community colleges) surveyed about their salary supplements, 14 (13 percent) reported receiving gifts, grants, donations, or other considerations (salary supplements) from a person that the person designated to be used as a salary supplement for a named person, position, or endowment during fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.","locator":"Chapter 1, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-agencies-zero","text":"None of the 78 executive-branch state agencies surveyed reported receiving salary supplements during fiscal years 2023-2025.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"None of the 78 state agencies surveyed reported receiving salary supplements during those same fiscal years.","locator":"Chapter 1, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-statute-amount","text":"Texas Government Code Section 659.0201(b) requires a covered state agency that accepts a gift, grant, donation, or other consideration a donor designates as a salary supplement for an employee to post on its own website the dollar amount of each such gift, grant, donation, or consideration -- but the agency may not post the donor's name.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"A state agency that accepts a gift, grant, donation, or other consideration from a person that the person designates to be used as a salary supplement for an employee of the agency shall post on the agency's Internet website the amount of each gift, grant, donation, or other consideration provided by the person that is designated to be used as a salary supplement for an employee of the agency. The agency may not post the name of the person.","locator":"Appendix 2, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-statute-coi","text":"Texas Government Code Section 659.0201(c) requires each covered agency to adopt conflict-of-interest provisions governing its acceptance of salary-supplement gifts and to post those provisions on its own website.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"A state agency described by Subsection (b) by rule shall adopt conflict of interest provisions regarding the acceptance by the agency of a gift, grant, donation, or other consideration to be used as a salary supplement for an employee of the agency. ... The agency shall post the conflict of interest provisions on the agency's Internet website.","locator":"Appendix 2, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-figure5-amount","text":"Of the 14 institutions that reported salary supplements, 5 (Alvin Community College, Lone Star College System, Victoria College, Weatherford College, and Lamar State College Port Arthur) reported posting the dollar amount of each supplement on their website as required; 9 reported not posting it, several citing that their donors were organizations rather than individuals, and the University of North Texas said it could not determine its own compliance.","value":9,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-01-22","quote":"Amount of Each Salary Supplement ... Alvin Community College Yes / Del Mar College District No / Hill College No / Lone Star College System Yes / Midland College No / Tyler Junior College No / Victoria College Yes / Weatherford College Yes / Lamar State College Port Arthur Yes / Texas A&M University - Kingsville No / Texas A&M University - San Antonio No / Texas A&M University - Texarkana No / University of North Texas No Response / University of North Texas Health Fort Worth No","locator":"Figure 5, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-figure5-coi","text":"Of the 14 institutions, 11 reported posting the required conflict-of-interest provisions on their website; 3 -- Hill College, Tyler Junior College, and Texas A&M University-San Antonio -- reported they had not.","value":3,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-01-22","quote":"Conflict of Interest Provisions ... Alvin Community College Yes / Del Mar College District Yes / Hill College No / Lone Star College System Yes / Midland College Yes / Tyler Junior College No / Victoria College Yes / Weatherford College Yes / Lamar State College Port Arthur Yes / Texas A&M University - Kingsville Yes / Texas A&M University - San Antonio No / Texas A&M University - Texarkana Yes / University of North Texas Yes / University of North Texas Health Fort Worth Yes","locator":"Figure 5, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-figure1-totals","text":"Figure 1 reports salary-supplement counts by institution and fiscal year (2023/2024/2025): Alvin Community College 1/1/1; Del Mar College District 1/0/0; Hill College 1/1/6; Lone Star College System 6/10/15; Midland College 0/0/10; Tyler Junior College 1/1/1; Victoria College 2/2/3; Weatherford College 4/5/4; Lamar State College Port Arthur 3/7/8; Texas A&M University-Kingsville 1/1/1; Texas A&M University-San Antonio 0/0/2; Texas A&M University-Texarkana 2/3/3; University of North Texas 0/0/33; University of North Texas Health Fort Worth 1/0/0.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025","quote":"Lone Star College System 2023 6 / 2024 10 / 2025 15 ... University of North Texas 2025 33","locator":"Figure 1, p.3-5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-weatherford-booster","text":"Weatherford College's salary supplements come from athletic booster clubs; the college's Business Office receives letters from the booster clubs instructing it to transfer funds for the coaches' monthly auto allowances.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Weatherford College Business Office is provided with letters from the athletics booster club instructing the Business Office to transfer funds from the Booster Club agency accounts for the monthly auto allowances for the coaches.","locator":"Figure 3, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-unt-endowments","text":"University of North Texas reported 33 salary supplements in fiscal year 2025 alone -- more than any other institution in the survey -- funded by endowments for department chairs and professorships; UNT told the State Auditor's Office it was unable to determine whether it complied with the website amount-posting requirement.","value":33,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"University of North Texas reported the types of donor entities as \"Other.\" The entities described in its survey responses were endowments for department chairs and professorships. ... University of North Texas ... No Response ... reported it was unable to determine its compliance with the requirement.","locator":"Figure 1 note g, p.5; Figure 5, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-entity-exemption-reasoning","text":"Several institutions -- Del Mar College District, Hill College, and Midland College -- told the State Auditor's Office they did not post the supplement amount online because the supplements came from an entity rather than an individual person.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The institution reported that the salary supplements were received from entities rather than an individual; therefore, the institution did not post this information on its website.","locator":"Figure 5 note c, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-methodology","text":"The survey covered fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025, was open from December 8, 2025 through January 22, 2026, and the State Auditor's Office did not independently verify the institutions' survey responses.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The scope of this project was fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025. ... Surveys were distributed via email to 190 applicable public higher education institutions and state agencies. The survey was open from December 8, 2025, through January 22, 2026. ... the State Auditor's Office did not independently verify the survey responses provided.","locator":"Appendix 1, p.13-14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-tjc-terminated","text":"Tyler Junior College identified a single instance of accepting gift funds for a designated salary supplement, received through the Tyler Junior College Foundation, and that arrangement was terminated effective December 31, 2025.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"the College identified a single instance of an acceptance of gift funds for a designated salary supplement received by the TJC Foundation, and this single instance of the acceptance gift funds for a designated salary supplement was terminated effective December 31, 2025.","locator":"Figure 3, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-total-supplements","label":null,"method":"sum of each institution's FY2023 + FY2024 + FY2025 counts from Figure 1 (3+1+8+31+10+3+7+13+18+3+2+8+33+1)","result":141,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-nondisclosure-rate","label":null,"method":"9/14*100","result":64.3,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-coi-gap-rate","label":null,"method":"3/14*100","result":21.4,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/texas-salary-supplement-disclosure-gap","title":"9 of 14 Texas Colleges Skipped a Required Pay-Supplement Disclosure","dek":"Fourteen of Texas's 112 public colleges and universities accepted outside money in 2023-2025 that a donor designated to boost a specific employee's, position's, or endowment's pay. State law requires posting the dollar amount of each one online; nine of the fourteen did not, according to the Texas State Auditor's Office."}},{"schema":1,"id":"blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar","slug":"blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"BLM Left $995,385 in Helium Royalties on the Table","publisher":"U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector General","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-02-12","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/BLM-Has-Opportunities-To-Improve-Its-Helium-Royalty-Collection-Program.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-2025-isp-013","title":"BLM Has Opportunities To Improve Its Helium Royalty Collection Program (Report No. 2025-ISP-013, Feb. 12, 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/BLM-Has-Opportunities-To-Improve-Its-Helium-Royalty-Collection-Program.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"06da97c160330c30f22eb96288e900531124dff14c8414717a635aa68f1e9a83","servable":"full","bytes":1928729,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:34:19.115Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-2025-isp-013/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260610074322/https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/BLM-Has-Opportunities-To-Improve-Its-Helium-Royalty-Collection-Program.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"U.S. DOI OIG audit report on BLM helium royalty collection deficiencies (Official-Primary, OIG)"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-sarc-2026-03","title":"Semiannual Report to Congress for the Period Ending March 31, 2026","sourceUrl":"https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/DOIOIG_Semiannual-Report-to-Congress-for-the-Period-Ending-March-31-2026.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"d318ecc8b3cb27e60f0a2a0e97f379fa77c5686f52c170a012fec92bd2b2d1b7","servable":"full","bytes":14039778,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:34:34.618Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-sarc-2026-03/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260529130513/https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/DOIOIG_Semiannual-Report-to-Congress-for-the-Period-Ending-March-31-2026.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"U.S. DOI OIG semiannual report to Congress (Official-Primary, OIG)"}},{"id":"ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-2025-isp-013","title":"BLM Has Opportunities To Improve Its Helium Royalty Collection Program (Report No. 2025-ISP-013, Feb. 12, 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/BLM-Has-Opportunities-To-Improve-Its-Helium-Royalty-Collection-Program.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"06da97c160330c30f22eb96288e900531124dff14c8414717a635aa68f1e9a83","servable":"full","bytes":1928729,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:34:19.115Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar-doi-oig-2025-isp-013/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260610074322/https://www.doioig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-migration/BLM-Has-Opportunities-To-Improve-Its-Helium-Royalty-Collection-Program.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"U.S. DOI OIG audit report on BLM helium royalty collection deficiencies (Official-Primary, OIG)"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-revenue":1,"m-oversight":0.9,"d-utilities":0.6,"e-primary":1,"e-gap":0.95,"e-quantitative":0.8},"labels":["blm","helium","royalty","oig-audit","revenue-gap","interior-department"],"whyItMatters":"A Department of the Interior inspector general inspection found that the Bureau of Land Management's nine-person Federal Leased Lands team in Amarillo, Texas has collected Federal Helium Program royalties since 1991 without ever writing down how -- no policy manual, no records-management system, and, until December 2024, no program review at all. Over five years the team audited 6 of the 14 companies paying royalties, recovering $56,475 against nearly $160 million audited, while $851,000 sat uncollected from companies that had stopped paying, some for up to a decade. Total monetary impact identified: $995,385, against $165.8 million the program collected the same five years -- and BLM has formally refused to chase the smallest piece of it.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":16,"claims":[{"id":"fact-sarc-corroboration","text":"We identified $96,385 in inefficient oversight costs and $899,000 in lost revenue (classified as funds to be put to better use) for a total monetary impact of $995,385 from FYs 2014 to 2024...Royalties derived from the sale of Federal helium totaled nearly $166 million from FYs 2020 through 2024. Yet, after 30 years of operation, BLM has not created standard operating procedures to ensure that it is efficiently implementing and managing the program.","value":"$995,385 total impact; ~$166 million in royalties FY2020-2024","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Highlights From the Office of Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-total-impact","text":"We identified $96,385 in inefficient oversight costs and $899,000 in lost revenue (classified as funds to be put to better use) for a total monetary impact of $995,385 from fiscal years (FYs) 2014 to 2024.","value":"$995,385","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2014-FY2024","quote":null,"locator":"Memorandum Report, Executive Summary, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-royalty-total","text":"The FLL team reported $165.8 million in royalties from 14 helium companies for FYs 2020 through 2024 (see Figure 1). Figure 1 breaks the total down by fiscal year: FY2020 $22,999,728; FY2021 $24,240,770; FY2022 $31,973,099; FY2023 $39,118,723; FY2024 $47,482,772; Total $165,815,092.","value":"$165,815,092","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2020-FY2024","quote":null,"locator":"Federal Leased Lands Team section, Figure 1, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fll-background","text":"BLM's Federal Leased Lands (FLL) team, located in the Amarillo Field Office in Amarillo, Texas, has managed royalty collection for helium produced on Federal lands since 1991. The FLL team has nine full-time positions, five of which are helium payment analysts.","value":"9 full-time positions, 5 helium payment analysts","unit":null,"asOf":"since 1991","quote":null,"locator":"Federal Leased Lands Team section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-program-review","text":"From the time BLM established the FLL team in 1991 until 2024, BLM had never conducted a program review. As the NMSO Deputy State Director for Minerals stated, the FLL team existed 'in the shadow' with limited oversight.","value":"0 program reviews in 33 years (1991-2024)","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Conclusion, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-penalty-never-assessed","text":"The clause allows BLM to assess a $1,000 penalty for each year a company fails to report; the FLL team has never assessed this penalty on any company subject to an agreement. If BLM had assessed this penalty on the applicable companies during the scope of our review, the FLL team would have collected at least $48,000 in penalties.","value":"$48,000","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Identify and Track All Helium-Producing Wells, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-agreement-royalties","text":"We also found that the FLL team received helium royalty payments of $3.1 million from seven companies that did not have helium agreements in place.","value":"$3.1 million","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Identify and Track All Helium-Producing Wells, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-delinquent-companies","text":"BLM provided a document that identified five companies that had ceased payment since 2014...The FLL team estimated that the five companies potentially owed $851,000 in royalties...The FLL Branch Chief acknowledged that the FLL team was aware of the potential delinquency of these companies but had not, to date, investigated the cause -- despite the fact that each of these companies had not paid for up to 10 years. As of May 8, 2025, no such plan had been developed.","value":"$851,000","unit":null,"asOf":"companies delinquent since 2014, as of May 8, 2025","quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Collect Royalties From Potentially Delinquent Companies, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-audit-coverage","text":"We learned that the FLL team audited just 6 out of the 14 companies paying royalties in our five-year scope, failing to meet its strategy of auditing all companies. The FLL team spent roughly 78 percent of its audit time on companies that accounted for just under 6 percent of royalties collected, including audits of companies that produced limited or no helium during the timeframe audited.","value":"6 of 14 companies audited; 78% of audit time on companies representing 6% of royalties","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Conduct Efficient Oversight of Companies, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-audit-yield","text":"These audits took an average of 267 days to complete and produced an average of $7,059 in findings for a total of $56,475 returned to the Federal Government -- or 0.04 percent compared with BLM's helium royalty revenue of almost $160 million for the companies audited (see Figure 3). Figure 3 totals: 8 audits, 2,133 combined calendar days, $56,474.70 in monetary findings, $159,689,643.66 in royalties paid by the audited companies FYs 2020-2024.","value":"$56,475 returned of ~$159.7M audited","unit":null,"asOf":"8 audits, FY2020-FY2024 scope","quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Conduct Efficient Oversight of Companies, Figure 3, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-audit-examples","text":"Excluding one audit that found $56,465 in royalties owed, the FLL team's remaining audits generated a total of $9.50 in findings. By the FLL team's own admission, the amounts paid back to the Federal Government as a result of these audits were often due to rounding differences. For example, one audit of a major helium company resulted in $0.87 in findings, which the company paid; another resulted in the Government paying the company $35.50.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"one audit of a major helium company resulted in $0.87 in findings, which the company paid; another resulted in the Government paying the company $35.50","locator":"BLM Did Not Conduct Efficient Oversight of Companies, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-inefficient-oversight-cost","text":"We estimated that the FLL team expended the time equivalent of $481,924 conducting audits that did not independently verify company-reported information...we consider the FLL team's estimated yearly salary expenses of $96,385 spent conducting inefficient oversight as funds to be put to better use each year in the future.","value":"$96,385 per year","unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"BLM Did Not Conduct Efficient Oversight of Companies, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-rec2-non-concur","text":"BLM did not concur with the recommendation and stated that 'conducting a retrospective analysis to identify companies that failed to submit annual well listings would require a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources relative to the estimated amount of uncollected penalties.' ... Status: Unresolved.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"conducting a retrospective analysis to identify companies that failed to submit annual well listings would require a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources relative to the estimated amount of uncollected penalties","locator":"Recommendation 2 and BLM's written response, p.9 and p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-monetary-impact-table","text":"Attachment 2: Monetary Impact -- Failure to assess penalties on companies (lost revenue): $48,000. Delinquent companies (lost revenue): $851,000. Inefficient oversight costs: $96,385. Total: $995,385.","value":"$995,385","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2014-FY2024","quote":null,"locator":"Attachment 2: Monetary Impact, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-program-review","text":"In December 2024, at the request of the NMSO, a team of three BLM staff not associated with the FLL team conducted a systematic review of the program and completed a report with the results (the 'Program Review')...The Program Review, which was the first and only review BLM conducted on the helium program... Its quoted findings include: 'The identification of new Federal helium extraction happens randomly through news articles . . . a call to the BLM to discuss a new helium agreement . . . or email inquir[ies]' and 'There is no written manual or standard operating procedures providing guidance for the management and operation of the program.'","value":"3 BLM staff, first-ever review, December 2024","unit":null,"asOf":"2024-12","quote":null,"locator":"Background, p.2; Program Review quote boxes, p.3 and p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-shutdown-delay","text":"The issuance of this report was delayed because of the lapse in the Department of the Interior's appropriations that occurred from October 1, 2025, through November 12, 2025.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-10-01 to 2025-11-12","quote":null,"locator":"footnote 19, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"monetary-impact-sum","label":null,"method":"48000 + 851000 + 96385","result":995385,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"audit-recovery-rate","label":null,"method":"56474.70 / 159689643.66 * 100","result":0.0354,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"impact-share-of-royalties","label":null,"method":"995385 / 165815092 * 100","result":0.6003,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/blm-helium-royalty-gap-dollar","title":"BLM Left $995,385 in Helium Royalties on the Table","dek":"A Department of the Interior inspector general inspection found that the Bureau of Land Management's nine-person Federal Leased Lands team in Amarillo, Texas has collected Federal Helium Program royalties since 1991 without ever writing down how -- no policy manual, no records-management system, and, until December 2024, no program review at all. Over five years the team audited 6 of the 14 companies paying royalties, recovering $56,475 against nearly $160 million audited, while $851,000 sat uncollected from companies that had stopped paying, some for up to a decade. Total monetary impact identified: $995,385, against $165.8 million the program collected the same five years -- and BLM has formally refused to chase the smallest piece of it."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar","slug":"ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Pennsylvania Locks Data Centers Into a 10-Year Power Tariff","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-pa","date":"2026-03-13","kind":"filing","sourceUrl":"https://www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/1918030.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-settlement","title":"Joint Petition for Non-Unanimous Settlement of All Issues, PA PUC v. PPL Electric Utilities Corp., Docket No. R-2025-3057164","sourceUrl":"https://www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/1918030.pdf","kind":"filing","sha256":"56f4d8b84c89260c46ce4dcd270bcf23d60ebd0e6a228f5472316723d9f0949b","servable":"full","bytes":838302,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:33:24.812Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-settlement/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260521011859/https://www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/1918030.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Pennsylvania PUC joint settlement petition on PPL Electric rates (Official-Primary)"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-puc-decision","title":"PUC Issues Decision in PPL Electric Rate Proceeding","sourceUrl":"https://www.puc.pa.gov/press-release/2026/puc-issues-decision-in-ppl-electric-rate-proceeding-06042026","kind":"release","sha256":"152562fe40c834300528438c8a220bfa8cf2c64beb412eb3ac535a42f88fc76f","servable":"full","bytes":51792,"contentType":"text/html; charset=utf-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:33:36.304Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-puc-decision/v1.html","archiveUrl":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260607082527/https://www.puc.pa.gov/press-release/2026/puc-issues-decision-in-ppl-electric-rate-proceeding-06042026","grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Pennsylvania PUC official press release on PPL Electric rate decision (Official-Primary)"}},{"id":"ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-settlement","title":"Joint Petition for Non-Unanimous Settlement of All Issues, PA PUC v. PPL Electric Utilities Corp., Docket No. R-2025-3057164","sourceUrl":"https://www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/1918030.pdf","kind":"filing","sha256":"56f4d8b84c89260c46ce4dcd270bcf23d60ebd0e6a228f5472316723d9f0949b","servable":"full","bytes":838302,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-22T00:33:24.812Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar-doc-settlement/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260521011859/https://www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/1918030.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Pennsylvania PUC joint settlement petition on PPL Electric rates (Official-Primary)"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-revenue":0.8,"m-appropriation":0.5,"d-utilities":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7},"labels":["ppl-electric","rate-settlement","puc","filing","tariff","docket-r-2025-3057164"],"whyItMatters":"Pennsylvania regulators approved a settlement in PPL Electric's base rate case on June 4, 2026 that creates a new tariff, Rate LP-6, locking data centers and other large electricity users of 50 megawatts or more at a single site into minimum 10-year contracts with guaranteed usage floors -- a lower bar than PPL's own 100-megawatt proposal. The same settlement raises the typical residential bill about 4.9% and shifts $11 million a year in low-income-program costs onto the new data-center tariff class, while also raising the credit limit on the utility's low-income assistance program 60% starting in 2027, after the number of low-income customers who ran through their old credit limit grew from 9,113 to 10,213 in a single year.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":27,"claims":[{"id":"puc-decision-vote","text":"On June 4, 2026, the Commission voted 5-0, with partial dissents from Vice Chair Kim Barrow and Commissioners John F. Coleman and Ralph Yanora, to adopt the presiding judges' recommendations as modified by a motion from Commissioner Kathryn L. Zerfuss, approving the Settlement.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-04","quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, second paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"puc-revenue-cut","text":"The Commission's own headline framing of the decision: the approved Settlement reduces PPL Electric's original revenue request by more than $80 million while expanding customer-assistance and reliability oversight.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Commission Reduces Original Revenue Request by More Than $80 Million While Expanding Customer Assistance and Reliability Oversight","locator":"Press release subheadline","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bill-current-918kwh","text":"For a residential customer using 918 kWh of electricity per month, the current total monthly bill is $177.01.","value":177.01,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, third paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bill-original-proposal","text":"PPL Electric's original rate proposal would have raised that 918-kWh residential bill from $177.01 to $189.40 a month, approximately 7%.","value":189.4,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, third paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bill-approved","text":"Under the approved Settlement, that 918-kWh residential bill is projected to rise to approximately $184.49 a month, about 4.9%.","value":184.49,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, third paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"customer-count","text":"PPL Electric provides electric distribution service to approximately 1.5 million customers across eastern and central Pennsylvania.","value":1500000,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, first paragraph","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rate-effective-date","text":"Absent a party withdrawing during the five-business-day window triggered by the Commission's modification, PPL Electric will implement the approved rates for service rendered on and after July 1, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07-01","quote":null,"locator":"Press release body, \"Next Steps\" section","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"original-ask","text":"PPL Electric's original base rate filing sought an increase in annual distribution base rate revenue of approximately $356.3 million.","value":356300000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 34","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rebuttal-ask","text":"In rebuttal testimony, PPL Electric raised its proposed increase in distribution base rate revenue to approximately $384.5 million.","value":384500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 36","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"settled-increase-total","text":"The Settlement's system-wide annual distribution revenue increase is $275,000,028, a 27.32% increase over current base rate revenue of $1,006,589,465, bringing total base rate revenue to $1,281,589,492.","value":275000028,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix B, Revenue Allocation, \"System Total\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"two-year-stayout","text":"The Settlement includes a two-year rate case stay-out, meaning PPL Electric commits not to file another base rate case for two years.","value":2,"unit":"YEARS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 137","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"extended-stayout-2015","text":"PPL Electric's last base rate increase request, before this one, was filed in 2015 -- more than 10 years earlier.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"PPL's last rate increase request was over 10 years ago in 2015.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 135, quoting PUC Vice Chair Kim Barrow's October 23, 2025 statement","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pjm-capacity-share-55pct","text":"Per PJM's own market monitor, large-load (data-center) growth accounts for 55% of the increase in capacity prices across PJM's last two capacity auctions -- a figure Vice Chair Barrow put at over $7 billion.","value":55,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"Large load additions and forecasts have substantially increased capacity prices in the last two PJM auctions. According to PJM's market monitor, 55% of the increase in capacity prices is attributable to large load growth. That is over $7 billion dollars.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 156, quoting PUC Vice Chair Kim Barrow's October 23, 2025 statement","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-surcharge-increase-37m","text":"The resulting change in rates as of June 1, 2025 increased the cost paid by residential customers to support the Customer Assistance Program (CAP) by $37 million a year -- a 5% to 41% increase on individual customer bills.","value":37000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"The change in rates as of June 1, 2025, will increase the cost paid by residential customers to support the CAP program by $37 million a year. This translates to increases ranging from 5 to 41% on a customer bill.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 156, quoting PUC Vice Chair Kim Barrow's October 23, 2025 statement","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lp6-threshold-ppl-proposal-100mw","text":"PPL Electric's own rebuttal-testimony proposal would have created the new Rate LP-6 tariff class only for large-load (data center) customers with peak demand of 100 megawatts and above.","value":100,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"The Company summarized the changes it would be willing to make to its large load tariff proposal as follows: (1) create a new LP-6 rate class for customers with peak demands of 100 MW and above...","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 321(1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lp6-threshold-settled-50mw","text":"As approved, the Settlement lowers that threshold: Rate LP-6 applies to any customer with a peak electric demand of 50 megawatts or greater at a single facility, or at least 75 megawatts in the aggregate among facilities taking service from PPL Electric at or above 69 kV within a 10-mile radius -- a materially larger pool of customers than PPL's own 100 MW proposal.","value":50,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"the Settlement sets forth modifications to the Company's proposal, including, but not limited to, specifying that it will be applicable to a customer if the customer has a peak electric demand of 50 MW or greater at a single facility or at least equal to 75 MW in the aggregate among facilities taking service from PPL Electric at or above 69 kV within a 10-mile radius.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 323","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-credit-limit-increase-60pct","text":"Beginning January 1, 2027, the Settlement increases all of PPL Electric's maximum CAP credit limits by 60% -- adopting CAUSE-PA's own alternative recommendation, made in response to the growing number of CAP participants exceeding their credit limits.","value":60,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"Therefore, the Settlement, if approved, would increase all the maximum CAP credit limits by 60%, in line with CAUSE-PA's alternative recommendation.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 182, citing Settlement paragraph 74","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lp6-term-10yr","text":"Rate LP-6 energy service agreements must run an initial term of not less than 10 years.","value":10,"unit":"YEARS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 322, citing Settlement paragraph 91(a)(i)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lp6-load-guarantee","text":"Rate LP-6 customers must guarantee at least 80% of their contracted load in the first five years of the term and 50% in the second five years (or 60%/30% if they elect a voluntary interruptible-service option), with an exit fee tied to the remaining minimum-load obligation if they leave early.","value":80,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 321-322","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"usr-original-10m","text":"PPL Electric's own proposal would have allocated $10 million of Universal Service Cost (USR) charges annually to the new Rate LP-6 large-load class.","value":10000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 321(8)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"usr-final-11m","text":"Under the Settlement as approved, $11 million in Universal Service Cost (USR) charges is allocated annually to the new Rate LP-6 large-load class -- shifting that cost from residential ratepayers to the data centers and other large loads that use the LP-6 tariff.","value":11000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Under the Settlement, $11 million in USR costs will be allocated to the new Rate LP-6 class.","locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 158","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"liurp-increase","text":"Beginning January 1, 2027, PPL Electric will increase its Low Income Usage Reduction Program (LIURP) annual budget by $1.5 million, to a total of $13.5 million, and will roll over any unspent budget to the following year.","value":1500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Settlement paragraph 76","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-credit-exceed-fy24","text":"From August 2023 to July 2024, 9,113 CAP (Customer Assistance Program) participants -- 12% of the CAP caseload -- exceeded their maximum 12-month CAP credit limit and were billed their full budget rate for the remainder of the period.","value":9113,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 176, citing CAUSE-PA St. 1, p. 55, Table 15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-credit-exceed-fy25","text":"From August 2024 to July 2025, 10,213 CAP participants -- 15% of the CAP caseload -- exceeded their maximum 12-month CAP credit limit.","value":10213,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 176, citing CAUSE-PA St. 1, p. 55, Table 15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-credit-avg-bill-2324","text":"CAP customers who exceeded their maximum credit limit were charged an average budget-bill rate of $377.09 from September 2023 to August 2024.","value":377.09,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 175, citing CAUSE-PA St. 1, p. 55, Table 16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-credit-avg-bill-2425","text":"That average budget-bill rate for CAP customers exceeding their credit limit fell to $313.46 from September 2024 to August 2025.","value":313.46,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix D, Proposed Findings of Fact, paragraph 175, citing CAUSE-PA St. 1, p. 55, Table 16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reconnection-fee-waiver","text":"Beginning July 1, 2027, PPL Electric will waive reconnection fees for all customers with household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.","value":150,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"Beginning July 1, 2027, PPL Electric agrees to waive reconnection fees for all customers who have household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.","locator":"Settlement paragraph 84","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"monthly-bill-savings-vs-original","label":null,"method":"189.40 - 184.49","result":4.91,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lp6-threshold-reduction","label":null,"method":"100 - 50","result":50,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rate-request-reduction","label":null,"method":"356300000 - 275000028","result":81299972,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"usr-shift-increase","label":null,"method":"11000000 - 10000000","result":1000000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-overage-growth-count","label":null,"method":"10213 - 9113","result":1100,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-overage-growth-pct","label":null,"method":"1100/9113*100","result":12.07,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"cap-overage-avg-bill-change","label":null,"method":"377.09 - 313.46","result":63.63,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ppl-electric-data-center-tariff-dollar","title":"Pennsylvania Locks Data Centers Into a 10-Year Power Tariff","dek":"Pennsylvania regulators approved a settlement in PPL Electric's base rate case on June 4, 2026 that creates a new tariff, Rate LP-6, locking data centers and other large electricity users of 50 megawatts or more at a single site into minimum 10-year contracts with guaranteed usage floors -- a lower bar than PPL's own 100-megawatt proposal. The same settlement raises the typical residential bill about 4.9% and shifts $11 million a year in low-income-program costs onto the new data-center tariff class, while also raising the credit limit on the utility's low-income assistance program 60% starting in 2027, after the number of low-income customers who ran through their old credit limit grew from 9,113 to 10,213 in a single year."}},{"schema":1,"id":"cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar","slug":"cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"CBP Still Can't Count Its Own Overdue In-Bond Cargo","publisher":"Department of the Treasury, Office of Inspector General","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-18","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://oig.treasury.gov/system/files/2026-06/Final-Report---CBP-Needs-to-Improve-Its-Accountability-of-Merchandise-Transported-In-Bond-to-Assess-Revenue-Impact-%28SECURED%29.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar-doc-oig-26-034","title":"Revenue Collection: CBP Needs to Improve its Accountability of Merchandise Transported In-Bond to Assess the Impact on Revenue (OIG-26-034, June 18, 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.treasury.gov/system/files/2026-06/Final-Report---CBP-Needs-to-Improve-Its-Accountability-of-Merchandise-Transported-In-Bond-to-Assess-Revenue-Impact-%28SECURED%29.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"d9b993e31095217527e9b3c863d4fc542bce8a2b1816c3a968fe0a63e17dfa94","servable":"full","bytes":985697,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:45:30.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar-doc-oig-26-034/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Treasury OIG audit on CBP merchandise in-bond revenue accountability and tracking controls"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar-doc-oig-26-034","title":"Revenue Collection: CBP Needs to Improve its Accountability of Merchandise Transported In-Bond to Assess the Impact on Revenue (OIG-26-034, June 18, 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.treasury.gov/system/files/2026-06/Final-Report---CBP-Needs-to-Improve-Its-Accountability-of-Merchandise-Transported-In-Bond-to-Assess-Revenue-Impact-%28SECURED%29.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"d9b993e31095217527e9b3c863d4fc542bce8a2b1816c3a968fe0a63e17dfa94","servable":"full","bytes":985697,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:45:30.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar-doc-oig-26-034/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Treasury OIG audit on CBP merchandise in-bond revenue accountability and tracking controls"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-revenue":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7,"e-gap":0.6,"d-governance":0.5},"labels":["cbp","customs","in-bond-merchandise","revenue-tracking","treasury-oig","audit","accountability-gap","federal-oversight","import-duties"],"whyItMatters":"A Treasury Department inspector general audit found U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot reliably track $716.76 billion in merchandise that moved through the country in-bond -- allowed to skip duty payments at the border so long as it reaches its destination or leaves the country by a deadline. When CBP fixed an error in the software logic behind its own overdue-shipment reports, its count of overdue in-bond shipments for fiscal year 2020 fell from 1,233,554 to 736,848, a change of 496,706 records CBP could not explain; one of its two reports alone dropped from 516,080 overdue shipments to zero. Auditors ultimately judged CBP's underlying data too unreliable to test, and confirmed CBP's official $90.55 million revenue-loss estimate for the year excludes in-bond merchandise altogether.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":13,"claims":[{"id":"tfea-mandate","text":"Treasury OIG conducts this audit under Section 112 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA), which requires biennial reports assessing CBP's effectiveness at protecting revenue, including monitoring merchandise transported in-bond.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"march2022-followon","text":"This report is a follow-on to Treasury OIG's March 2022 audit (OIG-22-033), which found unresolved differences with CBP over the number of unaccounted in-bonds and the potential revenue loss; those unresolved issues prompted this further review.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.1-2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fy2020-total-value","text":"CBP's Trade Transformation Office provided a September 2021 data extract of 53.63 million in-bond transaction records created during FY2020, with a total estimated value of $716.76 billion.","value":"$716.76 billion","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2020","quote":null,"locator":"p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"inbnd-table1-swing","text":"CBP's own INBND-005 and INBND-006 reports identified 1,233,554 total overdue in-bond records for FY2020 using the original business logic; after CBP revised the business logic in December 2022, the same reports for the same period identified 736,848 -- a decrease of 496,706. INBND-005 alone fell from 516,080 overdue in-bonds to zero, and TTO (CBP's Trade Transformation Office) could not explain why.","value":"496,706-record decrease (1,233,554 to 736,848)","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2020","quote":null,"locator":"p.9-10, Table 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"data-extract-missing-share","text":"Comparing the INBND-005/INBND-006 reports to CBP's own FY2020 data extract, auditors found 361,551 records (29%) missing from the extract under the original business logic, and 359,039 records (49%) missing under the updated business logic. CBP's Trade Transformation Office told auditors an unknown filter may have caused the exclusions but could not explain why.","value":"29% and 49% of records missing","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2020","quote":null,"locator":"p.12-13, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"data-not-reliable-conclusion","text":"Because CBP could not provide a reliable data extract of all FY2020 in-bond transactions, auditors concluded the data was not sufficiently reliable for further analytical testing, and could not determine the actual number of overdue in-bonds or the associated potential lost revenue for FY2020.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"revenue-loss-estimate-excludes-inbond","text":"CBP's Analytic Services Branch estimated a FY2020 revenue loss from trade noncompliance of $90.55 million, reported in DHS's consolidated financial report. That estimate is based on a statistical sample of entry summary reviews, which by definition exclude in-bond merchandise -- entry summary reviews only cover merchandise that has already entered U.S. commerce, not shipments still in transit or overdue.","value":"$90.55 million","unit":null,"asOf":"FY2020","quote":null,"locator":"p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"insurance-vs-invoice-value","text":"CBP's in-bond application captures only the shipment's insurance value, not its invoice value, so even the $716.76 billion figure cannot be used to calculate duties, taxes, and fees owed; the invoice value is only provided later, when (if) the merchandise formally enters U.S. commerce via an entry summary.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"ibcm-program-gap","text":"CBP's In-Bond Compliance Measurement (IBCM) program, created in December 2022 in response to the March 2022 audit, calculates a compliance rate using stratified sampling of in-bonds that have reached their destination -- but does not include overdue in-bonds, so it does not measure the compliance risk of merchandise that may never have arrived.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.18-19","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"four-recommendations","text":"Auditors made four recommendations to the CBP Commissioner: (1) verify the INBND-005/INBND-006 business logic and conduct three years of annual sampling; (2) document the ACE processes used to identify overdue in-bonds; (3) continuously monitor the INBND reports; and (4) identify and assess the revenue risk of overdue in-bonds that could be illegally diverted into U.S. commerce. CBP concurred with all four.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.13-19","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"recommendation-closure-dates","text":"In its written response, CBP management told auditors it expects to close recommendations 1 through 3 by January 29, 2027, pending a broader in-bond systems review; recommendation 4 (assessing the revenue risk of overdue in-bonds) carries no target closure date in CBP's response, tied instead to the outcome of that same broader review.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.14-19","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fieldwork-and-delay","text":"Audit fieldwork ran from September 2022 through June 2024, reviewing FY2020 data exclusively. The report itself was not issued until June 18, 2026 -- delayed, Treasury OIG states, because lapses in DHS funding prevented CBP from providing written management comments until June 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.2, p.21","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"gao-standard-cited","text":"Auditors cite GAO's Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government as the baseline CBP fell short of: management should obtain reliable data in a timely manner, document internal control procedures, and identify, analyze, and respond to risks to its objectives.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.10-11, p.19","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"swing-share-of-original","label":null,"method":"496706/1233554*100","result":40.27,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"inbnd005-collapse","label":null,"method":"(516080-0)/516080*100","result":100,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/cbp-inbond-revenue-tracking-dollar","title":"CBP Still Can't Count Its Own Overdue In-Bond Cargo","dek":"A Treasury Department inspector general audit found U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot reliably track $716.76 billion in merchandise that moved through the country in-bond -- allowed to skip duty payments at the border so long as it reaches its destination or leaves the country by a deadline. When CBP fixed an error in the software logic behind its own overdue-shipment reports, its count of overdue in-bond shipments for fiscal year 2020 fell from 1,233,554 to 736,848, a change of 496,706 records CBP could not explain; one of its two reports alone dropped from 516,080 overdue shipments to zero. Auditors ultimately judged CBP's underlying data too unreliable to test, and confirmed CBP's official $90.55 million revenue-loss estimate for the year excludes in-bond merchandise altogether."}},{"schema":1,"id":"doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar","slug":"doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"DOE Auditors Question $98.3M in Fees at Five National Labs","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-05-29","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2026-05/DOE%20OIG%20Semiannual%20Report%20to%20Congress%20for%20the%20period%20ending%20March%2031%2C%202026.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar-doe-oig-sarc-2026","title":"Office of Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress, For Period Ending March 31, 2026 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(DOE-OIG-26-14)","sourceUrl":"https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/DOE-OIG-26-14.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"f96374bae689852e92460f202cdb301c8448fe6f0479a3f875d7e13882c151b6","servable":"full","bytes":475374,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:20:26.914Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar-doe-oig-26-14/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"DOE OIG audit of Lawrence Livermore National Lab costs claimed under FY2021 contract"}},{"id":"ed-doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar-doe-oig-sarc-2026","title":"Office of Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress, For Period Ending March 31, 2026 (DOE-IG-0089)","sourceUrl":"https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2026-05/DOE%20OIG%20Semiannual%20Report%20to%20Congress%20for%20the%20period%20ending%20March%2031%2C%202026.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"281a7dd2835e790bbba329183d851b0ba3e6837be212fc6da62c1f10153c298c","servable":"full","bytes":3782048,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:20:25.824Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar-doe-oig-sarc-2026/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"DOE OIG Semiannual Report to Congress covering Oct 2025-Mar 2026"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-governance":0.7,"e-primary":1},"labels":["doe-inspector-general","semiannual-report","federal-oversight"],"whyItMatters":"Between February 19 and March 6, 2026, DOE's inspector general published five separate incurred-cost audits -- at Lawrence Livermore, Argonne, Berkeley, Fermilab, and Jefferson Lab -- each questioning millions of dollars for the same underlying reason: the contractor booked its own earned incentive fee as a cost inside the pool used to spread overhead onto other charges. Together the five audits total $98.3 million, roughly 40% of everything DOE OIG questioned department-wide in the full six-month reporting period.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":11,"claims":[{"id":"jefferson-narrative","text":"DCAA reconciled the fee to Jefferson Science Associates' (JSA) own performance evaluation reports and DOE determined JSA was entitled to keep it, but JSA nonconcurred with the questioned costs.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The DCAA reconciled the proposed fee amount to performance evaluation reports, and the Department determined that the contractor was entitled to the earned fee... JSA responded to the audit findings during an exit conference and provided a written response that is included in the DCAA's audit report. JSA nonconcurred with the questioned costs.","locator":"Memorandum p.2; DOE OIG Highlights p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fermilab-narrative","text":"Of Fermilab's $10 million-plus in questioned costs, $9,900,292 was a performance-award fee Fermi Research Alliance, LLC booked as a cost in its General and Administrative pool; DCAA also questioned $142,463 in labor costs for triple-time holiday pay that exceeded the allowable double-time rate. Fermilab acknowledged receiving the findings but said it was withholding further comment pending discussions with the contracting officer.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The DCAA identified two audit findings and questioned approximately $9.9 million in performance award fees and $142,463 in direct costs... The DCAA also questioned labor costs due to claimed triple-time pay for employees working on holidays, which exceeded allowable pay of double-time... The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory acknowledged receipt of the audit findings and stated that it was withholding further comments pending discussions with the contracting officer.","locator":"Memorandum p.2; DOE OIG Highlights p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lbnl-narrative","text":"DCAA questioned the fee because the Regents of the University of California (UC Regents) included the Department's management-fee incentive payment as a cost inside the total cost rate pool used at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the Regents nonconcurred with the questioned costs. A separate, smaller finding -- an error in three indirect cost pools' allocation bases -- drew a different response: the Regents concurred, noting the lab had self-identified, corrected, and disclosed that error to DOE in November 2021, before the audit began.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The DCAA questioned the management fee, which represented a contractual incentive paid by the Department of Energy, because the UC Regents included the fee as a cost in the total cost rate pool... The UC Regents nonconcurred with the questioned costs. For the increase in indirect allocation bases, UC Regents concurred and noted that the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had self-identified, corrected, and disclosed the error to the Department in November 2021 prior to the audit beginning.","locator":"Memorandum p.2; DOE OIG Highlights p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"argonne-narrative","text":"Of Argonne's $12 million-plus in questioned costs, $11,487,044 was a performance fee UChicago Argonne, LLC booked as a cost in its General and Administrative pool; DCAA also separately questioned $47,183 in executive salaries above the statutory compensation ceiling and $511,724 in university subcontract costs not incurred specifically for the contract, plus $1,176,949 in Board of Governors expenses exceeding final approved amounts. UChicago Argonne did not concur, saying it follows longstanding practice and Departmental guidance on performance fees and handles Board of Governors expenses per its contract.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The DCAA identified four audit findings and questioned over $13 million in indirect and direct costs, including $11,487,044 in performance fees... The DCAA also questioned $1,176,949 in Board of Governors expenses that were greater than the final approved expenses. Further, the DCAA questioned $47,183 in executive salaries that were more than the statutory compensation ceiling. Lastly, it questioned $511,724 of direct laboratory purchase order/subcontract costs with universities because the costs were not incurred specifically for the contract... UChicago Argonne, LLC did not concur with the questioned costs and stated that like all management and operating contractors, it follows longstanding practices and Departmental guidance on performance fees and handles Board of Governors expenses per its contract.","locator":"Memorandum p.2; DOE OIG Highlights p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"llnl-narrative","text":"DCAA questioned the fee because Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) included the Department's management-fee incentive payment as a cost inside the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) cost-allocation base; DCAA validated the fee itself didn't exceed the contract amount, and DOE determined LLNS was entitled to keep it -- but LLNS did not concur with the finding and said its allocation bases were compliant with cost accounting standards.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The DCAA questioned the management fee, which represents a contractual incentive paid by the Department of Energy, because LLNS included the fee as a cost in the Laboratory Directed Research and Development allocation base. The DCAA validated that the proposed fee amount did not exceed the amount in the contract, and the Department determined that the contractor was entitled to the earned fee... LLNS did not concur with the DCAA's findings and asserted that its allocation bases were compliant with cost accounting standards.","locator":"Memorandum p.2; DOE OIG Highlights p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"llnl-questioned","text":"DOE OIG's Published Reports table lists $63,559,061 in questioned costs for DOE-OIG-26-14, the February 19, 2026 audit of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fiscal year 2021 costs incurred under M&O contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 -- the largest questioned-cost figure of any report the office published in the six-month period.","value":63559061,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-02-19","quote":"Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Costs Incurred and Claimed for Fiscal Year 2021 Under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 (DOE-OIG-26-14) ... Questioned Costs $63,559,061","locator":"Published Reports, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"argonne-questioned","text":"DOE OIG's Published Reports table lists $12,045,591 in questioned costs for DOE-OIG-26-15, the March 2, 2026 audit of UChicago Argonne, LLC's fiscal years 2021-2022 costs incurred at Argonne National Laboratory under M&O contract DE-AC02-06CH11357, plus a separate $1,176,949 in unsupported costs.","value":12045591,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-02","quote":"UChicago Argonne, LLC's Costs Incurred and Claimed for Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 Under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 (DOE-OIG-26-15) ... Questioned Costs $12,045,591 ... Unsupported Costs $1,176,949","locator":"Published Reports, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"lbnl-questioned","text":"DOE OIG's Published Reports table lists $6,356,900 in questioned costs for DOE-OIG-26-19, the March 4, 2026 audit of the Regents of the University of California's fiscal year 2021 costs incurred at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under M&O contract DE-AC02-05CH11231.","value":6356900,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-04","quote":"The Regents of the University of California's Costs Incurred and Claimed for Fiscal Year 2021 Under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 (DOE-OIG-26-19) ... Questioned Costs $6,356,900","locator":"Published Reports, p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fermilab-questioned","text":"DOE OIG's Published Reports table lists $10,042,755 in questioned costs for DOE-OIG-26-20, the March 6, 2026 audit of Fermi Research Alliance, LLC's fiscal years 2021-2022 costs incurred at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory under M&O contract DE-AC02-07CH11359.","value":10042755,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-06","quote":"Fermi Research Alliance LLC's Costs Incurred and Claimed for Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 Under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 (DOE-OIG-26-20) ... Questioned Costs $10,042,755","locator":"Published Reports, p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"jefferson-questioned","text":"DOE OIG's Published Reports table lists $6,298,156 in questioned costs for DOE-OIG-26-21, the March 6, 2026 audit of Jefferson Science Associates, LLC's fiscal years 2022-2023 costs incurred at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility under M&O contract DE-AC05-06OR23177 -- all of it a performance-award fee booked as a cost in the General and Administrative pool.","value":6298156,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-06","quote":"Jefferson Science Associates, LLC's Costs Incurred and Claimed for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023 Under Contract No. DE-AC05-06OR23177 (DOE-OIG-26-21) ... Questioned Costs $6,298,156","locator":"Published Reports, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"period-total-monetary-impact","text":"DOE OIG's Statistical Highlights for the full six-month reporting period (October 1, 2025-March 31, 2026) show $254.25 million in total monetary impact: $247 million in questioned and unsupported costs, $7 million in restitution/funds returned/penalties/court costs, and $250,000 in funds put to better use.","value":254.25,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2026-03-31","quote":"Total Monetary Impact $254.25 Million ... Questioned and unsupported costs $247 Million ... Restitution, funds returned to the Department, penalties, and court costs $7 Million ... Funds put to better use $250,000","locator":"Statistical Highlights, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"five-audit-total","label":null,"method":"63559061+12045591+6356900+10042755+6298156","result":98302463,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"share-of-period-total","label":null,"method":"98302463/247000000*100","result":39.8,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/doe-national-labs-questioned-costs-dollar","title":"DOE Auditors Question $98.3M in Fees at Five National Labs","dek":"Between February 19 and March 6, 2026, DOE's inspector general published five separate incurred-cost audits -- at Lawrence Livermore, Argonne, Berkeley, Fermilab, and Jefferson Lab -- each questioning millions of dollars for the same underlying reason: the contractor booked its own earned incentive fee as a cost inside the pool used to spread overhead onto other charges. Together the five audits total $98.3 million, roughly 40% of everything DOE OIG questioned department-wide in the full six-month reporting period."}},{"schema":1,"id":"census-acs-reinterview-gap","slug":"census-acs-reinterview-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Census's Veteran Reps Missed Fraud-Check Quotas 99% of the Time","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (census-acs-reinterview-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-03-10","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/OIGPublications/OIG-26-010-A_FinalReport-SECURED.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-acs-audit","title":"Audit of Data Collection and Quality Control Procedures for the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (Report No. OIG-26-010-A)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/OIGPublications/OIG-26-010-A_FinalReport-SECURED.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"6ccd1c8635d63bd340b955185892fe7e378b3b0cd29dc3700c301eb4583735bf","servable":"full","bytes":5610235,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:20:21.190Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-acs-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official Census Bureau audit of ACS data collection and QC procedures by Commerce OIG"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-sar-2026-03","title":"Semiannual Report to Congress, March 2026 (October 1, 2025-March 31, 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/OIGPublications/SAR-2026-03.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"88321cc7acd2c8f2cef9f44946a374492ffc32f38a178e4df708deb52099f909","servable":"full","bytes":6439317,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:20:23.652Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-sar-2026-03/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Commerce OIG Semiannual Report to Congress covering Oct 2025-Mar 2026"}},{"id":"ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-acs-audit","title":"Audit of Data Collection and Quality Control Procedures for the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (Report No. OIG-26-010-A)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.doc.gov/wp-content/OIGPublications/OIG-26-010-A_FinalReport-SECURED.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"6ccd1c8635d63bd340b955185892fe7e378b3b0cd29dc3700c301eb4583735bf","servable":"full","bytes":5610235,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:20:21.190Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-census-acs-reinterview-gap-commerce-oig-acs-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official Census Bureau audit of ACS data collection and QC procedures by Commerce OIG"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-governance":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.5},"labels":["audit","census-bureau","data-quality","survey-methodology","commerce-oig"],"whyItMatters":"A March 10, 2026 Commerce Department inspector general audit found the Census Bureau did not effectively implement its data collection and quality control procedures for the American Community Survey (ACS) -- the mandatory survey the Census Bureau says is used to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding a year. The reinterview program built to catch field-worker data falsification fell short across every measure OIG checked, and 21% of a sampled batch of \"vacant\" home codings from 2022 turned out to be wrong.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":19,"claims":[{"id":"sar-audit-context","text":"Commerce OIG's semiannual report to Congress lists this ACS audit among the 10 audit, evaluation, and inspection reports the office issued in the six months ending March 31, 2026, describing the office's completed work that period as covering 'the census, cybersecurity, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite programs, broadband programs, and financial management.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Our Office of Audit and Evaluation issued reports related to the census, cybersecurity, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite programs, broadband programs, and financial management.","locator":"p.1, Report Highlights, and p.1, From the Office of Inspector General","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fed-funding-2.8t","text":"Policymakers use American Community Survey (ACS) data to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding each year, per the Census Bureau's own June 14, 2023 report on the uses of decennial census program data in federal funds distribution.","value":2.8,"unit":"USD_T","asOf":"2023-06-14","quote":"Policymakers use ACS data to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding. On June 14, 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report, Uses of Decennial Census Programs Data in Federal Funds Distribution: Fiscal Year 2021, which estimated that more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding was distributed to states, communities, tribal government, and other recipients using bureau data, including Decennial Census, ACS, and annual population estimates.","locator":"p.4, footnote 9, and Report Highlights (unnumbered cover)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"audit-scope-cy2022","text":"OIG's audit objective was to determine whether the Census Bureau implemented adequate data collection procedures to ensure ACS estimates are reliable; it focused on two of the ACS's four data collection modes -- internet self-response (ISR) and personal visits -- as conducted in both non-remote and remote Alaska during calendar year 2022.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"This audit focused on two of the four data collection methods, ISR and personal visits, for the ACS conducted in both non-remote Alaska and remote Alaska in calendar year (CY) 2022... Our audit objective was to determine whether the bureau has implemented adequate data collection procedures to ensure ACS estimates are reliable.","locator":"p.2-3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bureau-not-effective-summary","text":"OIG's overall finding: the Census Bureau did not effectively implement its data collection and quality control procedures to ensure that ACS estimates were reliable, specifically finding it did not sufficiently monitor ISR data collection procedures and did not effectively implement personal-visit data collection and quality control procedures.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Summary: The bureau did not effectively implement its data collection and quality control procedures to ensure that ACS estimates were reliable. Specifically: The bureau did not sufficiently monitor ISR data collection procedures. The bureau did not effectively implement personal visit data collection and quality control procedures.","locator":"p.4, Findings and Recommendations summary box","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"isi-testing-undocumented","text":"The bureau identified issues with the internet self-response instrument (ISI) during pre-collection testing but did not have the documentation required by its own Statistical Quality Standards to substantiate whether those system errors were resolved before the 2022 data collection year began.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We were unable to validate whether issues were resolved because the bureau did not provide documentation. In addition, the bureau did not have a requirement to maintain documentation of testing, issues identified, and resolution of errors identified in its ISI standard operating procedures or IDC guidance.","locator":"p.5-6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"no-isr-review-cy2022","text":"Because bureau management decided not to test ACS data during the CY 2022 data collection phase, the bureau did not review or test internet self-response (ISR) data at all during the response phase of that year's collection.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The bureau tests ISR data systems prior to data collection and assesses the quality of the response data during the annual post data collection processing phase. However, we found that the bureau did not review or test ISR data during the response phase of data collection for CY 2022.","locator":"p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"vacant-miscode-sample","text":"In a sample of 96 vacant-interview cases, field representatives (FRs) incorrectly coded 18 of 86 (21%) non-remote Alaska vacant interviews -- cases that should have been coded as noninterviews instead.","value":21,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"We reviewed 96 vacant interview cases, which included a stratified statistical sample of 86 non-remote Alaska cases and a judgmental sample of 10 remote Alaska cases... We found that FRs incorrectly coded 18 of the 86 (21 percent) non-remote Alaska vacant interviews.","locator":"p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"vacant-miscode-projection","text":"Projecting from its sample, OIG estimates approximately 29,000 of the 125,000 (23.2%) non-remote Alaska cases FRs coded as vacant interviews in 2022 were miscoded, plus approximately 23,000 (18.4%) additional cases that may have been miscoded due to incomplete or unclear interview notes.","value":23.2,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"Based on our review, we estimate that approximately 29,000 of the 125,000 (23.2 percent) non-remote Alaska cases that FRs coded as vacant interviews in 2022 were miscoded and approximately 23,000 (18.4 percent) additional non-remote Alaska cases coded as vacant interviews in 2022 may have been miscoded.","locator":"p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"recommended-contact-failure","text":"FRs did not conduct vacant-HU interviews with a recommended contact (an owner, landlord, or similar) for 27 of 56 (48%) sampled non-remote Alaska interviews, relying instead on neighbors, local government employees, a contractor, or a postal worker; of those 27, FRs did not even attempt to reach a recommended contact in 10 (37%).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"FRs did not conduct vacant interviews with a recommended contact for 27 of 56 (48 percent) non-remote Alaska interviews in our sample... We found that FRs did not attempt to reach a recommended contact for 10 of the 27 (37 percent) interviews.","locator":"p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"supervisory-review-miss","text":"Supervisory reviews of non-remote Alaska noninterview cases did not ensure survey procedures were followed in 13 of 86 (15%) housing-unit (HU) noninterviews and 19 of 92 (21%) group-quarters (GQ) noninterviews sampled; OIG projects about 30,000 of 225,000 (13.3%) HU noninterview cases and 19,000 of 82,000 (23.2%) GQ noninterview cases had outcomes inconsistent with their case notes.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We found that supervisory reviews of non-remote Alaska noninterview cases did not ensure that survey procedures were followed in 13 of 86 (15 percent) HU noninterviews and 19 of 92 (21 percent) GQ noninterviews... Based on our review of non-remote Alaska cases, we estimate that approximately 30,000 of 225,000 (13.3 percent) of HU noninterview cases and 19,000 of 82,000 (23.2 percent) of GQ noninterview cases had outcomes inconsistent with the status in the case notes.","locator":"p.14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rosco-no-review","text":"Supervisors did not review 28 of 86 (33%) HU and 23 of 92 (25%) GQ non-remote Alaska noninterviews in the bureau's ROSCO system before approval; OIG projects approximately 83,000 of 225,000 (36.9%) HU noninterviews and 22,000 of 82,000 (26.8%) GQ noninterviews were closed out without any recorded supervisory review.","value":36.9,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"We found that supervisors did not review 28 of 86 (33 percent) HU non-remote Alaska noninterviews and 23 of 92 (25 percent) GQ non-remote Alaska noninterviews before approval... Based on our review of non-remote Alaska cases, we estimate that approximately 83,000 of 225,000 (36.9 percent) of HU nonintervews and 22,000 of 82,000 (26.8 percent) of GQ noninterviews were not reviewed by the supervisor before approval in ROSCO.","locator":"p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reinterview-selection-goal","text":"The bureau's goal is to randomly select 5% of HU interviews and 10% of GQ interviews for reinterview each year; in CY2022 it selected only 34,000 of 720,000 HU noninterview sample cases (4.72%) and only 1,600 of 20,000 GQ noninterview sample cases (8.0%) -- missing both goals.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Table 2. Bureau Did Not Meet Reinterview Selection Goals. HU: 720,000 Noninterview Sample Interviews, 34,000 Cases Selected for Reinterview, 4.72% Selected, 5% Goal, No (Met Goal). GQ: 20,000 Noninterview Sample Interviews, 1,600 Cases Selected for Reinterview, 8.0% Selected, 10% Goal, No (Met Goal).","locator":"p.18, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reinterview-completion-goal","text":"Reviewing per-field-representative completion of monthly reinterview quotas in CY2022, OIG found only 135 of 745 (18%) inexperienced HU FRs, only 30 of 3,000 (1%) experienced HU FRs, and only 40 of 130 (31%) GQ FRs met their assigned monthly reinterview completion goals -- meaning 82%, 99%, and 69% of each group, respectively, missed their goal.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Table 4. Reinterview Completion Goals Not Met. HU, Inexperienced, 745 [FRs], 135 [Completion Goals Met], 18% [Percent Met], 82% [Percent Not Met]. HU, Experienced, 3,000, 30, 1%, 99%. GQ, All, 130, 40, 31%, 69%.","locator":"p.19, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"gq-resident-interviews-excluded","text":"The bureau's reinterview operation did not include contacting residents at group-quarters (GQ) facilities at all -- 215,000 of the 235,000 (91.5%) GQ interviews conducted in the CY2022 reinterview sample excluded resident-level reinterviews entirely, relying only on GQ administrators.","value":91.5,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"We found that the bureau did not include 215,000 resident interviews out of 235,000 (91.5 percent) GQ interviews conducted in the reinterview sample for CY 2022... FRs did not conduct resident-level reinterviews at GQ facilities because they assumed residents would be difficult to reach.","locator":"p.20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"inconclusive-reinterviews","text":"Of 175 reinterviews OIG selected for review, the bureau was unable to determine whether FR data falsification occurred for 28 (16%) of the cases; OIG projects that applies to about 3,300 of 20,000 (16.5%) non-remote Alaska HU reinterviews and 150 of 1,600 (9.4%) non-remote Alaska GQ reinterviews.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Of the 175 reinterviews we selected for review, the bureau was unable to determine whether FR data falsification occurred for 28 (16 percent) of the cases... Approximately 3,300 of the 20,000 (16.5 percent) non-remote Alaska HU reinterviews were inconclusive; Approximately 150 of the 1,600 (9.4 percent) non-remote Alaska GQ reinterviews were inconclusive.","locator":"p.21, Table 5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"late-reinterviews","text":"Of 147 conclusive reinterviews reviewed, 68 (46%) were completed more than the bureau's own two-week window after the original interview -- including 96% (22 of 23) of conclusive reinterviews in remote Alaska.","value":46,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"Table 6. Late Conclusive Reinterviews. Total: 147 Conclusive Interviews, 68 Late Reinterviews, 46 Percentage of Late Reinterviews. Total Remote Alaska: 23 Conclusive Interviews, 22 Late Reinterviews, 96 Percentage of Late Reinterviews.","locator":"p.21-22, Table 6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"data-tool-inquiry-late","text":"Of 55 valid sampled FR Data Tool inquiries flagging possible falsification, regional offices responded to 42 (76%) after the requested due date; OIG projects that regional offices responded late to approximately 290 of 415 (69.9%) such inquiries bureau-wide.","value":69.9,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2022-12-31","quote":"Of the remaining 55 inquiries, we found that regional offices responded to 42 (76 percent) of the inquiries after the requested due date... Based on our review, we estimate that the bureau's regional offices responded to approximately 290 (69.9 percent) of the 415 inquiries after the requested due date.","locator":"p.24-25","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"falsification-2017-delaware","text":"After the release of the 2017 ACS data products, the bureau discovered a field representative had falsified data -- contacting households, asking survey questions, and manipulating responses to avoid asking additional in-depth questions -- and the falsification was not caught by the reinterview process; the falsified data impacted ACS estimates in New Castle County and the State of Delaware, and the bureau applied an editing/imputation fix in 2018 before releasing 1-year estimates.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"After the release of the 2017 ACS data products, the bureau became aware that an FR had falsified data. This FR contacted households, asked survey questions, and manipulated survey responses to avoid asking additional, in-depth questions. The FR completed the reinterview process, but the falsified data was not detected. The falsified data impacted the ACS estimates in New Castle County and the State of Delaware.","locator":"p.23","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"recommendations-concurred","text":"OIG made 17 recommendations to the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau covering ISR testing documentation, vacant-interview coding, supervisory review controls, the reinterview program's design, and FR Data Tool response timeliness; the bureau concurred with all of them.","value":17,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-03-10","quote":"What We Recommend | We made 17 recommendations to the U.S. Census Bureau to monitor and evaluate data collection, complete interviews, monitor supervisory review of cases, strengthen its reinterview process, and develop policy on when regional offices should respond to inquiries. The bureau concurred with our recommendations.","locator":"Report Highlights (unnumbered cover) and p.4","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"vacant-total-exposure","label":null,"method":"23.2 + 18.4","result":41.6,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"hu-reinterview-completion-combined","label":null,"method":"(135 + 30) / (745 + 3000) * 100","result":4.41,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"supervisory-non-review-combined","label":null,"method":"(83000 + 22000) / (225000 + 82000) * 100","result":34.2,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"census-acs-reinterview-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/census-acs-reinterview-gap","title":"Census's Veteran Reps Missed Fraud-Check Quotas 99% of the Time","dek":"A March 10, 2026 Commerce Department inspector general audit found the Census Bureau did not effectively implement its data collection and quality control procedures for the American Community Survey (ACS) -- the mandatory survey the Census Bureau says is used to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding a year. The reinterview program built to catch field-worker data falsification fell short across every measure OIG checked, and 21% of a sampled batch of \"vacant\" home codings from 2022 turned out to be wrong."}},{"schema":1,"id":"epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar","slug":"epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"EPA's Fix for Its $20M Sewer-Grant Backlog Keeps Missing Deadlines","publisher":"U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2025-02-10","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/oig/documents/_epaoig_20250210-25-p-0014_cert.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-25-p-0014","title":"The EPA Left $20 Million Unawarded in the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program (Report No. 25-P-0014, February 10, 2025)","sourceUrl":"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/oig/documents/_epaoig_20250210-25-p-0014_cert.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"65873908c5efb9e56e2b88f48f6742b3364353809f4c4594c36a26bfe023be5d","servable":"full","bytes":1695821,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:18:06.482Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-25-p-0014/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"EPA OIG report documenting $20M unawarded in municipal sewer/stormwater reuse grant program"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-26-n-0028","title":"Semiannual Report to Congress: October 1, 2025-March 31, 2026 (Report No. 26-N-0028, May 2026)","sourceUrl":"https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-06/spring-2026-semiannual-report-to-congress_updated.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"de26f3252ed789b90330c2a4d272915d343142d2eef6da60a1b1c58518fcfb42","servable":"full","bytes":3211528,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:18:08.250Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-26-n-0028/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"EPA OIG Semiannual Report to Congress covering Oct 2025-Mar 2026"}},{"id":"ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-25-p-0014","title":"The EPA Left $20 Million Unawarded in the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program (Report No. 25-P-0014, February 10, 2025)","sourceUrl":"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/oig/documents/_epaoig_20250210-25-p-0014_cert.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"65873908c5efb9e56e2b88f48f6742b3364353809f4c4594c36a26bfe023be5d","servable":"full","bytes":1695821,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T23:18:06.482Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar-doc-oig-25-p-0014/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"EPA OIG report documenting $20M unawarded in municipal sewer/stormwater reuse grant program"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-expenditure":0.7,"m-oversight":1,"d-utilities":1,"d-environment":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8,"e-gap":1},"labels":["epa-oversight","infrastructure-funding","grant-backlog","environmental","water"],"whyItMatters":"A February 2025 audit by EPA's own Office of Inspector General found that the agency had left about $20.2 million -- 18% of the roughly $110 million allocated to states -- unawarded in its Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program, with Regions 7 and 8 sitting on 72% and 83% of their allocations. EPA disputed the finding as outdated; OIG's own follow-up check found a smaller but still substantial $15.4 million unawarded. Whichever number is right, the recommended fix has not shipped: EPA's own semiannual report to Congress, covering October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, still lists the core recommendation as unresolved, its target completion date pushed in sequence from September 2025 to December 2025 to March 2026 to June 2026 -- and a second recommendation, to file the legally required report to Congress on the program, has slipped on the same schedule.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":11,"claims":[{"id":"f-semiannual-recs-status","text":"The OIG's semiannual report covering October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026 lists Report No. 25-P-0014's Recommendation 1 as still Unresolved, with its planned completion date revised in sequence to 9/30/25, then 12/31/25, then 3/31/26, then 6/30/26, and still carrying $20,238,000 in potential cost savings; Recommendation 2 (completing the required report to Congress and populating program data-storage platforms), originally targeted for 5/31/25, is also listed as still open, with its planned completion date likewise revised to 12/31/25, 3/31/26, and 6/30/26.","value":20238000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-31","quote":"Report No. 25-P-0014, The EPA Left $20 Million Unawarded in the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program, issued February 10, 2025 ... 1. Update the implementation guidance ... Rec. 1: Unresolved ... Rec. 1: 9/30/25, 12/31/25, 3/31/26, 6/30/26 ... Rec. 1: 20,238.00 ... 2. Improve program reporting ... Rec. 2: 5/31/25 ... Rec. 2: 12/31/25, 3/31/26, 6/30/26","locator":"Appendix 3: Reports with Corrective Action Not Completed, p.61","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-semiannual-aggregate","text":"As of March 31, 2026, the OIG counted 83 unimplemented recommendations issued to the EPA (and zero for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board), across 35 reports issued from 2008 through September 30, 2025, with combined potential cost savings of over $265 million.","value":265000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-31","quote":"we identified the recommendations that remained unimplemented as of March 31, 2026: 83 for the EPA and zero for the CSB. ... the potential cost savings of the 83 recommendations issued to the EPA that remain unimplemented are over $265 million.","locator":"Section 1, p.5; Appendix 3 intro, p.48","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-purpose","text":"The OSG Program provides grants that let states make subawards to municipalities to plan, design, and construct projects that control stormwater and prevent raw sewage releases into nearby water bodies; Congress appropriated the program $202 million for fiscal years 2020 through 2024, far short of the more than $1 billion it authorized over the same period.","value":202000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-02-10","quote":"For fiscal years 2020 through 2024, Congress appropriated the OSG Program $202 million, far short of the over $1 billion that Congress authorized in the same period.","locator":"Why We Did This Audit / Chapter 1 Background, cover page and p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-original-finding","text":"As of January 10, 2024, the EPA had not awarded approximately $20 million -- $20,237,801, about 18% -- of the approximately $109.89 million in OSG Program funds allocated to states for fiscal years 2020 through 2022, affecting 18 states across six of the EPA's ten regions.","value":20237801,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-01-10","quote":"We found that, as of January 10, 2024, the EPA had not awarded approximately $20 million, or about 18 percent, of the approximately $110 million allocated to states within the OSG Program for fiscal years 2020 through 2022.","locator":"What We Found (cover page); Chapter 2, Table 4, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-region-table","text":"Table 4 of the audit breaks the January 10, 2024 unawarded total down by EPA region: Region 1 $8,457,000 allocated / $0 unawarded (0%); Region 2 $14,766,000 / $2,642,000 (18%); Region 3 $12,465,000 / $4,258,000 (34%); Region 4 $12,961,000 / $0 (0%); Region 5 $18,412,000 / $772,000 (4%); Region 6 $9,866,000 / $3,686,001 (37%); Region 7 $7,873,000 / $5,660,000 (72%); Region 8 $3,893,000 / $3,219,800 (83%); Region 9 $16,414,000 / $0 (0%); Region 10 $4,783,000 / $0 (0%); Total $109,890,000 allocated / $20,237,801 unawarded (18%).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-01-10","quote":"Table 4: Unawarded OSG funds allocated to states for fiscal years 2020 through 2022 by EPA regions, as of January 10, 2024 ... Total 109,890,000 20,237,801 18 18","locator":"Chapter 2, Table 4, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-worst-regions","text":"Six of the ten EPA regions had not awarded all OSG funding as of January 10, 2024; Regions 7 and 8 had not awarded over 70 percent of their funds in a timely manner.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-01-10","quote":"The challenge of not awarding OSG grants in a timely manner was widespread, with six of the ten EPA regions not awarding all OSG funding, as shown in Table 4. Regions 7 and 8 had not awarded over 70 percent of their funds in a timely manner.","locator":"Chapter 2, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-updated-analysis","text":"At the Agency's request, OIG updated its analysis with EPA grants-database data retrieved December 23, 2024 -- extending the scope through the fiscal year 2023 allocation -- and found the EPA had accelerated its pace, with $15.4 million left unawarded out of $159 million allocated to states, or nearly 10%. Six regions (1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10) had awarded all funds and Region 2 had about 3.7% left, but three regions -- 6, 7, and 8 -- still had approximately 29%, 50%, and 82% of funds left unawarded, respectively.","value":15400000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-12-23","quote":"On December 23, 2024, we retrieved grant information available in the EPA databases for the OSG grants that the EPA awarded to states for fiscal year allocations 2020 through 2023. ... We found that the EPA had accelerated its pace of awarding OSG grants, with $15.4 million left unawarded out of $159 million allocated to states, or nearly 10 percent. Six regions -- Regions 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 -- had awarded all funds, and Region 2 had approximately 3.7 percent of funds left unawarded. ... three regions -- Regions 6, 7, and 8 -- have approximately 29, 50, and 82 percent of funds left unawarded, respectively.","locator":"Agency Response and OIG Assessment, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-agency-disputed","text":"In its response to the draft report, EPA's Office of Water did not concur with Recommendation 1, stating that while it 'agrees with the sentiments of the OIG recommendation,' it found the information behind the recommendation 'not accurate, as awards have accelerated,' and would agree with the recommendation only if OIG updated its analysis of the EPA's progress.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-12-19","quote":"In its response to our draft report, the Agency did not concur with Recommendation 1, stating that while it “agrees with the sentiments of the OIG recommendation, the Office of Water finds the information leading to this recommendation is not accurate, as awards have accelerated” and that the Office of Water would agree with the recommendation if we were to update our analysis of the EPA’s progress in awarding OSG funds.","locator":"Agency Response and OIG Assessment, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-other-lapses","text":"Beyond the unawarded funds, the EPA failed to meet its statutory requirement to submit a report to Congress on the OSG Program, provided insufficient justification on required merit review worksheets for 69% of the grants examined, and allowed a nonfederal cost share to be imposed on a grant that should have been exempt because the communities it served were rural or financially distressed.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-02-10","quote":"In addition, the EPA failed to meet its statutory requirement to submit a report to Congress, provided insufficient justification on required merit review worksheets, and allowed a cost share to be imposed on a grant that should have been exempt because the communities to benefit were rural or financially distressed.","locator":"What We Found (cover page); Chapter 2, pp.14, 16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-nebraska-example","text":"In May 2022, EPA Region 7 awarded OSG funding to Nebraska for a large municipality and required a 20% nonfederal cost share -- $220,500 -- even though EPA's November 2022 guidance later made clear that grants serving rural or financially distressed communities should be exempt from that cost share; OIG recommended Region 7 amend the Nebraska grant to remove the requirement.","value":220500,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-02-10","quote":"In May 2022, Region 7 awarded funding to Nebraska ... The award required the large municipality to provide the 20 percent nonfederal cost share for the entire grant to the state. This cost share was $220,500 ... Region 7 should amend Nebraska's grant agreement to remove the cost-share burden, so that the municipality can determine how best to use its resources.","locator":"Chapter 2, p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-osg-rec-status-original","text":"At the report's February 10, 2025 issuance, its Status of Recommendations table listed Recommendation 1 (update OSG guidance to award and reallocate funds in a timely manner) as Unresolved with no planned completion date and a potential monetary benefit of $20,238,000; Recommendations 2, 3, and 4 (improve program reporting, implement grant-application review controls, examine prior grants for cost-share compliance) as Resolved with planned completion dates of 5/31/25, 5/31/25, and 9/30/25; and Recommendation 5 (amend the Nebraska grant) as Resolved with a planned completion date of 3/31/25.","value":20238000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-02-10","quote":"1 16 Update the implementation guidance for the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program ... U Assistant Administrator for Water — $20,238 ... 2 17 Improve program reporting ... R Assistant Administrator for Water 5/31/25 — ... 5 17 Amend the grant to Nebraska (SO–97792201–0) ... R Regional Administrator for Region 7 3/31/25 —","locator":"Status of Recommendations and Potential Monetary Benefits, p.18-19","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-region-alloc-sum","label":null,"method":"8457000+14766000+12465000+12961000+18412000+9866000+7873000+3893000+16414000+4783000","result":109890000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-region-unawarded-sum","label":null,"method":"0+2642000+4258000+0+772000+3686001+5660000+3219800+0+0","result":20237801,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-region7-pct","label":null,"method":"5660000/7873000*100","result":71.89,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-region8-pct","label":null,"method":"3219800/3893000*100","result":82.71,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-finding-change","label":null,"method":"20237801-15400000","result":4837801,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/epa-sewer-grant-backlog-dollar","title":"EPA's Fix for Its $20M Sewer-Grant Backlog Keeps Missing Deadlines","dek":"A February 2025 audit by EPA's own Office of Inspector General found that the agency had left about $20.2 million -- 18% of the roughly $110 million allocated to states -- unawarded in its Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program, with Regions 7 and 8 sitting on 72% and 83% of their allocations. EPA disputed the finding as outdated; OIG's own follow-up check found a smaller but still substantial $15.4 million unawarded. Whichever number is right, the recommended fix has not shipped: EPA's own semiannual report to Congress, covering October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, still lists the core recommendation as unresolved, its target completion date pushed in sequence from September 2025 to December 2025 to March 2026 to June 2026 -- and a second recommendation, to file the legally required report to Congress on the program, has slipped on the same schedule."}},{"schema":1,"id":"dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar","slug":"dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"DOL Flagged $472 Million in UI Fraud in 2022. It's Still Not Back","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-01-30","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2026/50-26-001-03-315.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi1","title":"Alert Memorandum: The Employment and Training Administration Needs to Ensure State Workforce Agencies Take Action to Recover Significant Unemployment Insurance Holdings Still Held by Financial Institution 1's Prepaid Card Program","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2026/50-26-001-03-315.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"771a3283d9467322ea0dcacc44d96e17ba1cd510d562a88d7066bec661878adf","servable":"full","bytes":276031,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T22:21:06.600Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi1/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official DOL Office of Inspector General Alert Memorandum on unrecovered unemployment insurance funds held by financial institution prepaid card programs; corroborated by CBO legislative cost estimate (H.R. 8873)"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi2","title":"Alert Memorandum: The Employment and Training Administration Needs to Ensure State Workforce Agencies Take Action to Recover Significant Unemployment Insurance Holdings Still Held by Financial Institution 2's Prepaid Card Program","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2026/50-26-002-03-315.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"df4fc89fcd63f2f391810341625d0a1a96b1eab6152b8f990757d7cf6feb7466","servable":"full","bytes":261693,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T22:21:07.887Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi2/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official DOL Office of Inspector General Alert Memorandum on unrecovered unemployment insurance funds held by financial institution prepaid card programs; corroborated by CBO legislative cost estimate (H.R. 8873)"}},{"id":"ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi1","title":"Alert Memorandum: The Employment and Training Administration Needs to Ensure State Workforce Agencies Take Action to Recover Significant Unemployment Insurance Holdings Still Held by Financial Institution 1's Prepaid Card Program","sourceUrl":"https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2026/50-26-001-03-315.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"771a3283d9467322ea0dcacc44d96e17ba1cd510d562a88d7066bec661878adf","servable":"full","bytes":276031,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T22:21:06.600Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar-dol-oig-alert-fi1/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official DOL Office of Inspector General Alert Memorandum on unrecovered unemployment insurance funds held by financial institution prepaid card programs; corroborated by CBO legislative cost estimate (H.R. 8873)"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-appropriation":0.9,"m-expenditure":0.8,"m-oversight":0.9,"d-labor":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1,"e-gap":0.8,"e-timecritical":0.8},"labels":["covid-unemployment-benefits","prepaid-card-fraud","unrecovered-funds","state-agency-inaction","unemployment-insurance","financial-institution-holdings","escheatment-risk","employment-training-administration","pandemic-overpayments","taxpayer-recovery-gap","fraud-indicators","1-billion-at-risk"],"whyItMatters":"The Labor Department's inspector general says $912.5 million in likely-fraudulent pandemic-era unemployment benefits remains stuck on unused prepaid debit cards or has already been surrendered to state unclaimed-property offices, per two 2026 alert memos to the Employment and Training Administration. More than half of that, $472.8 million, is fraud the OIG says it flagged to ETA back in September 2022 -- and more than three years later, the money was still sitting there.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":12,"claims":[{"id":"fi2-fraud-total","text":"A total of $197,828,087 in potentially fraudulently obtained pandemic-era UI funds was held or is currently being held on 773,655 prepaid card accounts tied to Financial Institution 2, per DOL-OIG's February 10, 2026 alert memorandum -- on top of the $714,626,297 already identified at Financial Institution 1, for more than $900 million combined.","value":197828087,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-12-01","quote":"In summary, a total of $197,828,087 in potentially fraudulently obtained funds was held or is currently being held on 773,655 UI prepaid card accounts and swift action is required to recover those taxpayer dollars. This is in addition to the OIG's recent identification of $714,626,297 in potentially fraudulently obtained funds, totaling more than $900 million requiring prompt attention.","locator":"p.4, Summary box","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi2-not-escheated","text":"Of Financial Institution 2's holdings, $303,991,074 remained on 1,533,056 prepaid card accounts as of the OIG's December 2025 analysis; $197,780,028 of that (about 65%), on 773,339 cards, was flagged as potentially fraudulently obtained.","value":197780028,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-12-01","quote":"$303,991,074 remained on 1,533,056 prepaid card accounts... The OIG found $197,780,028 (approximately 65% of $303,991,074) in potentially fraudulently obtained funds was being held on 773,339 FI2 prepaid cards.","locator":"p.3-4, Table 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi2-escheated","text":"Of Financial Institution 2's holdings, $209,439 in UI funds from 968 prepaid card accounts had already been escheated to state unclaimed property administrators as of September 25, 2025; $48,059 of that (about 23%), from 316 cards, was flagged as potentially fraudulently obtained.","value":48059,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-09-25","quote":"$209,439 in already escheated UI funds from 968 prepaid card accounts... The OIG found $48,059 (approximately 23% of $209,439) in potentially fraudulently obtained funds have been escheated to state unclaimed property administrators.","locator":"p.3-4, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi2-flagged-2022","text":"Of the $303,991,074 in Financial Institution 2 funds not yet escheated, $120,854,589 (about 40%), on 316,250 prepaid card accounts, relates to claims the OIG had already flagged to ETA as potential fraud in the same September 2022 alert memorandum.","value":120854589,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-12-01","quote":"these findings include $120,854,589 in taxpayer money (approximately 40 percent of the $303,991,074 not yet escheated) about which the OIG had previously notified ETA in September 2022 after flagging the underlying claim as suspicious.","locator":"p.4, Table 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"four-providers-two-analyzed","text":"DOL-OIG issued Inspector General Act subpoenas to four financial institutions in August 2025 -- the largest prepaid-card providers for pandemic-era UI benefits. As of the two alert memos, only Financial Institution 1 (records received late September 2025) and Financial Institution 2 (records received November 2025) had been analyzed and reported; the other two institutions' holdings had not yet been publicly detailed.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In August 2025, to further examine the nature of these UI holdings, the OIG issued Inspector General subpoenas to these four financial institutions... We detailed our findings regarding the largest provider, Financial Institution 1, in our recent alert memorandum. In November 2025, FI2 provided records to the OIG that detailed remaining and escheated balances specific to client SWAs.","locator":"p.3, OIG's Findings regarding UI Funds Still Held by FI2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi1-fraud-total","text":"A total of $714,626,297 in potentially fraudulently obtained pandemic-era UI funds was held or is currently being held on 3,139,091 prepaid card accounts tied to Financial Institution 1, requiring swift action to recover, per DOL-OIG's January 30, 2026 alert memorandum.","value":714626297,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-10-01","quote":"In summary, a total of $714,626,297 in potentially fraudulently obtained funds was held or is currently being held on 3,139,091 UI prepaid card accounts and require swift action to recover those taxpayer dollars.","locator":"p.3-4, Summary box","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi1-not-escheated","text":"Of Financial Institution 1's holdings, $738,475,819 remained on 4,369,061 prepaid card accounts as of the OIG's October 2025 analysis; $522,499,034 of that (about 71%), on 2,679,741 cards, was flagged as potentially fraudulently obtained.","value":522499034,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-10-01","quote":"$738,475,819 remained on 4,369,061 prepaid card accounts... The OIG found $522,499,034 (about 71 percent of $738,475,819) in potentially fraudulently obtained funds was being held on 2,679,741 Financial Institution 1 prepaid cards.","locator":"p.3, Table 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi1-escheated","text":"Of Financial Institution 1's holdings, $266,853,492 in UI funds from 914,527 prepaid card accounts had already been escheated (surrendered) to state unclaimed property administrators as of September 25, 2025; $192,127,263 of that (about 71%), from 459,350 cards, was flagged as potentially fraudulently obtained.","value":192127263,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-09-25","quote":"$266,853,492 in already escheated UI funds from 914,527 prepaid card accounts... The OIG found $192,127,263 (about 71 percent of $266,853,492) in potentially fraudulently obtained funds have been escheated to state unclaimed property administrators.","locator":"p.3-4, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fi1-flagged-2022","text":"Of the $738,475,819 in Financial Institution 1 funds not yet escheated, $351,992,389 (48%), on 950,227 prepaid card accounts, relates to claims the OIG had already flagged to ETA as potential fraud in a September 2022 alert memorandum -- more than three years before this January 2026 follow-up.","value":351992389,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-10-01","quote":"these findings include $351,992,389 in taxpayer dollars (48 percent of the $738,475,819 not yet escheated) about which the OIG had previously notified ETA in September 2022 after flagging the underlying claim as suspicious.","locator":"p.4, Table 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"eta-30-day-guidance","text":"Both alert memoranda ask ETA to issue guidance to State Workforce Agencies within 30 days directing engagement with ETA, OIG, and the relevant financial institutions to recover the flagged funds; ETA reviewed drafts of both memos and, per OIG, responded with no corrections or substantive comments.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"An opportunity exists for ETA to issue guidance within 30 days to SWAs to commence engagement with ETA, the OIG, and relevant financial institutions to assess these findings... ETA responded timely with no corrections or other comments on the draft.","locator":"p.4, Conclusion","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"escheatment-definition","text":"Escheatment is the mandatory obligation for financial institutions to surrender unclaimed funds; requirements and deadlines vary by state, and escheated funds go to state unclaimed property administrators, not directly to State Workforce Agencies -- which OIG says complicates recovery once it happens.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In this alert memorandum, the term escheatment refers to the mandatory obligation for financial institutions to surrender unclaimed funds. These requirements and their deadlines vary by state... These funds are not surrendered directly to SWAs, but instead go to state unclaimed property administrators.","locator":"p.2, footnote 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pandemic-ui-improper-payment-context","text":"DOL-OIG has separately reported that of the more than $888 billion in total federal and state UI benefits paid during the pandemic period, at least $191 billion could have been improper payments, including more than $76 billion paid to fraudsters -- context both alert memos cite for why prepaid-card balances remain a live recovery target.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The OIG has previously reported more than $888 billion in total federal and state UI benefits were paid for benefit weeks during the pandemic period... According to Inspector General Congressional Testimony, of the $888 billion in UI benefits, at least $191 billion could have been improper payments, including more than $76 billion paid to fraudsters.","locator":"p.2, Background","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"combined-fraud-total","label":null,"method":"714626297 + 197828087","result":912454384,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"flagged-2022-share","label":null,"method":"(351992389 + 120854589) / (714626297 + 197828087) * 100","result":51.83,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"escheated-fraud-share","label":null,"method":"(192127263 + 48059) / (714626297 + 197828087) * 100","result":21.07,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"fraud-total-vs-monetary-accomplishments","label":null,"method":"(912454384 - 810394305) / 810394305 * 100","result":12.59,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/dol-ui-prepaid-fraud-recovery-gap-dollar","title":"DOL Flagged $472 Million in UI Fraud in 2022. It's Still Not Back","dek":"The Labor Department's inspector general says $912.5 million in likely-fraudulent pandemic-era unemployment benefits remains stuck on unused prepaid debit cards or has already been surrendered to state unclaimed-property offices, per two 2026 alert memos to the Employment and Training Administration. More than half of that, $472.8 million, is fraud the OIG says it flagged to ETA back in September 2022 -- and more than three years later, the money was still sitting there."}},{"schema":1,"id":"wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar","slug":"wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Wisconsin's Pension Fee Bill Rose With Performance, Not Despite It","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-wi","date":"2026-06-09","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/izkcfb0a/26-05full_413289.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-05-swib","title":"Retirement Funds Investment Activity, Calendar Year 2025 -- State of Wisconsin Investment Board (Report 26-05)","sourceUrl":"https://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/izkcfb0a/26-05full_413289.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"c7e7ea55f97e20f5fc5c8df03a2cec511a2ea695fb0adbc01510d5c7c88f8b55","servable":"full","bytes":1536044,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T21:20:32.217Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-05-swib/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Wisconsin LAB Report 26-05 on SWIB retirement fund investments; audits $141.8B asset base and $1.4B external management fees for fiscal 2025"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-01-etf","title":"Department of Employee Trust Funds, Calendar Year 2024 (Report 26-01)","sourceUrl":"https://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/qvkfdytp/26-01full_66850803.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"91e3367ed1d2262767028242033b7306d47d2eadf0931d42d36fda87d7cac4b6","servable":"full","bytes":1988993,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T21:20:33.957Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-01-etf/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Wisconsin LAB Report 26-01 on Department of Employee Trust Funds; audits $134.5B WRS assets and employee benefit programs for fiscal 2024"}},{"id":"ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-05-swib","title":"Retirement Funds Investment Activity, Calendar Year 2025 -- State of Wisconsin Investment Board (Report 26-05)","sourceUrl":"https://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/izkcfb0a/26-05full_413289.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"c7e7ea55f97e20f5fc5c8df03a2cec511a2ea695fb0adbc01510d5c7c88f8b55","servable":"full","bytes":1536044,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T21:20:32.217Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar-wi-lab-26-05-swib/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Wisconsin LAB Report 26-05 on SWIB retirement fund investments; audits $141.8B asset base and $1.4B external management fees for fiscal 2025"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":0.9,"m-expenditure":0.7,"m-debt":0.4,"d-labor":0.9,"e-primary":0.95,"e-quantitative":0.9},"labels":["swib","wisconsin-retirement-funds","external-management-fees","legislative-audit-bureau","pension-investment","investment-oversight","performance-fees","core-retirement-fund","variable-retirement-fund"],"whyItMatters":"Wisconsin's public pension paid $1.38 billion to outside money managers in 2025, per the state's own financial audit -- up 14.0% from $1.21 billion the year before. Nearly two-thirds of that increase traces to one asset class, private equity, whose reported performance improved from 7.2% to 11.3%; performance fees are contractually built to rise when investments do. SWIB moved more of its $226.6 billion in assets in-house anyway, to 46.8% managed internally, the highest share since 2021.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":14,"claims":[{"id":"wrs-participants-2024","text":"As of December 31, 2024, 703,515 individuals participated in the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), including 269,249 (38.3%) active participants making contributions, 241,125 (34.2%) retired participants or their beneficiaries receiving WRS benefits, and 193,141 (27.5%) inactive participants not yet receiving benefits.","value":703515,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2024-12-31","quote":"As of December 31, 2024, 703,515 individuals participated in the WRS, including: 269,249 (38.3 percent) active participants who were making contributions; 241,125 (34.2 percent) retired participants or their beneficiaries who were receiving WRS benefits; and 193,141 (27.5 percent) inactive participants, such as former employees, who were not yet receiving benefits and who were not required to make contributions.","locator":"Wisconsin Retirement System, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"wrs-description","text":"The Wisconsin Retirement System is a cost-sharing, multiple-employer, defined-benefit pension plan created in January 1982 that provides postretirement financial benefits, as well as disability and death benefits, to participating state and local government employees; it is among the 10 largest public pension plans in the United States.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Created in January 1982, the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) is a cost-sharing, multiple-employer, defined-benefit pension plan that provides postretirement financial benefits to participating employees, as well as disability and death benefits to participants and their beneficiaries. ... The WRS is among the 10 largest public pension plans in the United States.","locator":"Wisconsin Retirement System, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"total-assets-2025","text":"Total investment assets of the Retirement Funds (Core Fund plus Variable Fund) increased from $189.1 billion as of December 31, 2024, to $226.6 billion as of December 31, 2025, an increase of 19.8%.","value":226.6,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"On a GAAP basis, total investment assets of the Retirement Funds increased from $189.1 billion as of December 31, 2024, to $226.6 billion as of December 31, 2025, or by 19.8 percent.","locator":"Introduction, Total Investment Assets, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fund-split-2025","text":"As of December 31, 2025, the Core Fund accounted for $213.4 billion (94.2%) of total Retirement Funds investment assets, and the Variable Fund accounted for $13.2 billion (5.8%).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"As of December 31, 2025, the Core Fund accounted for $213.4 billion (94.2 percent) of the total investment assets of the Retirement Funds and the Variable Fund accounted for $13.2 billion (5.8 percent), as shown in Figure 1.","locator":"Introduction, Total Investment Assets, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"core-fund-return-2025","text":"The Core Fund's one-year investment return, net of all fees and costs, increased from 8.5% in 2024 to 14.4% in 2025, exceeding the Core Fund's 13.6% benchmark for 2025.","value":14.4,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"The reported one-year investment return, net of all fees and costs, increased from 8.5 percent in 2024 to 14.4 percent in 2025. ... One-year investment returns exceeded the Core Fund benchmark of 13.6 percent in 2025.","locator":"Net Investment Income, p.5; Letter of Transmittal, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"variable-fund-return-2025","text":"The Variable Fund's one-year investment return, net of all fees and costs, increased from 18.7% in 2024 to 22.0% in 2025, slightly above the Variable Fund's 21.8% benchmark for 2025.","value":22,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"The reported one-year investment return, net of all fees and costs, increased from 18.7 percent in 2024 to 22.0 percent in 2025. ... One-year investment returns were slightly above the Variable Fund benchmark of 21.8 percent in 2025.","locator":"Net Investment Income, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"core-net-income-2025","text":"The Core Fund's net investment income increased from $10.3 billion in 2024 to $18.1 billion in 2025, an increase of 75.6%.","value":18.1,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"On a GAAP basis, the net investment income reported by the Core Fund increased from $10.3 billion in 2024 to $18.1 billion in 2025 or by 75.6 percent.","locator":"Net Investment Income, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"variable-net-income-2025","text":"The Variable Fund's net investment income was $1.8 billion in 2024 and $2.4 billion in 2025.","value":2.4,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"On a GAAP basis, the net investment income reported by the Variable Fund was $1.8 billion in 2024 and $2.4 billion in 2025.","locator":"Net Investment Income, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"internal-mgmt-share-2025","text":"The share of Retirement Funds' assets managed internally by SWIB was 49.0% as of December 31, 2021; it fell to a five-year low of 37.9% as of December 31, 2022, rose to 38.1% (2023) and 39.1% (2024), then rose again to 46.8% as of December 31, 2025 -- the highest share since 2021. SWIB attributed the 2025 increase to discontinuing certain externally managed investments in favor of internal management.","value":46.8,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"As shown in Figure 4, the percentage of assets managed internally by SWIB has decreased from 49.0 percent as of December 31, 2021, to 46.8 percent as of December 31, 2025. Between December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2025, the percentage of internally managed assets decreased to a low of 37.9 percent as of December 31, 2022, before increasing to 38.1 percent as of December 31, 2023, and to 39.1 percent as of December 31, 2024. SWIB staff attributed the increase in internal management of assets as of December 31, 2025, to the discontinuation of certain externally managed investments in favor of internal management.","locator":"External Management of Investments, p.7-8, Figure 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fee-mechanics","text":"External investment management fees typically include two components: base fees, calculated as a proportion of assets invested, and performance fees, typically calculated based on investment returns; fees can fluctuate year to year based on the performance of the underlying investment.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Management fees typically include two components: base fees and performance fees. Base fees are calculated as a proportion of assets invested, and performance fees are typically calculated based on investment returns. Management fees can fluctuate from year to year based on the performance of the underlying investment.","locator":"External Management of Investments, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fee-table-2025","text":"External investment management fees reported by SWIB, by investment type, for the year ended December 31: Private Equity $606.4 million (2024) / $719.6 million (2025); Hedge Funds $365.8 million / $351.4 million; Public Market $151.4 million / $230.3 million; Real Estate Limited Partnerships $85.9 million / $78.2 million. Total: $1,209.6 million (2024) rising to $1,379.5 million (2025).","value":1379.5,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"Table 1 External Investment Management Fees. For the Year Ended December 31 (in millions). Investment Type / 2024 / 2025. Private Equity $606.4 / $719.6. Hedge Funds 365.8 / 351.4. Public Market 151.4 / 230.3. Real Estate Limited Partnerships 85.9 / 78.2. Total $1,209.6 / $1,379.5.","locator":"External Management of Investments, Table 1, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pe-performance-driver","text":"SWIB staff attributed the increase in external investment management fees to improved performance of investment types relative to prior years -- improved performance increases the performance-fee component of the total. Private equity investments drove the largest single increase, $113.2 million, and SWIB reported private equity/debt investment performance improved from 7.2% in 2024 to 11.3% in 2025.","value":11.3,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2025-12-31","quote":"From 2024 to 2025, external investment management fees increased related to public equity and public market investments. The largest increase related to private equity investments, which increased by $113.2 million. SWIB staff attributed the increase in external investment management fees to improved performance of these investment types relative to prior years. Improved performance increases the performance fee component of external investment management fees. For example, SWIB reported private equity/debt investment performance improved from 7.2 percent for 2024 to 11.3 percent for 2025.","locator":"External Management of Investments, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"no-material-weakness","text":"The Legislative Audit Bureau's review of SWIB's internal control, conducted for the limited purpose of the financial-statement audit rather than to express an opinion on internal control effectiveness, did not identify any deficiencies in internal control the auditors consider to be material weaknesses; the auditors noted that undetected material weaknesses or significant deficiencies may nonetheless exist.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Given these limitations, during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material weaknesses or significant deficiencies may exist that were not identified.","locator":"Auditor's Report, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"no-noncompliance","text":"The auditors' tests of SWIB's compliance with laws, regulations, and contracts disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.","locator":"Report on Compliance and Other Matters, p.14","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"fee-per-participant","label":null,"method":"1379500000/703515","result":1961,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"fee-growth-2024-2025","label":null,"method":"(1379.5-1209.6)/1209.6*100","result":14.05,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"pe-share-of-fee-increase","label":null,"method":"113.2/(1379.5-1209.6)*100","result":66.63,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/wi-swib-external-management-fees-dollar","title":"Wisconsin's Pension Fee Bill Rose With Performance, Not Despite It","dek":"Wisconsin's public pension paid $1.38 billion to outside money managers in 2025, per the state's own financial audit -- up 14.0% from $1.21 billion the year before. Nearly two-thirds of that increase traces to one asset class, private equity, whose reported performance improved from 7.2% to 11.3%; performance fees are contractually built to rise when investments do. SWIB moved more of its $226.6 billion in assets in-house anyway, to 46.8% managed internally, the highest share since 2021."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar","slug":"ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"New York's Debt Cap Has Just $177 Million Left by 2031","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-ny","date":"2026-07-14","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/enacted-budget-and-financial-plan-report-1.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-osc-fy27-enacted","title":"Report on the Enacted Budget and Financial Plan, State Fiscal Year 2027","sourceUrl":"https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/enacted-budget-and-financial-plan-report-1.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"d22d83dee712b2a13d9559624a251e9c6cdfed30788e6019c50e0daa34016678","servable":"full","bytes":1031720,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T20:50:19.288Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-osc-fy27-enacted/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260717103900/https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/enacted-budget-and-financial-plan-report-1.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official NY State Comptroller report on FY2027 enacted budget; quantified fiscal gaps and reserve analysis."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-nysop-coverage","title":"N.Y. spending risks long term financial stability, state comptroller report says","sourceUrl":"https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/politics/2026/07/16/n-y--spending-risks-long-term-financial-stability--state-comptroller-report-says","kind":"article","sha256":"ef98f87f559421f163132ca5682e09127f7db87b7a736d62f3a73e03c4db8c5a","servable":"full","bytes":76427,"contentType":"text/html;charset=utf-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T20:50:20.616Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-nysop-coverage/v1.html","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260718095740/https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/politics/2026/07/16/n-y--spending-risks-long-term-financial-stability--state-comptroller-report-says","grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"News coverage of NY State Comptroller's FY2027 budget report; quotes official assessment of fiscal risks."}},{"id":"ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-osc-fy27-enacted","title":"Report on the Enacted Budget and Financial Plan, State Fiscal Year 2027","sourceUrl":"https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/enacted-budget-and-financial-plan-report-1.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"d22d83dee712b2a13d9559624a251e9c6cdfed30788e6019c50e0daa34016678","servable":"full","bytes":1031720,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T20:50:19.288Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar-doc-osc-fy27-enacted/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260717103900/https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/enacted-budget-and-financial-plan-report-1.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official NY State Comptroller report on FY2027 enacted budget; quantified fiscal gaps and reserve analysis."}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-budget":1,"m-revenue":0.6,"m-expenditure":0.8,"m-oversight":0.9,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1},"labels":["osc-report","ny-state-budget","fy27-enacted","fiscal-gaps","financial-plan","budget-analysis","state-comptroller","spending-revenue"],"whyItMatters":"New York's total state-supported debt is projected to grow 64% to $98.8 billion by 2031, and the state comptroller finds nearly all of that growth is \"backdoor\" borrowing that skips the constitutional requirement for a voter's yes -- leaving just $177 million of room under the state's own debt cap that year.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":10,"claims":[{"id":"fact-report-release-corroboration","text":"News coverage published July 16, 2026 confirms the report's release date and DiNapoli's public framing that the state's finances 'remain highly exposed to federal actions and potential economic downturns.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"DiNapoli stated, \"The state's finances remain highly exposed to federal actions and potential economic downturns.\"","locator":"article body","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-debt-growth","text":"New York's total State-supported debt outstanding is projected to grow from $60.3 billion in SFY 2026 to $98.8 billion by SFY 2031 -- an increase of about 64% -- with nearly all of the increase coming from 'backdoor' borrowing by public authorities.","value":64,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"total State-supported debt outstanding is projected to grow from $60.3 to $98.8 billion during the next five years, an increase of about 64 percent. Nearly all of this increase results from backdoor borrowing.","locator":"p. 21, \"State Debt Burden\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-debt-cap-headroom","text":"As debt grows, the State is projected to approach its debt limit, with room under the cap declining to just $177 million by SFY 2031.","value":177000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"the State is projected to approach its debt limit, with room under the cap declining to just $177 million by SFY 2031.","locator":"p. 21, \"State Debt Burden\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-capital-plan-total","text":"Over the five-year Enacted Budget Capital Plan (SFY 2027-2031), capital spending is projected to total $110.2 billion, a nearly $8.7 billion (8.6%) increase over the prior five-year plan.","value":110200000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"capital spending is projected to total $110.2 billion, a nearly $8.7 billion (8.6 percent) increase over the SFY 2026 Enacted Budget Capital Plan.","locator":"p. 20, \"SFY 2027 Capital Plan\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-financing-breakdown","text":"Of the $110.2 billion five-year capital financing plan: $56.4 billion (more than 51%) is public-authority 'backdoor' borrowing, $33.3 billion is State pay-as-you-go, $18.7 billion (17%) is federal funding, and just $1.8 billion is voter-approved general obligation bonds.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"State pay-as-you-go is projected to total $33.3 billion, a $3.9 billion increase (13.2 percent) over the prior five-year plan. Public authority backdoor borrowing is estimated at $56.4 billion, an increase of nearly $4.4 billion (8.4 percent). More than 51 percent of all capital projects spending is projected to come from backdoor debt. General obligation bonds are projected to total $1.8 billion and federal funding is expected to total $18.7 billion (17 percent) of the $110.2 billion financing plan.","locator":"pp. 20-21, \"Capital Plan Financing\" (Figure 17)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-backdoor-definition","text":"'Backdoor' debt is issued by public authorities for a State purpose, for which the State is contractually obligated to repay the debt service subject to annual appropriation; it circumvents the constitutional requirement for voter approval of State debt.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"\"Backdoor\" debt is issued by public authorities for a State purpose, for which the State is contractually obligated to repay the debt service, subject to annual appropriation. Backdoor debt circumvents the Constitutional requirement for voter approval of State debt.","locator":"p. 32, endnote 39","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-debt-roadmap","text":"The Comptroller's office has reported consistently on the State's high and growing debt burden and its overreliance on backdoor borrowing, and its 'Roadmap for State Debt Reform' recommends establishing comprehensive and binding constitutional debt limits.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Office of the State Comptroller has reported consistently on the State's high and growing debt burden, particularly its overreliance on backdoor borrowing by public authorities and use of debt gimmicks. DOB projects total State-Supported debt outstanding to grow by nearly 64 percent over the next five years -- nearly all of which results from backdoor borrowings. The Comptroller's Roadmap for State Debt Reform recommends policymakers restore prudent debt policies by establishing comprehensive and binding constitutional debt limits.","locator":"pp. 28-29, \"Debt Practices\" (following \"Long-term Liabilities\")","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-opeb-acfr-debt","text":"The State's SFY 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report reported a net OPEB (retiree health benefit) liability of $60.6 billion and total debt outstanding of $62.2 billion as of that report.","value":62200000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"the State's SFY 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report reported a net OPEB liability of $60.6 billion and total debt outstanding of $62.2 billion.","locator":"p. 27-28, \"Long-term Liabilities\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-enacted-budget-size","text":"The SFY 2027 All Funds spending estimate by the Division of the Budget is $277.0 billion, up $18.1 billion (7.0%) from SFY 2026.","value":277000000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"The SFY 2027 All Funds spending estimate by the Division of the Budget (DOB) is $277.0 billion, an increase of $18.1 billion (7.0 percent) from SFY 2026.","locator":"p. 1, \"Message from the Comptroller\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-reserves-context","text":"The State's two statutory rainy-day reserve funds grew from $2.5 billion in SFY 2021 to $10.8 billion in SFY 2027, projected to reach $11.6 billion in SFY 2028 -- a record level, but only 8.6% of General Fund spending, well under the 25%-of-General-Fund statutory maximum.","value":8.6,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"the State has made sustained increases to these reserves, which grew from $2.5 billion in SFY 2021 to $10.8 billion in SFY 2027. DOB is projecting an additional $862 million deposit in SFY 2028, which would bring the combined balance of the statutory rainy day reserve funds to $11.6 billion, a record level; however, this amount would represent 8.6 percent of General Fund spending. Statutory authorization for the maximum balance of this fund is 25 percent of the General Fund.","locator":"p. 25, \"Rainy Day Reserve Funds\"","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"implied-debt-cap-sfy2031","label":null,"method":"98,800,000,000 + 177,000,000 = 98,977,000,000","result":98977000000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"headroom-share-of-projected-debt","label":null,"method":"177,000,000 / 98,800,000,000 * 100 = 0.179%","result":0.18,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"backdoor-share-check","label":null,"method":"56,400,000,000 / 110,200,000,000 * 100 = 51.18%","result":51.18,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"go-bond-share-check","label":null,"method":"1,800,000,000 / 110,200,000,000 * 100 = 1.63%","result":1.63,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"backdoor-to-go-ratio","label":null,"method":"56,400,000,000 / 1,800,000,000 = 31.33","result":31.33,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ny-debt-cap-headroom-dollar","title":"New York's Debt Cap Has Just $177 Million Left by 2031","dek":"New York's total state-supported debt is projected to grow 64% to $98.8 billion by 2031, and the state comptroller finds nearly all of that growth is \"backdoor\" borrowing that skips the constitutional requirement for a voter's yes -- leaving just $177 million of room under the state's own debt cap that year."}},{"schema":1,"id":"colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar","slug":"colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Colorado claimed $8M in Medicaid payments it can't verify","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-17","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11800/A-07-24-03260.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar-oig-a072403260","title":"Colorado Could Improve Its Electronic Visit Verification System and Claimed Federal Medicaid Reimbursement for Millions of Dollars in Personal Care Services That Did Not Comply With Federal and State Requirements (Report A-07-24-03260)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11800/A-07-24-03260.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"fe5b1f24fd6d0e6d2656b3da9f114d460eeab6833cc8d904e27c7dc971768e10","servable":"full","bytes":2849389,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T20:20:20.712Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar-oig-a072403260/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HHS-OIG audit report A-07-24-03260 from oig.hhs.gov; official primary government document, uncorroborated"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar-oig-a072403260","title":"Colorado Could Improve Its Electronic Visit Verification System and Claimed Federal Medicaid Reimbursement for Millions of Dollars in Personal Care Services That Did Not Comply With Federal and State Requirements (Report A-07-24-03260)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11800/A-07-24-03260.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"fe5b1f24fd6d0e6d2656b3da9f114d460eeab6833cc8d904e27c7dc971768e10","servable":"full","bytes":2849389,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T20:20:20.712Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar-oig-a072403260/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HHS-OIG audit report A-07-24-03260 from oig.hhs.gov; official primary government document, uncorroborated"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"j-state":0.6,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.8,"d-health":1,"d-labor":0.4,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.9,"e-gap":0.85},"labels":["hhs-oig-report","medicaid-compliance","electronic-visit-verification","personal-care-services","federal-reimbursement","colorado-medicaid","audit-findings","compliance-gap","federal-oversight"],"whyItMatters":"A federal audit found more than half of Colorado's Medicaid home-care visits failed electronic verification, and recommends the state refund $8.07 million in federal reimbursement while $45.7 million more sits pending -- a dispute that turns on whether the auditor's own statistical sampling method holds up.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":27,"claims":[{"id":"audit-scope-objectives","text":"OIG selected Colorado as the second State in a planned series of EVV audits; the audit's two objectives were to determine whether Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (State agency) implemented an EVV system according to Federal and State requirements and complied with those requirements when claiming personal care services (PCS)","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We selected Colorado as the second State in a series of planned EVV audits.","locator":"Introduction, Objectives","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"audit-period","text":"The audit covered PCS provided and paid for during State fiscal year 2024, July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-06-30","quote":null,"locator":"How We Conducted This Audit; Appendix A","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sampling-frame","text":"OIG's sampling frame consisted of 1,301,307 PCS net claim lines of $25 or more from Colorado's Elderly, Blind, and Disabled home- and community-based services waiver, for which reimbursement totaled $299,230,641 ($152,860,012 Federal share)","value":299230641,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"We developed a sampling frame of 1,301,307 PCS net claim lines of $25 or more, from the Waiver, for which reimbursement totaled $299,230,641 ($152,860,012 Federal share).","locator":"How We Conducted This Audit; Appendix A/C","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sample-design","text":"OIG selected a stratified random sample of 160 PCS net claim lines from four strata: 50 consumer-directed claim lines (all dollar amounts), and 110 provider-directed claim lines split into three dollar-range strata (45 claims $25-$699.99, 45 claims $700-$9,999.99, 20 claims $10,000+)","value":160,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Our sample design was a stratified random sample containing four strata.","locator":"Appendix C, Table 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-compliance-sample-raw","text":"Of the 160 sampled PCS net claim lines, 91 had at least one of four types of EVV compliance issues (some claim lines had more than one)","value":91,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Of the 160 PCS net claim lines in our sample, we identified 91 PCS net claim lines with at least 1 of the EVV compliance issues.","locator":"Findings; Appendix D, Table 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-compliance-estimate","text":"OIG estimates that 682,947 of the 1,301,307 PCS net claim lines in the sampling frame (52.48%) did not comply with Federal and State EVV requirements; the 90% confidence interval runs from 583,125 (44.81%) to 782,769 (60.15%)","value":682947,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"On the basis of our sample results, we estimate that for 682,947 of the 1,301,307 PCS net claim lines in our sampling frame (52 percent), the State agency did not comply with Federal and State requirements.","locator":"Findings; Appendix D, Table 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-issue-manual-entry","text":"62 of the 91 noncompliant sampled claim lines involved a visit manually entered into the EVV system, which cannot be electronically verified against the Cures Act's six required data points; for one claim line, all 7 EVV visits -- and, OIG found, all 185 EVV records for that enrollee over a full year -- were manual entries","value":62,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For 62 PCS net claim lines, providers manually entered 1 or more visits into the EVV system.","locator":"Findings, Figure 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-issue-not-entered","text":"17 of the 91 noncompliant sampled claim lines had one or more visits never entered into the EVV system at all; one example claim line covered 29 dates of service but only 6 had a corresponding EVV record","value":17,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For 17 PCS net claim lines, each covering multiple dates of service, 1 or more PCS visits were not entered into the EVV system.","locator":"Findings, Figure 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-issue-location","text":"16 of the 91 noncompliant sampled claim lines had EVV records that did not identify the visit's service location","value":16,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For 16 PCS net claim lines, the EVV records did not identify the location of service in the EVV system.","locator":"Findings, Figure 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-issue-gps","text":"16 of the 91 noncompliant sampled claim lines had GPS exceptions (check-in or check-out recorded away from the enrollee's residence) that were never reviewed or corrected; one claim line's 8 EVV visits all lacked check-in GPS data and 6 of 8 showed the attendant away from the enrollee's residence at check-out, with no alternate location ever recorded","value":16,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Notwithstanding these considerations, for 16 PCS net claim lines, EVV records showed GPS exceptions that had not been reviewed and corrected to identify alternate service locations; therefore, the visit location could not be verified.","locator":"Findings, Figure 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-errors-sample-raw","text":"39 of the 160 sampled PCS net claim lines were at least partially unallowable because of one or more errors in claiming (some claim lines had more than one error type)","value":39,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"39 of the 160 PCS net claim lines were at least partially unallowable because they had at least 1 of the errors.","locator":"Findings; Appendix D, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-error-background-screening","text":"23 of the 39 unallowable sampled claim lines involved an attendant for whom the required Colorado background screening (CBI criminal history check, CAPS abuse-registry check, or OIG exclusion-list check) was not documented as completed before the date of service","value":23,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For 23 PCS net claim lines, the State agency either could not provide documentation that a background screening had been completed before the date of service, or provided incomplete background screening documentation, for 1 or more attendants.","locator":"Findings, Figure 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-error-excessive-units","text":"14 of the 39 unallowable sampled claim lines had providers claiming PCS units of service exceeding what attendant timesheets supported; one claim line's provider claimed 3,876 PCS units over 8 dates of service (about 121 hours/day) while the timesheets supported only 161 units for those same dates (about 5 hours/day) -- the provider attributed the mismatch to backdating claims after enrollee-eligibility renewal delays","value":14,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For 1 PCS net claim line, the provider claimed 3,876 PCS units for 8 dates of service, an average of approximately 121 hours per day. However, the corresponding attendant timesheets documented only 161 PCS units for those same 8 dates of services, or approximately 5 hours per day.","locator":"Findings, Figure 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-error-excessive-rates","text":"8 of the 39 unallowable sampled claim lines involved the State agency billing the enhanced Denver County PCS rate for services rendered to an enrollee whose residence, and EVV check-in/check-out data, were located outside Denver County; a Weld County example (roughly 50 miles from Denver) was billed at the Denver rate although only the shopping/errands portion of the listed services would have occurred outside the residence","value":8,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For eight provider-directed PCS net claim lines, the State agency claimed the higher Denver County rate for services rendered to an enrollee whose residential address was located outside Denver County and for whom the check-in and check-out location data (as recorded in the EVV data) were outside of Denver County.","locator":"Findings, Figure 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-error-asmp-missing","text":"4 of the 39 unallowable sampled claim lines lacked an Attendant Support Management Plan (ASMP) approved before the date of service, as required for consumer-directed PCS; for 3 of the 4, the State agency could obtain no supporting documentation of any ASMP","value":4,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For four consumer-directed PCS net claim lines, the State agency could not give us an ASMP that had been approved before the date of service.","locator":"Findings, Figure 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"unallowable-estimate-table6","text":"OIG's estimate of unallowable PCS reimbursement in the sampling frame (Appendix D, Table 6): point estimate $31,704,496 total ($16,206,958 Federal share); conservative lower limit $15,709,911 total ($8,072,870 Federal share) -- the figure OIG recommends Colorado refund; upper limit $47,699,082 total ($24,341,046 Federal share). All limits calculated at the 90% confidence level","value":15709911,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"On the basis of our sample results, we estimate that the State agency claimed at least $15,709,911 ($8,072,870 Federal share) in unallowable Medicaid reimbursement for PCS during SFY 2024.","locator":"Appendix D, Table 6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"conservative-lower-limit-method","text":"OIG deliberately used the lower limit of the two-sided 90% confidence interval, rather than the point estimate, to recommend the unallowable-payments refund -- a method designed to understate the true overpayment total at least 95% of the time","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"To be conservative, we estimate overpayments at the lower limit of a two-sided 90-percent confidence interval. Lower limits calculated in this manner are designed to be less than the actual overpayment total 95 percent of the time.","locator":"Footnote 11; Appendix C, Estimation Methodology","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"consumer-directed-timesheets-generic","text":"All 50 sampled consumer-directed PCS net claim lines had attendant timesheets listing only the date, time in, time out, and the label 'CDASS' -- no detail on which specific tasks (e.g., eating, dressing, bathing) were performed -- so OIG could not verify the billed services against each enrollee's Attendant Support Management Plan","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Specifically, the attendant timesheets for all 50 of the consumer-directed PCS net claim lines in our sample listed only basic information such as the date, time in, time out, and the term 'CDASS.'","locator":"Findings; Recommendations section 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"set-aside-estimate-table9","text":"Because none of the 50 sampled consumer-directed claim lines' timesheets documented specific tasks performed, OIG set aside for CMS resolution and potential recovery an estimated $89,069,733 total ($45,688,080 Federal share) in reimbursement for consumer-directed PCS across the sampling frame that lacked detailed timesheets (43 of the 50 sampled items, after excluding 7 already counted as PCS errors); 90% confidence interval $72,804,307-$105,335,159 total ($37,366,416-$54,009,743 Federal share)","value":89069733,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Based on our sample results, we are setting aside an estimated $89,069,733 ($45,688,080 Federal share) for CMS resolution and potential recovery.","locator":"Appendix D, Table 9; Footnotes 12-13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"recommendations-list","text":"OIG made six recommendations: (1) refund $8,072,870 (Federal share) in estimated overpayments; (2) work with CMS on the allowability of the $45,688,080 (Federal share) set aside; (3) seven EVV system/policy improvements (manual-entry limits, claim-to-EVV-record matching, location capture, GPS-exception review, reason-code monitoring, attendant-name matching); (4) improve procedures verifying background-screening and ASMP documentation; (5) implement system edits verifying units match plans of care and rates match approved schedules; (6) require consumer-directed timesheets to document task-level detail","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We recommend that the State agency refund $8,072,870 (Federal share) in estimated overpayments to the Federal Government.","locator":"Recommendations","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"state-agency-disagreement-summary","text":"In written comments on the draft report, Colorado's State agency disagreed with most of OIG's findings and with the first, second, and sixth recommendations; it partially agreed or disagreed across the third (seven subrecommendations), fourth, and fifth recommendations","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In written comments on our draft report, the State agency disagreed with most of our findings and with our first, second, and sixth recommendations.","locator":"State Agency Comments and Office of Inspector General Response","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"state-methodology-objection","text":"Colorado's State agency argued OIG's sample was not statistically representative and showed disproportionate clustering: 6 of the partially unallowable claim lines were tied to a single enrollee, and 13 of the 14 excessive-unit findings were tied to just 3 provider agencies -- all within one sampling stratum -- which the State said meant a small subset of atypical billing drove the projected error rate","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"the distribution of sampled claims showed disproportionate concentration among a small number of enrollees and provider agencies, including 6 partially unallowable claim lines that were associated with a single enrollee and 13 of 14 excessive unit findings that were associated with a total of 3 provider agencies.","locator":"State Agency Comments, 'Use of Estimation...'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"state-statewide-manual-entry-rate","text":"Colorado's State agency said its own statewide data show approximately 19 to 25 percent of visits for all EVV-required services are manually entered -- well below the 38% (62 of 160 claim lines) manual-entry rate OIG's sample found -- arguing the sample may not reflect typical statewide utilization patterns","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The State agency said that its data show that approximately 19 to 25 percent of visits for all EVV-required services are manually entered, which differs from the 38-percent (62 of 160 claim lines) manual entry rate identified in our sample, \"suggesting that the sample may not reflect typical statewide utilization patterns.\"","locator":"Recommendations Regarding EVV System Improvements, State Agency Comments","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"oig-methodology-defense","text":"OIG rejected the representativeness objection: it used a properly executed stratified random sample and RAT-STATS statistical software; noted Federal courts have consistently upheld statistical sampling and extrapolation (including sample sizes smaller than 100) as valid for Medicare/Medicaid overpayment determinations; and stated that design-based sampling does not require statistical independence of sample units, so clustering within one stratum does not invalidate the estimate for the rest of the frame","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Statistical independence of sample units is not a requirement for design-based sampling methods, like those used by OIG... With respect to the 6 partially unallowable claim lines that were associated with a single enrollee and the 13 of 14 excessive unit findings that were associated with 3 provider agencies, we note that these errors were contained in stratum 4. Therefore, these errors did not influence the estimate for the remainder of the sampling frame.","locator":"Office of Inspector General Response, p.22-24","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"state-disputes-documentation-errors","text":"For the background-screening and ASMP findings specifically, Colorado's State agency argued that missing older records -- some more than a decade old -- reflect 'documentation retention variances,' not evidence that services were unauthorized or that attendants were ineligible, since OIG identified no substantiated abuse findings, exclusions, or disqualifying criminal history","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"these documentation gaps, in isolation, do not demonstrate that services were not rendered, were not medically necessary, or were otherwise noncompliant with waiver requirements.","locator":"State Agency Comments, 'Missing Documentation...' and 'Recommendations Regarding Background Screenings...'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"oig-response-documentation","text":"OIG maintained that the absence of required background-screening and ASMP documentation, regardless of cause, means the State agency cannot demonstrate the payments complied with Federal and State requirements, and that the associated payments are therefore properly classified as unallowable and included in its statistical estimates","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In the absence of this background screening and ASMP documentation, the State agency cannot demonstrate compliance with these applicable Federal and State requirements, and the associated payments are therefore considered unallowable.","locator":"Office of Inspector General Response","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"prior-audits-comparison","text":"OIG's report notes it previously found similar EVV and PCS-documentation issues in Kansas (Aug. 2024) but recommended only procedural changes there because Kansas's managed-care delivery model limited attributing dollar amounts to specific findings; by contrast, prior fee-for-service PCS audits recommended financial recovery -- Missouri for 'tens of millions' (Feb. 2023) and New York for 'more than $54 million' (Dec. 2020)","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"we did not pursue financial recovery in Kansas because its managed care delivery system limited the ability to directly attribute and quantify payment amounts associated with specific documentation findings.","locator":"Appendix B; State Agency Comments, 'Comparison to Prior OIG Audit Findings'","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"evv-sample-rate-check","label":null,"method":"91/160*100","result":56.88,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-frame-estimate-check","label":null,"method":"682947/1301307*100","result":52.48,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"evv-issue-sum-check","label":null,"method":"62+17+16+16","result":111,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pcs-error-sum-check","label":null,"method":"23+14+8+4","result":49,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"background-screening-share-check","label":null,"method":"23/39*100","result":58.97,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"excessive-units-per-day-check","label":null,"method":"3876/8/4","result":121.1,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"timesheet-hours-per-day-check","label":null,"method":"161/8/4","result":5.03,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"combined-dollars-in-dispute-check","label":null,"method":"8072870+45688080","result":53760950,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"combined-share-of-federal-frame-check","label":null,"method":"(8072870+45688080)/152860012*100","result":35.17,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"refund-implied-fmap-check","label":null,"method":"8072870/15709911*100","result":51.39,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/colorado-medicaid-evv-verification-gap-dollar","title":"Colorado claimed $8M in Medicaid payments it can't verify","dek":"A federal audit found more than half of Colorado's Medicaid home-care visits failed electronic verification, and recommends the state refund $8.07 million in federal reimbursement while $45.7 million more sits pending -- a dispute that turns on whether the auditor's own statistical sampling method holds up."}},{"schema":1,"id":"novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar","slug":"novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Medicare paid an estimated $19.5M for care that failed review","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-15","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11798/A-06-21-04002.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar-oig-a06210402","title":"Novitas Solutions, Inc., Improperly Paid Approximately $19.5 Million for Selected Medicare Part B Services Provided to Patients Residing in Nursing Homes (Report A-06-21-04002)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11798/A-06-21-04002.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3718b13b026f648a40dca1d983580c6409320d95ba59a8a075e479fd2be2e983","servable":"full","bytes":2945852,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T19:50:32.442Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar-oig-a06210402/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HHS Office of Inspector General audit of Novitas improper Medicare payments"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar-oig-a06210402","title":"Novitas Solutions, Inc., Improperly Paid Approximately $19.5 Million for Selected Medicare Part B Services Provided to Patients Residing in Nursing Homes (Report A-06-21-04002)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/audit/11798/A-06-21-04002.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3718b13b026f648a40dca1d983580c6409320d95ba59a8a075e479fd2be2e983","servable":"full","bytes":2945852,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T19:50:32.442Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar-oig-a06210402/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HHS Office of Inspector General audit of Novitas improper Medicare payments"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-expenditure":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-health":0.9,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1,"e-gap":0.5},"labels":["medicare","improper-payment","nursing-homes","oig-audit","healthcare-spending","payment-recovery","federal-spending","health-systems"],"whyItMatters":"A federal audit of Novitas Solutions, the Medicare contractor for a seven-state region including Texas and Colorado, found that 91 of 150 sampled nursing-home claims for evaluation, psychotherapy, and podiatry services didn't meet Medicare's own billing rules. It estimates Novitas improperly paid $19.5 million for those services in a single year -- while every sampled wound-care claim held up.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":18,"claims":[{"id":"jurisdiction-h-scope","text":"Novitas Solutions, Inc. is the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Jurisdiction H, covering providers in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; OIG selected Novitas because it was one of the three MACs nationwide with the highest total payments for these service types","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Jurisdiction H covers providers in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.","locator":"p.1-2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"audit-period","text":"The audit period covered October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2019-09-30","quote":null,"locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"national-scope-187m","text":"OIG's data analysis found evaluation and management, psychotherapy, podiatry, and wound care services provided to nursing-home patients nationwide totaled $187 million in paid claims during the most recent data available at the start of the audit","value":187000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"evaluation and management (E/M), psychotherapy, podiatry, and wound care services (collectively referred to as \"selected services\") were the most common Part B services provided to patients residing in nursing homes, with paid claims totaling $187 million nationwide","locator":"p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sampling-frame","text":"OIG's sampling frame for Novitas/Jurisdiction H consisted of 292,794 patient-months with payments totaling $53,688,118 during the audit period","value":53688118,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Our sampling frame consisted of 292,794 patient-months with payments totaling $53,688,118.","locator":"Appendix A-B","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sample-details","text":"OIG selected a stratified random sample of 150 patient-months (sample items) with payments totaling $41,944: 60 E/M, 60 psychotherapy, and 30 podiatry/wound-care items","value":41944,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Appendix C, Table 6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sample-noncompliant-total","text":"Of the 150 sample items, 91 did not meet Medicare requirements and guidance, resulting in $14,322 in improper payments within the sample; 59 met requirements","value":91,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Of the 150 sample items, 59 met the requirements and guidance; however, 91 sample items did not meet the requirements and guidance, resulting in improper payments totaling $14,322.","locator":"Findings, p.10, Table 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"em-stratum-results","text":"E/M services: of 60 sample items reviewed, 42 did not meet Medicare requirements","value":42,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"psych-stratum-results","text":"Psychotherapy services: of 60 sample items reviewed, 35 did not meet Medicare requirements","value":35,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"podiatry-stratum-results","text":"Podiatry services: of 18 sample items reviewed, 14 did not meet Medicare requirements","value":14,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"wound-care-clean","text":"Wound care services: all 15 sample items reviewed met Medicare requirements -- the only one of the four selected service types with zero noncompliant items","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"All 15 sample items that included wound care services met Medicare requirements and guidance.","locator":"Table 3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"extrapolated-point-estimate","text":"OIG estimated that Novitas improperly paid approximately $19,480,109 for the selected services that did not meet Medicare requirements and guidance during the audit period","value":19480109,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"We estimated that for our audit period Novitas improperly paid providers $19,480,109.","locator":"Appendix C, Table 7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"extrapolated-confidence-interval","text":"The 90-percent confidence interval around the $19,480,109 point estimate runs from a lower limit of $16,451,343 to an upper limit of $22,508,876","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Point estimate $19,480,109 / Lower limit 16,451,343 / Upper limit 22,508,876","locator":"Appendix C, Table 7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reason-not-medically-necessary","text":"49 noncompliant sample items were determined not reasonable and medically necessary -- the largest single reason for noncompliance","value":49,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Findings, p.10-11, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reason-insufficient-documentation","text":"31 noncompliant sample items were insufficiently documented or had no documentation provided at all","value":31,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Findings, p.10-11, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reason-incorrect-coding","text":"13 noncompliant sample items were incorrectly coded, including a lower-level billing code that should have applied","value":13,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Findings, p.10-11, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reason-not-separately-payable","text":"9 noncompliant sample items were not separately payable under Part B -- most involving services that should have been billed to a patient's hospice benefit instead","value":9,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For six sample items [E/M], ... providers inappropriately billed for E/M services that were related to the patient's hospice diagnosis ... For three sample items [psychotherapy], the independent medical review contractor determined that providers inappropriately billed for psychotherapy services that were related to the patient's hospice diagnosis and should have been reimbursed through the patient's hospice benefit -- 6 of the 9 not-separately-payable items (E/M: 3 of 6; psychotherapy: 3 of 3) were hospice-related","locator":"Findings, p.10-11, Table 4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"recommendations-and-response","text":"OIG made two recommendations to Novitas -- implement additional oversight and provide annual provider education -- and Novitas concurred with both in its written comments","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Novitas concurred with our recommendations and described actions it has taken or planned to take to address those recommendations.","locator":"Recommendations, p.18","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"novitas-resource-constraint-admission","text":"Novitas told OIG that while it conducts medical reviews for psychotherapy services at the provider level, it can only pursue the most egregious providers because of resource constraints","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Novitas noted that while it conducts medical reviews for psychotherapy services at the provider level, it can only pursue the most egregious providers due to resource constraints.","locator":"Findings, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"overall-fail-rate-check","label":null,"method":"91/150*100","result":60.7,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"em-fail-rate-check","label":null,"method":"42/60*100","result":70,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"psych-fail-rate-check","label":null,"method":"35/60*100","result":58.3,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"podiatry-fail-rate-check","label":null,"method":"14/18*100","result":77.8,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"extrapolated-share-of-frame-check","label":null,"method":"19480109/53688118*100","result":36.3,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"reason-count-sum-check","label":null,"method":"49+31+13+9","result":102,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/novitas-nursing-home-medicare-dollar","title":"Medicare paid an estimated $19.5M for care that failed review","dek":"A federal audit of Novitas Solutions, the Medicare contractor for a seven-state region including Texas and Colorado, found that 91 of 150 sampled nursing-home claims for evaluation, psychotherapy, and podiatry services didn't meet Medicare's own billing rules. It estimates Novitas improperly paid $19.5 million for those services in a single year -- while every sampled wound-care claim held up."}},{"schema":1,"id":"gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap","slug":"gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"GSA's Watchdog: 40% of 'Reclassified' Contracts Still Wrong","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-20","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://gsaig.gov/sites/default/files/audit-reports/A260034-1%20Final%20Report.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2026-review","title":"Implementation Review of Corrective Action Plan: FAS's Office of Assisted Acquisition Services Should Improve Its Oversight and Administration of Classified Contracts (Assignment A260034)","sourceUrl":"https://gsaig.gov/sites/default/files/audit-reports/A260034-1%20Final%20Report.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3befa7b6c19dd17df2a4cf875f46d8585466dc8b725a42f218eaf1e3b45be712","servable":"full","bytes":2569319,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T19:50:28.662Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2026-review/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GSA Inspector General implementation review of corrective action plan"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2024-original","title":"FAS's Office of Assisted Acquisition Services Should Improve Its Oversight and Administration of Classified Contracts (Report A230065/Q/3/P24001)","sourceUrl":"https://www.gsaig.gov/sites/default/files/audit-reports/A230065%20-%20Final%20Report%20-%20FASs%20AAS%20Should%20Improve%20its%20Oversight%20and%20Administration%20of%20Classified%20Contracts.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"5707081708ed03993e424bcd92684f8840ffc80b84b93323cb4aae1c05b517c2","servable":"full","bytes":1620182,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T19:50:30.137Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2024-original/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GSA Inspector General audit report on FAS classified contract oversight"}},{"id":"ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2026-review","title":"Implementation Review of Corrective Action Plan: FAS's Office of Assisted Acquisition Services Should Improve Its Oversight and Administration of Classified Contracts (Assignment A260034)","sourceUrl":"https://gsaig.gov/sites/default/files/audit-reports/A260034-1%20Final%20Report.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"3befa7b6c19dd17df2a4cf875f46d8585466dc8b725a42f218eaf1e3b45be712","servable":"full","bytes":2569319,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T19:50:28.662Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap-doc-gsaig-2026-review/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GSA Inspector General implementation review of corrective action plan"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-appropriation":0.7,"m-oversight":1,"d-governance":0.8,"e-primary":1,"e-timecritical":0.4},"labels":["government-oversight","gsa","federal-procurement","acquisition-services","classified-contracts","compliance-review","corrective-action","implementation-review"],"whyItMatters":"The Federal Acquisition Service's Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) moved more than $16 billion in Fiscal Year 2023 -- 48% of GSA's total revenue -- through contracts it is supposed to sort by how classified their work is. GSA's own inspector general found 92% of a sample misclassified in 2024 and ordered a fix. Its July 2026 recheck, 22 months later, found 4 of 10 resampled contracts still wrong -- more than ten times the error rate AAS had reported to the OIG itself.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":12,"claims":[{"id":"f-aas-revenue","text":"In Fiscal Year 2023, AAS revenue was over $16 billion, representing 48 percent of GSA's total revenue.","value":16,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"2023","quote":null,"locator":"Executive Summary, Why We Performed This Audit (p.i); Background (p.1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-2024-sample-92pct","text":"In its original audit, the OIG sampled 60 AAS Level 2 contracts active in August 2023 and found 55 of 60 (92 percent) were not accurately classified under AAS's updated definitions; all 55 should have been classified Level 3.","value":55,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2023-08","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1 (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-clearance-finding","text":"AAS policy did not require AAS Level 3 contracting officers -- the officials with sole authority to modify a contract or order corrective action -- to have adequate security clearances, which could leave a contracting officer unable to address contract issues involving classified information.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-09","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 2 (p.8)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-six-recs-concurred","text":"The OIG made six recommendations to the Acting FAS Commissioner covering: reviewing all active Level 2 contracts, consolidating classification guidance, updating internal-review and system controls, strengthening the Level 3 contracting-officer clearance policy, and training. The Acting Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner concurred with all six.","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2024-09-16","quote":null,"locator":"What We Recommend (p.ii); Recommendations (p.10)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-portfolio-review-consequence","text":"A contract that is not accurately classified may not be subject to the portfolio reviews AAS implemented specifically to provide additional oversight for large, highly complex, or sensitive acquisitions -- the reviews AAS relies on to manage its highest-risk work.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-09","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1 (p.5); Background (p.1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-classification-levels","text":"AAS uses four contract security classification levels: Level 1 (Unclassified Acquisition, no secure-facility or classified access required), Level 2 (Unclassified Acquisition, secure facility access required but no classified documents/deliverables), Level 3 (Classified Elements for Performance, some post-award documents/deliverables may be classified and some contractor personnel must hold clearances), and Level 4 (Classified Acquisition, all documents/deliverables classified).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07","quote":null,"locator":"Background, Figure 1 (p.1-2)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-two-recs-open","text":"The OIG's 2026 implementation review found that AAS did not fully implement the corrective actions for two of the six recommendations: Recommendation 1 (reviewing all active Level 2 contracts for accurate classification) and Recommendation 3b (verifying security-classification compliance during existing internal contract reviews).","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-07-20","quote":null,"locator":"Results (p.4); Conclusion (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-479-reviewed-321-reclassified","text":"As evidence of completing Recommendation 1, AAS's Business Units and OSO A&G reviewed 479 AAS Level 2 contracts and reclassified 321 of them (67 percent) as Level 3 contracts.","value":321,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-07","quote":null,"locator":"Finding, Results (p.4-5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy25-biannual-80-3","text":"AAS's own Fiscal Year 2025 Bi-Annual Full File review reported reviewing 80 contracts and finding only 3 misclassified.","value":3,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":null,"locator":"Results (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-oig-resample-10-4","text":"The OIG independently sampled 10 AAS Level 2 contracts active in March 2026 to test AAS's reclassification effort and found 4 of 10 (40 percent) were still not accurately classified under AAS's current definitions; AAS agreed all four should have been Level 3 and updated them in ASSIST after the OIG's finding.","value":4,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2026-03","quote":null,"locator":"Results (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-staffing-shortage-quote","text":"An OSO A&G Sector Director told the OIG that staffing shortages and personnel turnover during the implementation of updated guidance resulted in delays with updating ASSIST to reflect proper security classification levels.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07","quote":null,"locator":"Results (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-revised-plan-deadline","text":"Because two recommendations remain open, a revised Corrective Action Plan addressing them must be submitted to the GSA OIG and the Audit Management Division by August 19, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-08-19","quote":null,"locator":"Conclusion (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-2024-rate","label":"2024 original-audit misclassification rate","method":"55/60*100","result":91.66666666666667,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-recs-open-share","label":"Share of the six original recommendations still open","method":"2/6*100","result":33.33333333333333,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-2026-review-reclass-rate","label":"Share of the 479-contract review reclassified to Level 3","method":"321/479*100","result":67.01461377870562,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-fy25-biannual-rate","label":"FY2025 Bi-Annual Full File review misclassification rate","method":"3/80*100","result":3.75,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-oig-resample-rate","label":"OIG's independent March 2026 resample misclassification rate","method":"4/10*100","result":40,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-self-report-vs-independent-ratio","label":"How much higher the OIG's independent error rate was than AAS's self-reported rate","method":"(4/10*100)/(3/80*100)","result":10.666666666666666,"unit":"COUNT","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/gsa-classified-contract-reclassification-gap","title":"GSA's Watchdog: 40% of 'Reclassified' Contracts Still Wrong","dek":"The Federal Acquisition Service's Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) moved more than $16 billion in Fiscal Year 2023 -- 48% of GSA's total revenue -- through contracts it is supposed to sort by how classified their work is. GSA's own inspector general found 92% of a sample misclassified in 2024 and ordered a fix. Its July 2026 recheck, 22 months later, found 4 of 10 resampled contracts still wrong -- more than ten times the error rate AAS had reported to the OIG itself."}},{"schema":1,"id":"rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar","slug":"rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"One College's Job-Placement Math Missed the 70% Eligibility Bar","publisher":"U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-20","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/FY26_I25NY0065%287.20.26%29v100_508_SECURED.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar-doc-ed-oig-i25ny0265","title":"Short-Term Program Eligibility Compliance: Rosedale Technical College (ED-OIG/I25NY0265)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/FY26_I25NY0065%287.20.26%29v100_508_SECURED.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"e2be2296145efd742547efb4a9bce4cce6e9e58b83c44c2263e2bca921ebc427","servable":"full","bytes":3915875,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:57:20.109Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar-doc-ed-oig-i25ny0265/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official Department of Education OIG audit report from issuing body, examining short-term program eligibility compliance at postsecondary institution."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar-doc-ed-oig-i25ny0265","title":"Short-Term Program Eligibility Compliance: Rosedale Technical College (ED-OIG/I25NY0265)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/FY26_I25NY0065%287.20.26%29v100_508_SECURED.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"e2be2296145efd742547efb4a9bce4cce6e9e58b83c44c2263e2bca921ebc427","servable":"full","bytes":3915875,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:57:20.109Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar-doc-ed-oig-i25ny0265/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official Department of Education OIG audit report from issuing body, examining short-term program eligibility compliance at postsecondary institution."}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-education":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.6,"e-gap":0.7},"labels":["ed-oig","audit","short-term-programs","program-eligibility","compliance-review","higher-education","federal-oversight","rosedale-technical-college","workforce-training","postsecondary","accreditation-gap","federal-aid-eligibility","certification-programs"],"whyItMatters":"A July 20, 2026 Department of Education Inspector General review of Rosedale Technical College's truck-driving program recalculated its job-placement rate at 68%, not the 71% the Pittsburgh college had reported -- 2 points under the 70% floor a short-term program must clear to keep federal Direct Loan eligibility, and the same bar that will now gate the new Workforce Pell Grant program for short-term job training nationwide. The correction traces to 2 misclassified students; the inspector general says the college must return $15,788 in loans disbursed after its eligibility lapsed, on top of $44,256 disbursed the year before. Rosedale disputes the finding.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":13,"claims":[{"id":"rd-background","text":"Rosedale Technical College is a small private, nonprofit, 2-year postsecondary institution in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania enrolling about 405 students; as of July 2025 its one short-term program was Commercial Truck Driving, a 312-clock-hour, 10-week course.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-07","quote":"Rosedale, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a small, private, nonprofit, 2-year postsecondary institution enrolling approximately 405 students... a 312-clock hour, 10-week course","locator":"Background (p.1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-eligibility-rule","text":"Under Higher Education Act section 481(b)(2) and 34 C.F.R. sections 668.8 and 668.14(b)(26), a short-term program must maintain a completion rate of at least 70 percent and a placement rate of at least 70 percent, both substantiated by a CPA, to remain eligible for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program; a program that misses either threshold for an award year is ineligible starting the following award year.","value":70,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"have a completion rate of at least 70 percent... have a placement rate of at least 70 percent... have completion and placement rates substantiated by a certified public accountant (CPA)","locator":"Background (pp.1-2)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-self-completion","text":"Rosedale calculated its truck driving program's 2023-2024 award-year completion rate as 83 percent, using 24 total graduated students over 29 total enrolled students.","value":83,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2023-2024","quote":"Completion Rate (Graduated Students divided by Enrolled Students) 83%","locator":"Finding, Table 1 (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-self-placement","text":"Rosedale calculated its truck driving program's 2023-2024 award-year placement rate as 71 percent, using 17 total employed students over 24 total graduated students.","value":71,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2023-2024","quote":"Placement Rate ... 71%","locator":"Finding, Table 2 (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-oig-completion","text":"Reviewing all 34 students in the 2023-2024 cohort, the OIG recalculated the completion rate at 81 percent -- 22 graduated students over 27 correctly-defined enrolled students, after excluding two students Rosedale had wrongly included.","value":81,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2023-2024","quote":"Using the updated counts, Rosedale's completion rate decreased from 83 percent to 81 percent","locator":"Finding, Table 1 (p.5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-oig-placement","text":"The OIG recalculated the placement rate at 68 percent -- 15 employed students over 22 graduated students -- after correcting two students Rosedale had wrongly counted as placed; as a result Rosedale's program failed to meet the requirement to maintain at least a 70 percent placement rate for award year 2023-2024.","value":68,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2023-2024","quote":"Rosedale's placement rate decreased from 71 percent to 68 percent. As a result, Rosedale failed to meet the requirement to maintain a placement rate of at least 70 percent for its short-term program.","locator":"Finding, Table 2 (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-miscount-detail","text":"Rosedale's errors: it included 2 students in its completion count who had not finished the program by the award year's end and should have been excluded, and it counted 2 students as placed who did not meet the placement definition -- one lacking adequate documentation of 13 weeks of employment in the trained occupation, and one who had not graduated from the program at all.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Rosedale incorrectly included two students in its 2023-2024 award year cohort... Rosedale incorrectly counted two students as placed","locator":"Finding (pp.4-6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-ineligibility-effect","text":"Because the truck driving program's corrected placement rate fell below 70 percent for award year 2023-2024, the program became ineligible for the Direct Loan program as of the beginning of the 2024-2025 award year, under FSA's Electronic Announcement General-23-121 (posted December 21, 2023).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Because the truck driving program placement rate was less than 70 percent for the 2023-2024 award year, the program failed to meet all short-term program requirements. Therefore, the program became ineligible as of the beginning of the 2024-2025 award year.","locator":"Finding (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-loans-2023-2024","text":"Rosedale disbursed $44,256 in William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans to students enrolled in the truck driving program for award year 2023-2024.","value":44256,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2023-2024","quote":"For award year 2023-2024, Rosedale disbursed $44,256 in Direct Loans to students enrolled in the program","locator":"Finding (p.6); Background (p.1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-loans-2024-2025","text":"Rosedale disbursed $15,788 in Direct Loans to students enrolled in the truck driving program for award year 2024-2025 -- the year the OIG says the program was already ineligible, and the amount the OIG recommends Rosedale return.","value":15788,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"for award year 2024-2025, Rosedale disbursed $15,788 in Direct Loans to students enrolled in the program","locator":"Finding (p.6)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-recommendations","text":"The OIG made 4 recommendations to Federal Student Aid's Chief Operating Officer: require Rosedale to fix its cohort-counting procedures (1.1) and its employment-documentation procedures (1.2), return all Direct Loan funds disbursed to students enrolled in the program after the 2023-2024 award year (1.3), and review the program's Title IV eligibility for award years beginning on or after July 1, 2024 (1.4).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Return all Direct Loan funds disbursed to students enrolled in the short-term program after the 2023-2024 award year... Review the Title IV eligibility for Rosedale's short-term program for award years beginning on or after July 1, 2024","locator":"Recommendations (p.7)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-rosedale-response","text":"Rosedale agreed its completion rate was miscalculated but disagreed with all 4 recommendations and disputed the placement-rate finding, arguing new 2026 documentation showed one 'not placed' student had actually worked a recognized occupation for 13 weeks across three employers, which would put its placement rate at 72 percent; the OIG stood by its finding, noting the new documentation -- a landscaping job the student's own 2024 employer form described as unrelated to the training program -- did not establish the job was in a recognized or related occupation.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Rosedale agreed with our conclusion that it incorrectly calculated its completion rate. However, Rosedale disagreed with our finding that its truck driving program failed to meet the 70 percent placement rate... the program's placement rate was 72 percent, demonstrating compliance... We stand by our finding and recommendations.","locator":"Rosedale's Comments; OIG Response (pp.7-8)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rd-workforce-pell-context","text":"The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21) expanded Federal Pell Grant eligibility, beginning July 1, 2026, to short-term programs under a new Workforce Pell Grant program -- which carries the same completion- and placement-rate accountability benchmarks of at least 70 percent; the Department of Education issued implementing regulations in the Federal Register on May 19, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07-01","quote":"Beginning July 1, 2026, students are able to receive Pell Grant funds to enroll in short-term programs... participating short-term programs must meet program eligibility requirements and accountability benchmarks, including completion and job placement rates of at least 70 percent","locator":"Background (p.3)","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-self-completion-check","label":null,"method":"(24/29)*100","result":82.76,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-oig-completion-check","label":null,"method":"(22/27)*100","result":81.48,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-self-placement-check","label":null,"method":"(17/24)*100","result":70.83,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-oig-placement-check","label":null,"method":"(15/22)*100","result":68.18,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-placement-shortfall","label":null,"method":"70-68","result":2,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-total-loans-disbursed","label":null,"method":"44256+15788","result":60044,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/rosedale-truck-driving-placement-dollar","title":"One College's Job-Placement Math Missed the 70% Eligibility Bar","dek":"A July 20, 2026 Department of Education Inspector General review of Rosedale Technical College's truck-driving program recalculated its job-placement rate at 68%, not the 71% the Pittsburgh college had reported -- 2 points under the 70% floor a short-term program must clear to keep federal Direct Loan eligibility, and the same bar that will now gate the new Workforce Pell Grant program for short-term job training nationwide. The correction traces to 2 misclassified students; the inspector general says the college must return $15,788 in loans disbursed after its eligibility lapsed, on top of $44,256 disbursed the year before. Rosedale disputes the finding."}},{"schema":1,"id":"arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap","slug":"arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Arizona Grades More Schools A or B Than Any State It Compared","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-19","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/26-101_Report.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap-doc-az-26-101","title":"A Performance Audit of Arizona Department of Education -- State's A-F Letter Grade System (Report 26-101)","sourceUrl":"https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/26-101_Report.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"eede2a8617326d2e4ca727ad41d96eb6f7870f3460179106823aad7e117202f9","servable":"full","bytes":2125736,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:50:20.523Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap-doc-az-26-101/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Arizona State Auditor's performance audit of state education system's A-F letter-grade model"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap-doc-az-26-101","title":"A Performance Audit of Arizona Department of Education -- State's A-F Letter Grade System (Report 26-101)","sourceUrl":"https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/26-101_Report.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"eede2a8617326d2e4ca727ad41d96eb6f7870f3460179106823aad7e117202f9","servable":"full","bytes":2125736,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:50:20.523Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap-doc-az-26-101/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Arizona State Auditor's performance audit of state education system's A-F letter-grade model"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"d-education":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7},"labels":["arizona-education-audit","letter-grade-system","performance-audit","academic-ratings","state-auditor"],"whyItMatters":"A June 19, 2026 performance audit (Report 26-101) from the Arizona Auditor General found the state's Department of Education and State Board of Education awarded an A or B letter grade to 77.7% of the state's traditional public schools in 2025 -- the highest share among 5 comparable states the auditor reviewed -- even though 55% of A/B-rated high schools scored below the statewide average in math. The auditor traces the gap to lenient cut points and bonus points that let a school reach an A with as little as 73 of 100 indicator points, and to a growth measure that can award full marks to schools whose students make no proficiency gains at all. Re-scoring the same 2025 data under a traditional A-F grading scale would have cut the A/B share to 49.8%. The Department and State Board agreed with all 12 of the auditor's recommendations.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":22,"claims":[{"id":"az-ab-share-statewide","text":"Arizona awarded an A or B letter grade to about 77.7% of its 1,564 traditional public K-8 and high schools for the 2024-2025 school year -- about 92% of high schools and about 75% of K-8 schools.","value":77.7,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"about 92% of high schools and 75% of K-8 schools State-wide earned A or B letter grades","locator":"Introduction (p.2); Finding 1, Issue 1 (p.10)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-table1-breakdown","text":"Table 1's exact counts: of 1,337 K-8 schools, 469 (35.1%) got an A and 536 (40.1%) got a B; of 227 high schools, 117 (51.5%) got an A and 93 (41.0%) got a B.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"K-8 public schools A 469 35.1% B 536 40.1% ... Public high schools A 117 51.5% B 93 41.0%","locator":"Table 1 (p.2)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-hs1-case","text":"One 2025 A-rated high school ('High school 1' in the report) scored only 17% math and 29% ELA proficiency and would not have earned an A -- its indicator subtotal was 76.1 of 100 points, below the 82-point cut -- without 6 bonus points pushing its total to 82.1.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"The cut point for an A letter grade is 82. High school 1 would not have received an A letter grade without bonus points.","locator":"Table 4 (pp.11-13)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-hs2-case","text":"A second 2025 A-rated high school ('High school 2') scored 67% math and 77% ELA proficiency -- both well above the statewide averages of 33% and 40% -- and earned 99.14 of 100 indicator points before any bonus points.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"Test scores are substantially above the State average. Percentage of students who tested as proficient: ELA: 77%. Math: 67%.","locator":"Table 4 (pp.11-13)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-below-avg-hs-math","text":"Proficiency scores for 55% of high schools with A or B grades were below the statewide average in math, and 50% were below the statewide average in ELA.","value":55,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"proficiency scores for 55% of high schools with A and B grades were below the State-wide average for math and 50% were below the State-wide average for ELA","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 1 (pp.13-14)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-below-avg-k8","text":"Math and ELA proficiency scores for approximately 45% of K-8 schools with A or B letter grades were below the statewide averages in both subjects.","value":45,"unit":"PCT","asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"math and ELA proficiency scores for approximately 45% of K-8 schools with A and B letter grades were below the State-wide averages","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 1 (pp.13-14)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-48-schools-flagged","text":"48 K-8 schools that earned an A or B letter grade in 2025 were, at the same time, identified under the federal accountability system's most rigorous intervention categories (more rigorous options and/or comprehensive school improvement status) for underperforming state achievement targets.","value":48,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"48 K-8 schools with A and B letter grades in 2025 were targeted for the federal school accountability system's highest levels of intervention","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 1, footnote 3 (p.14)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-df-share","text":"Fewer than 4% of Arizona's 1,564 public schools -- 52 total -- received a D or F letter grade in 2025.","value":52,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"fewer than 4% of public schools State-wide, or 52 of 1,564, received a D or F letter grade","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 1 (p.14)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-cross-state-comparison","text":"Among 5 comparable states the auditor reviewed for the 2024-2025 school year, Arizona awarded A or B grades to the highest share of schools (77.7%), followed by Florida (71.3%), Alabama (68.9%), Mississippi (61.6%), and Connecticut (39.8%, using a similar 5-category accountability framework rather than A-F letter grades).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"Arizona awarded A and B letter grades to nearly 78% of public schools for the 2024-2025 school year, while other states we reviewed ranged from a low of approximately 40% in Connecticut to a high of 71.3% in Florida","locator":"Figure 1 (p.16)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-naep-contrast","text":"On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Arizona's grade 8 students scored about the national average (26% proficient in math, 25% in reading) -- but Connecticut, which awarded top grades to far fewer schools, scored 7 percentage points higher in math and 6 points higher in reading than Arizona on the same assessment.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024","quote":"its grade 8 students performed about the same or worse on NAEP assessments ... Connecticut ... were 7 percentage points higher for math and 6 percentage points higher for reading","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 1 (pp.16-17)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-cutpoints-table5","text":"A public high school needs 82 of 100 points for an A and 65 of 100 for a B; a K-8 school needs 84 of 100 for an A and 72 of 100 for a B -- among the states reviewed, only Florida required a lower point share for an A (65%) and only Alabama required a higher one (90%).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"a public high school would need to earn at least 82 of 100 points to earn an A letter grade and 65 of 100 points to receive a B letter grade","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 3, Table 5 (pp.20-21)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-cutpoint-current","text":"Under the cut points Arizona used in 2025, 586 schools (37.4%) received an A and 629 (40.2%) received a B -- together, 77.7% of the state's 1,564 traditional public schools.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025","quote":"A 586 37.4% ... B 629 40.2% ... Total 1,564 100.0%","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 3, Table 6 (p.22)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-cutpoint-traditional","text":"Had the State Board instead used a traditional A-F cut-point scale (90%+ of points for an A, on down), only 308 schools (19.7%) would have earned an A and 471 (30.1%) a B in 2025 -- 49.8% combined, about 28 percentage points lower than under the Board's own cut points.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025","quote":"we found that about 50% of schools would receive A or B letter grades under this scenario, which is about a 28 percentage point decrease from the number of A and B letter grades awarded under the current State Board-approved cut points","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 3, Table 6 (p.22)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-bonus-points-mechanism","text":"High schools can earn up to 9 bonus points on top of the 100 indicator points -- for special-education enrollment, ACT Aspire participation, postsecondary/military enrollment, and science-assessment performance -- letting a high school reach an A with as few as 73 of 100 indicator points, or a B with as few as 56.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"a high school could earn an A with as few as 73 of 100 indicator points or a B with as few as 56 of 100 indicator points","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 3 (pp.22-23)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-bonus-points-effect","text":"Without bonus points, 149 fewer Arizona schools would have received an A letter grade in 2025 (586 down to 437); bonus points boosted 66 high schools' letter grades up to an A or B -- something none of the 5 other states the auditor reviewed does.","value":66,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":"we found that without bonus points, 149 fewer public schools State-wide would have received an A letter grade in 2025 ... Bonus points boosted the grades of 66 high schools to an A or B.","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 3, Table 7 (pp.22-23)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-growth-indicator-flaw","text":"The growth indicator -- 50% of a K-8 school's grade and 20% of a high school's grade -- measures whether a student outscored the peer group that scored similarly to them the prior year, not whether the student progressed toward proficiency, so a school can earn full growth points even if its students make no proficiency gains at all.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"the growth measure potentially awards points to schools even when students do not make progress toward proficiency","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 2 (pp.18-19)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-stagnant-proficiency","text":"Even though Arizona schools statewide earned 80% or more of available growth points in nearly every year, statewide student proficiency did not improve: 40% of students tested proficient in ELA and 33% in math in 2022, identical to the 2025 results.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2022-2025","quote":"among all students State-wide who tested in 2022, 40% demonstrated proficiency in ELA and 33% tested proficient in math, which was identical to the State-wide testing results for 2025","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 2 (p.19)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-nonproficiency-indicators","text":"Aside from the proficiency indicator itself, Arizona schools collectively earned at least 80% of the available points on nearly every other letter-grade indicator in 2025 -- for example, 78.3% of K-8 schools earned at least 40 of 50 available growth points, while only 17.4% earned at least 24 of 30 available proficiency points.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"with the exception of proficiency, most schools earned at least 80% of the possible points for the other letter grade system indicators","locator":"Finding 1, Issue 2, Figure 2 (p.18)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-finding2-indicator-grades","text":"Arizona statute has required the state, since 2018, to also issue separate letter grades for each individual grading indicator (such as proficiency and growth) in addition to each school's overall letter grade -- but as of June 2026, the Department and State Board still had not done so.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06","quote":"As of June 2026, the Department and State Board had not complied with an 8-year-old statute requiring letter grades for individual indicators","locator":"Finding 2, Issue 1 (pp.27-28)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-open-meeting-violation","text":"The Department failed to ensure the Accountability Technical Advisory Committee complied with Arizona's open meeting law for committee meetings held between mid-2018 and June 2023, even though the committee made key recommendations affecting the letter-grade system during that period.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2018-2023","quote":"Department failed to ensure the Committee complied with State open meeting laws for several years prior to July 2023","locator":"Finding 2, Issue 2 (p.28)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-report-origin","text":"The audit was ordered by an October 7, 2025 resolution of Arizona's Joint Legislative Audit Committee, carried out under a state law requiring the Auditor General to review the Department of Education every 10 years; the Department and State Board agreed with all of the auditor's findings and recommendations.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-19","quote":"This report is in response to an October 7, 2025, resolution of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee ... the Department and the Arizona State Board of Education (State Board) agree with all the findings and plan to implement all the recommendations directed to them","locator":"Transmittal letter (cover); Introduction (p.1)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"az-recommendations-count","text":"The Auditor General issued 8 recommendations to the Department, 4 to the State Board, and 1 to the Legislature (to consider revising the underlying statute); the Auditor's office said it would follow up in 6 months to assess progress.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-19","quote":"The Arizona Auditor General makes 8 recommendations to the Department, 4 recommendations to the State Board, and 1 recommendation to the Legislature","locator":"Summary of Recommendations (p.30); Transmittal letter (cover)","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-ab-share-check","label":null,"method":"(586+629)/1564*100","result":77.69,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-traditional-share-check","label":null,"method":"(308+471)/1564*100","result":49.81,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-cutpoint-swing","label":null,"method":"((586+629)/1564*100) - ((308+471)/1564*100)","result":27.88,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-hs-ab-share-check","label":null,"method":"(117+93)/227*100","result":92.51,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-k8-ab-share-check","label":null,"method":"(469+536)/1337*100","result":75.17,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-df-share-check","label":null,"method":"(52/1564)*100","result":3.32,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-bonus-a-drop-check","label":null,"method":"586-437","result":149,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/arizona-school-letter-grade-inflation-gap","title":"Arizona Grades More Schools A or B Than Any State It Compared","dek":"A June 19, 2026 performance audit (Report 26-101) from the Arizona Auditor General found the state's Department of Education and State Board of Education awarded an A or B letter grade to 77.7% of the state's traditional public schools in 2025 -- the highest share among 5 comparable states the auditor reviewed -- even though 55% of A/B-rated high schools scored below the statewide average in math. The auditor traces the gap to lenient cut points and bonus points that let a school reach an A with as little as 73 of 100 indicator points, and to a growth measure that can award full marks to schools whose students make no proficiency gains at all. Re-scoring the same 2025 data under a traditional A-F grading scale would have cut the A/B share to 49.8%. The Department and State Board agreed with all 12 of the auditor's recommendations."}},{"schema":1,"id":"la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar","slug":"la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Louisiana's Health Department Misstated $304 Million — Again","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state","date":"2026-03-30","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/E4F804A5A264776586258DC80079AC03/$FILE/0000A2BE.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar-doc-lla-single-audit-fy2025","title":"Single Audit Report, State of Louisiana, for the Year Ended June 30, 2025","sourceUrl":"https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/E4F804A5A264776586258DC80079AC03/$FILE/0000A2BE.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"ad56e285b2f8cacab8d979725f73580bc383f44910429278c12191d4a3c2bad8","servable":"full","bytes":12808666,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:33:16.034Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar-doc-lla-single-audit-fy2025/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State of Louisiana single audit report for fiscal year 2025 covering state financial reporting and federal fund compliance"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar-doc-lla-single-audit-fy2025","title":"Single Audit Report, State of Louisiana, for the Year Ended June 30, 2025","sourceUrl":"https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/E4F804A5A264776586258DC80079AC03/$FILE/0000A2BE.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"ad56e285b2f8cacab8d979725f73580bc383f44910429278c12191d4a3c2bad8","servable":"full","bytes":12808666,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T18:33:16.034Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar-doc-lla-single-audit-fy2025/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State of Louisiana single audit report for fiscal year 2025 covering state financial reporting and federal fund compliance"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-expenditure":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":1},"labels":["louisiana-audit","single-audit","state-financial-reporting","fy2025","federal-funds"],"whyItMatters":"For the fifth consecutive year, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found the Department of Health's own Medicaid financial report riddled with errors: $145.0 million understated across two payable accounts, a $30.1 million overstatement in a third, and another $129.2 million wrong on the receivable side — $304.3 million in full-accrual misstatements the department's own review process failed to catch before filing.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":17,"claims":[{"id":"f-condition","text":"For the fifth consecutive year, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) did not have adequate controls over financial reporting to ensure financial reports were accurate. As a result, LDH submitted an inaccurate Annual Fiscal Report (AFR) for LDH Medical Vendor Payments for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, to the Division of Administration, Office of Statewide Reporting and Accounting Policy (OSRAP).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"For the fifth consecutive year, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) did not have adequate controls over financial reporting to ensure financial reports were accurate.","locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ap-medical-claims","text":"In the AFR's full-accrual Accounts Payable Adjustments note, Due to Medical Claims was understated by $33.5 million.","value":33500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ap-audit-payables","text":"In the same full-accrual note, Due to Audit Payables was understated by $111.5 million -- the single largest error LDH's AFR review missed.","value":111500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ap-federal-due","text":"In the same full-accrual note, Due to the Federal Government was overstated by $30.1 million.","value":30100000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ap-audit-payables-modified","text":"Under the AFR's modified-accrual basis, the same Due to Audit Payables line was understated by $105.5 million -- $6.0 million less than the $111.5 million full-accrual version of the identical error, because the two accounting bases produced two different-sized corrections for the same underlying line item.","value":105500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ar-federal-receivable","text":"In the AFR's full-accrual Accounts Receivable Adjustments note, Due from the Federal Government was understated by $96.5 million.","value":96500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ar-medical-providers","text":"In the same full-accrual receivable note, Due from Medical Providers was overstated by $32.7 million.","value":32700000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-repeat-years-cited","text":"The finding is listed as a repeat finding, citing Prior Year Finding Nos. 2024-002, 2023-002, 2022-002, and 2021-003 -- LDH's Medical Vendor Payments AFR has drawn the same 'inadequate controls over financial reporting' finding in each of the prior four audits.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Repeat Finding: Yes (Prior Year Finding Nos. 2024-002, 2023-002, 2022-002, 2021-003)","locator":"p. 13, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-appendix-d-history","text":"The audit's own Summary Schedule of Prior Audit Findings lists 'Inadequate Controls over Annual Financial Reporting' against the Louisiana Department of Health for fiscal year 2021 (Finding 2021-003), fiscal year 2022 (2022-002), fiscal year 2023 (2023-002), and fiscal year 2024 (2024-002) -- an unbroken, independently tabulated record of the same finding recurring every year since it was first identified in fiscal year 2021.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Louisiana Department of Health: 2024 15 2021 2024-002 Inadequate Controls over Annual Financial Reporting; * 2023 15 2021 2023-002 Inadequate Controls over Annual Financial Reporting; * 2022 16 2021 2022-002 Inadequate Controls over Annual Financial Reporting; * 2021 17 2021 2021-003 Inadequate Controls over Annual Financial Reporting","locator":"p. D-1, Appendix D","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-auditor-rebuttal","text":"Although management concurred with the adjustments presented in the finding, management did not concur with this being the fifth consecutive year for this finding. Management responded that the specific causes and adjustments identified during the fiscal year 2025 review differ from those noted in prior audits. The AFR has required multiple adjustments to both the Accounts Payable Adjustments note and the Accounts Receivable Adjustments note for each year beginning fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025. Therefore, we consider this to be the fifth consecutive year for which the condition of the finding has occurred.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The AFR has required multiple adjustments to both the Accounts Payable Adjustments note and the Accounts Receivable Adjustments note for each year beginning fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025. Therefore, we consider this to be the fifth consecutive year for which the condition of the finding has occurred.","locator":"p. 14, Finding 2025-001, Auditor's Additional Comments","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mgmt-response","text":"LDH partially concurs with the finding and recommendations. LDH does not concur with this being the fifth consecutive year for this finding. The specific causes and adjustments identified during the FY 2025 review differ from those noted in prior audits. LDH does concur the Annual Financial Report requires adjustments. The department continues to make progress in identifying and resolving the root causes of reporting variances as they arise.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"LDH does not concur with this being the fifth consecutive year for this finding. The specific causes and adjustments identified during the FY 2025 review differ from those noted in prior audits.","locator":"Appendix B, p. B-24","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-corrective-action","text":"LDH Fiscal has reinforced supervisory review procedures and enhanced coordination between fiscal and program staff to ensure the accuracy and completeness of financial data used in the Annual Financial Report. These efforts include ongoing refinement of review controls and validation processes for data provided by internal and external sources. The anticipated completion date is August 30, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"LDH Fiscal has reinforced supervisory review procedures and enhanced coordination between fiscal and program staff to ensure the accuracy and completeness of financial data used in the Annual Financial Report... The anticipated completion date is August 30, 2026.","locator":"Appendix B, p. B-24, Corrective Action Plan","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-ldh-entity-summary","text":"In the FY2025 Single Audit, the Louisiana Department of Health accounted for 9 findings (5 of them repeat findings) and $2,879,053 in federal questioned costs -- tied with the Department of Children and Family Services for the most findings of any single state entity, and the largest questioned-cost total of any entity in the report.","value":2879053,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. vi, Executive Summary, Findings and Federal Questioned Costs by State Entity","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-statewide-summary","text":"Statewide, the FY2025 Single Audit Report includes 25 findings across 7 state entities, of which 9 (36%) are repeat findings from prior audits, and discloses $5,893,545 in total federal questioned costs.","value":25,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. v-vi, Executive Summary","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-material-weakness-financial","text":"The FY2025 Single Audit identified a material weakness in the State of Louisiana's internal control over financial reporting, even though the auditor's overall opinion on the state's financial statements themselves was unmodified.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03-30","quote":null,"locator":"p. 10, Schedule A, Summary of Auditor's Results","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-medicaid-qualified-opinion","text":"The audit also identified material weaknesses in internal control over major federal programs statewide and issued a qualified compliance opinion for several major programs, including the Medicaid Cluster, TANF, Foster Care Title IV-E, CHIP, and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03-30","quote":null,"locator":"p. 10, Schedule A, Summary of Auditor's Results","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-type-a-threshold","text":"The dollar threshold used to distinguish larger ('Type A') from smaller ('Type B') federal programs in the FY2025 Single Audit was $37,922,118 -- a figure set by the scale of federal money moving through the state's largest programs, Medicaid among them.","value":37922118,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 11, Schedule A, Summary of Auditor's Results","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"ap-note-total","label":"Combined magnitude of the three full-accrual errors in the AFR's Accounts Payable Adjustments note alone","method":"33500000 + 111500000 + 30100000","result":175100000,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"full-note-total","label":"Combined magnitude of all five full-accrual errors across both the payable and receivable adjustment notes","method":"33500000 + 111500000 + 30100000 + 96500000 + 32700000","result":304300000,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"ldh-share-of-repeat-findings","label":"Share of the state's 9 repeat findings statewide that belong to LDH alone","method":"5 / 9 * 100","result":55.6,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"audit-payables-basis-gap","label":"Difference between the full-accrual and modified-accrual versions of the same Due to Audit Payables understatement","method":"111500000 - 105500000","result":6000000,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/la-ldh-financial-reporting-dollar","title":"Louisiana's Health Department Misstated $304 Million — Again","dek":"For the fifth consecutive year, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found the Department of Health's own Medicaid financial report riddled with errors: $145.0 million understated across two payable accounts, a $30.1 million overstatement in a third, and another $129.2 million wrong on the receivable side — $304.3 million in full-accrual misstatements the department's own review process failed to catch before filing."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ut-dhhs-25-13-report","slug":"ut-dhhs-25-13-report","tier":"sealed","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Department of Health and Human Services — Interim Management Letter, Report No. 25-13","publisher":"Office of the Utah State Auditor","jurisdiction":"state","date":"2025-12-08","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://reporting.auditor.utah.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015Do000000rXlHIAU"},"provenance":{"id":"ut-dhhs-25-13-report","title":"Department of Health and Human Services — Interim Management Letter, Report No. 25-13","sourceUrl":"https://reporting.auditor.utah.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015Do000000rXlHIAU","kind":"audit","sha256":"653495b424848a095da5d559e46d359350b7e6a8ef2146043ef42378adc9f269","servable":"full","bytes":1632689,"contentType":"application/pdf; 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Audit findings on rebate capture and fiscal controls signal whether the state is maximizing recovery or leaving money on the table in a constrained budget cycle.","angle":"Investigate whether your state is recovering all available manufacturer rebates from its Medicaid pharmacy program or whether administrative and policy gaps are eroding this revenue source.","enriched":true,"verifiedFactCount":0,"claims":[],"computed":[],"article":null},{"schema":1,"id":"hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap","slug":"hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"HUD Recorded 2 Child Lead Cases Nationwide. New York Alone Had 172.","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-14","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/2026-OE-0801_508.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2026-oe-0801","title":"Monitoring of EBLLs by Property Owners in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Properties Receiving Section 8 PBRA (Evaluation Memorandum 2026-OE-0801)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/2026-OE-0801_508.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"82bc2e14ca98a6401b3dd67b1a3103a144bc7699ca3a395c080e1cc669e425a6","servable":"full","bytes":3652886,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T17:20:39.247Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2026-oe-0801/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HUD OIG evaluation memorandum on EBLL monitoring gaps in multifamily PBRA properties; official primary source with no independent corroboration in holdings"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2025-oe-0801","title":"HUD Should Better Track EBLLs in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Properties (Evaluation Memorandum 2025-OE-0801)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2025-06/Final_Memo-HUD_Should_Better_Track_EBLLs_in_HUD-Assisted_MF_Properties_%282025-OE-0801%29_508.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"cf9466ebe5ba36b9efca7c27a4304e595f06bc588c1627aba424910cfde20ee2","servable":"full","bytes":3104864,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T17:20:41.202Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2025-oe-0801/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HUD OIG evaluation memorandum on EBLL tracking procedures in multifamily properties; official primary source with no independent corroboration in holdings"}},{"id":"ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2026-oe-0801","title":"Monitoring of EBLLs by Property Owners in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Properties Receiving Section 8 PBRA (Evaluation Memorandum 2026-OE-0801)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-07/2026-OE-0801_508.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"82bc2e14ca98a6401b3dd67b1a3103a144bc7699ca3a395c080e1cc669e425a6","servable":"full","bytes":3652886,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T17:20:39.247Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap-doc-hud-oig-2026-oe-0801/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"HUD OIG evaluation memorandum on EBLL monitoring gaps in multifamily PBRA properties; official primary source with no independent corroboration in holdings"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.5,"d-housing":1,"d-health":0.7,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7,"e-gap":1},"labels":["hud-oig","lead-based-paint","pbra","multifamily-housing","ebll-monitoring-gap","new-york-state","lead-hazard","childhood-lead-exposure","hud-compliance","property-owner-noncompliance","health-department-reporting"],"whyItMatters":"HUD's inspector general — the department's in-house auditor — asked New York State's health department and the properties' own management agencies for lead-poisoning cases at 36 HUD-assisted apartment properties and got back 172 reported cases in children under six between January 2020 and March 2026. HUD's own housing office, across the entire country over six fiscal years, had recorded 2. The gap is not a filing error: the reporting chain runs through landlords, and the state's privacy rules mean almost none of them were ever told. Roughly 258,000 children under six live in this housing program nationwide.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":20,"claims":[{"id":"f-2-nationwide-2025","text":"HUD received only two reports of EBLLs from multifamily property owners during fiscal years 2019 to 2024; Multifamily staff stated their office had received only two reported EBLLs in that time, and the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes separately confirmed it had received reports of only two EBLLs.","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 1, Executive Summary; pp. 3-4, 'Reported EBLLs'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-owner-timeline","text":"Under HUD's owner guidance implementing the Lead Safe Housing Rule, once an EBLL is confirmed the owner must ensure an environmental investigation is performed within 15 calendar days of confirmation, and if lead-based paint hazards are identified, control and clear all hazards from the unit and common areas within 30 calendar days.","value":15,"unit":"DAYS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"pp. 2-3, Owner's Guide steps 4-5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-threshold-change","text":"On January 17, 2025, HUD announced a modification of its EBLL threshold under the Lead Safe Housing Rule from 5 to 3.5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood for a child under age 6, to be consistent with the CDC's value.","value":3.5,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 2, footnote 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-2025-no-policy","text":"The June 2025 evaluation found Multifamily lacks an internal policy on how staff are to oversee and manage reports of children under 6 with a potential or confirmed EBLL, and its property management information system, iREMS, was not designed to effectively track reported EBLLs or owners' mitigation actions.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Multifamily lacks an internal policy on how its staff are to oversee and manage reports of children under age 6 with a potential or confirmed EBLL.","locator":"pp. 1, 3, Executive Summary and 'Multifamily Lacks Established Policies and Processes'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-172-cases","text":"From January 2020 to March 2026, HUD OIG became aware of 172 reported EBLL cases in children under age 6 at 1,142 addresses associated with 36 HUD-assisted multifamily Section 8 PBRA properties in New York State — 170 reported to OIG by the New York State Department of Health and 2 by a property management agency.","value":172,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 1, Executive Summary; restated p. 3, 'HUD Was Not Aware of EBLLs in the State of New York'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-2-nationwide","text":"HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing had reported to HUD OIG just 2 instances of EBLLs nationwide between October 2018 and September 2024.","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 1, Executive Summary; p. 3, citing the May 2025 evaluation","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-11-possibly-unreported","text":"Of the 172 EBLL cases, 9 were EBLL notices provided to property owners by the New York State Department of Health and 2 were EBLLs known to a management agency — indicating 11 EBLLs were possibly not reported to HUD by PBRA property owners or management agents as required by the Lead Safe Housing Rule.","value":11,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 1, Executive Summary; p. 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-14-agencies-36-properties","text":"OIG identified 14 management agencies collectively managing 36 HUD-assisted multifamily PBRA properties in New York State at greatest risk for lead-based paint hazards — located in the top 6 New York counties at greatest risk per OIG's risk assessment, housing children under 6, built before 1978, with a lead hazard report on record from January 2020 to September 2025.","value":36,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3 and footnote 8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-no-formal-process","text":"Of the 14 management agencies OIG contacted, 9 provided documentation; none of the agencies that provided documentation indicated they had a formal process or policy for reporting potential or confirmed EBLLs to HUD, and not all were aware of the EBLL requirements in the Lead Safe Housing Rule.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 4; p. 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-privacy-wall","text":"According to the New York State Department of Health, the only time it communicates with a property owner about an EBLL is when issuing a notice that potential lead-based paint hazards were identified during an environmental inspection; due to privacy concerns, NYSDOH has no communications directly with HUD regarding EBLLs.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Due to privacy concerns, NYSDOH does not have any communications directly with HUD regarding EBLLs.","locator":"pp. 3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-pbra-units","text":"As of March 27, 2026, there are over 1.4 million multifamily PBRA units nationwide.","value":1400000,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-pre1978-units","text":"HUD estimates over 630,000 PBRA units — forty-four percent — were built before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paint in residential housing.","value":630000,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-children-under-6","text":"Roughly 2.4 million people reside in multifamily PBRA units nationwide, of whom approximately 258,000 are children under the age of 6.","value":258000,"unit":"PEOPLE","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-5-day-rule","text":"When a PBRA property owner is notified of a potential EBLL, the owner must verify the EBLL with a health care provider or health department, record the verification attempts, and notify both HUD's Multifamily office and its Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes — steps that must be completed within 5 business days of EBLL verification.","value":5,"unit":"DAYS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-prior-recs-implemented","text":"Multifamily implemented both recommendations from report 2025-OE-0801 in April 2026 by issuing guidance on EBLL roles and responsibilities for its staff and developing a method to track EBLLs in multifamily properties.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-04","quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, footnote 7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rec-1a-unresolved","text":"HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing requested that recommendation 1A — a corrective action plan covering all 172 EBLLs — be revised to include only the 9 NYSDOH notifications to owners and the 2 known to management agents; OIG kept the recommendation as written, and its status remains 'unresolved-open'.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"After careful consideration, we decided that the language for recommendation 1A will remain as written to address all 172 EBLLs in New York State in multifamily PBRA properties.","locator":"p. 5, Management Response and OIG Evaluation of Management Response; appendix A","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rec-1b-resolved","text":"Multifamily concurred with recommendation 1B — a communication plan between HUD, property owners, management agencies, and other entities so EBLLs are reported and monitored as the Lead Safe Housing Rule requires — and agreed to develop written procedures; the recommendation's status is 'resolved-open' pending a closure request.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-26","quote":null,"locator":"p. 5, OIG Evaluation of Management Response; appendix A","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-hud-limited-defense","text":"In its June 26, 2026 response, HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing stated it is limited in its ability to act absent notification by an owner, that its Office of Asset Management researched the properties and found some are now empty sites, lots, or parks, and that for many still operating there was no evidence of lead-based paint hazards, HUD-paid inspections had been conducted with owner certifications of remediation, or the owner had certified to using lead-free paint.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06-26","quote":null,"locator":"appendix A, 'Presence of EBLLs in PBRA Properties in New York State'; p. 5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-info-already-provided","text":"OIG provided the 1,142 addresses to HUD's Multifamily office in March 2026 so it could begin analyzing the EBLL cases, and notes the information HUD needs to conduct its research has already been provided to HUD by HUD OIG.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03","quote":null,"locator":"p. 3; p. 5, OIG Evaluation of Management Response","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-contractor-chain","text":"One of the nine responding management agencies stated that it works through a third-party contractor instead of working directly with HUD, further complicating the EBLL reporting chain.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"one of the nine management agencies stated that it works through a third-party contractor instead of working directly with HUD","locator":"p. 4","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-no-record-cases","label":null,"method":"172 − 11","result":161,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-pre1978-share","label":null,"method":"630000 / 1400000 × 100","result":45,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/hud-pbra-lead-reporting-gap","title":"HUD Recorded 2 Child Lead Cases Nationwide. New York Alone Had 172.","dek":"HUD's inspector general — the department's in-house auditor — asked New York State's health department and the properties' own management agencies for lead-poisoning cases at 36 HUD-assisted apartment properties and got back 172 reported cases in children under six between January 2020 and March 2026. HUD's own housing office, across the entire country over six fiscal years, had recorded 2. The gap is not a filing error: the reporting chain runs through landlords, and the state's privacy rules mean almost none of them were ever told. Roughly 258,000 children under six live in this housing program nationwide."}},{"schema":1,"id":"marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar","slug":"marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Congress Rejected a Bid to Shut Down the Marine Mammal Commission","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2025-05-28","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/MMC-FY26-Congressional-Justification.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-mmc-fy26-cj","title":"Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Congressional Justification — Marine Mammal Commission","sourceUrl":"https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/MMC-FY26-Congressional-Justification.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"7e5725dccfa7ab1e0e87684e6565cfe156e67820c1144ea9c4e2d5132dddc6ee","servable":"full","bytes":236663,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:50:21.170Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-mmc-fy26-cj/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official Marine Mammal Commission budget justification from issuing agency; corroborated by CRS In Focus on identical shutdown proposal and budget figures."}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-crs-if13015","title":"The Marine Mammal Commission (CRS In Focus IF13015, version 4)","sourceUrl":"https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF13015/IF13015.4.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"44662327fb570f2d4e8af815be4f8966ddf8a817fac5cd6a6008f4f0d4ffc676","servable":"full","bytes":233770,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:50:22.440Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-crs-if13015/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Congressional Research Service analysis of MMC funding and Trump Administration shutdown proposal; corroborates MMC's own FY26 Congressional Justification."}},{"id":"ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-mmc-fy26-cj","title":"Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Congressional Justification — Marine Mammal Commission","sourceUrl":"https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/MMC-FY26-Congressional-Justification.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":"7e5725dccfa7ab1e0e87684e6565cfe156e67820c1144ea9c4e2d5132dddc6ee","servable":"full","bytes":236663,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:50:21.170Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar-doc-mmc-fy26-cj/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Official Marine Mammal Commission budget justification from issuing agency; corroborated by CRS In Focus on identical shutdown proposal and budget figures."}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-budget":1,"m-appropriation":0.9,"m-expenditure":0.6,"d-environment":0.8,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8,"e-verified":0.3,"e-timecritical":0.7,"e-gap":0.8},"labels":["marine-mammal-commission","mmc","federal-shutdown","fy2026-appropriations","budget-elimination","conservation-threat","mmpa-agency","severance-costs","grant-program-termination","trump-administration","independent-agency"],"whyItMatters":"The Trump Administration's FY2026 budget proposed eliminating the Marine Mammal Commission, a 12-person federal agency that reviews marine-mammal permits and research, cutting its request to [$1,000,000](https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/MMC-FY26-Congressional-Justification.pdf) -- enough only for severance and unpaid rent. Congress rejected the proposal: [the appropriations act signed January 23, 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ74/pdf/PLAW-119publ74.pdf) funded the Commission at $4,300,000, just 4.4% below the year before.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":20,"claims":[{"id":"fact-crs-fy20-appropriated","text":"FY2020 appropriated funding for the Commission was $3.62 million.","value":3620000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"FY2020 | Requested Amount 2.45 | Appropriated Amount 3.62","locator":"Table 1, \"Congressional Appropriations to the MMC (in $ millions)\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-crs-fy21-appropriated","text":"FY2021 appropriated funding for the Commission was $3.77 million.","value":3770000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"FY2021 | Requested Amount 2.45 | Appropriated Amount 3.77","locator":"Table 1, \"Congressional Appropriations to the MMC (in $ millions)\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-crs-fy22-appropriated","text":"FY2022 appropriated funding for the Commission was $4.20 million.","value":4200000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"FY2022 | Requested Amount 4.20 | Appropriated Amount 4.20","locator":"Table 1, \"Congressional Appropriations to the MMC (in $ millions)\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-crs-fy23-appropriated","text":"FY2023 appropriated funding for the Commission was $4.50 million.","value":4500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"FY2023 | Requested Amount 4.50 | Appropriated Amount 4.50","locator":"Table 1, \"Congressional Appropriations to the MMC (in $ millions)\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-house-markup","text":"The House's FY2026 draft appropriations measure recommended $1.00 million for the Commission -- matching the Administration's elimination-level request.","value":1000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"the House FY2026 draft appropriations measure, scheduled for markup, currently recommends $1.00 million for the MMC","locator":"\"Appropriations for the MMC\" section","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-senate-markup","text":"S. 2354 in the 119th Congress recommended $4.50 million for the Commission -- rejecting the proposed elimination.","value":4500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"while S. 2354 in the 119th Congress has recommended $4.50 million","locator":"\"Appropriations for the MMC\" section","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-elimination-proposal","text":"In its FY2026 budget request, the Administration proposed eliminating the Marine Mammal Commission entirely, asking for $1 million solely to cover an orderly shutdown.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In FY 2026 the Administration proposes the elimination of the Commission, requesting $1 million to account for the costs associated with an orderly shutdown. This request would terminate the Commission's grant program, cut personnel that fulfill the mandates set forth by the MMPA, and shut down the agency.","locator":"p.1, \"Budget Request Summary\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fy26-request-value","text":"The Commission's FY2026 budget authority request (President's Budget) was $1,000,000 -- a $3,500,000 cut from the $4,500,000 appropriated for FY2025.","value":1000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Budget Authority: FY2024 4,500 | FY2025 4,500 | FY2026 estimated 1,000 | Change from FY2025 -3,500 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"FY 2026 Budget Overview\" summary table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fy25-appropriated","text":"FY2025 appropriated budget authority for the Commission was $4,500,000.","value":4500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Appropriations: FY2024 4,500 | FY2025 4,500 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"FY 2026 Budget Overview\" summary table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fy24-appropriated","text":"FY2024 appropriated budget authority for the Commission was also $4,500,000.","value":4500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Appropriations: FY2024 4,500 | FY2025 4,500 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"FY 2026 Budget Overview\" summary table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-staff-12","text":"The Commission's full-time staff numbers 12, including the Executive Director.","value":12,"unit":"PEOPLE","asOf":null,"quote":"The Commission is assisted by a nine-member Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals (Committee) and a full-time staff of 12, which includes the Commission's Executive Director.","locator":"p.2, \"About the Commission and the MMPA\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-severance-rent-purpose","text":"The majority of the Commission's FY2026 budget request would be used to pay for the severance of Commission employees and outstanding rent.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The majority of the Commission's FY 2026 budget request would be used to pay for the severance of Commission employees and outstanding rent.","locator":"p.1, \"Budget Request Summary\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-personnel-fy25","text":"FY2025 spending on Personnel was $2,821,000.","value":2821000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Personnel: FY2024 2,677 | FY2025 2,821 | FY2026 estimated 928 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-personnel-fy26-request","text":"The FY2026 shutdown-level request budgeted $928,000 for Personnel, intended to cover severance as staff were let go.","value":928000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Personnel: FY2024 2,677 | FY2025 2,821 | FY2026 estimated 928, Change from FY2025 -1,893 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-research-fy25","text":"FY2025 spending on Research, Contracts, and Special Projects (the Commission's grant program) was $1,052,000.","value":1052000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Research, Contracts, and Special Projects: FY2024 1,104 | FY2025 1,052 | FY2026 estimated 0 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-research-fy26-request","text":"The FY2026 shutdown-level request zeroed out Research, Contracts, and Special Projects entirely -- $0, terminating the Commission's grant program.","value":0,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Research, Contracts, and Special Projects: FY2024 1,104 | FY2025 1,052 | FY2026 estimated 0, Change from FY2025 -1,052 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-rent-fy25","text":"FY2025 spending on Rent, Communications, and Utilities was $347,000.","value":347000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Rent, Communications, and Utilities: FY2024 441 | FY2025 347 | FY2026 estimated 72 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-rent-fy26-request","text":"The FY2026 shutdown-level request budgeted just $72,000 for Rent, Communications, and Utilities -- enough only to cover outstanding rent as the agency wound down.","value":72000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Rent, Communications, and Utilities: FY2024 441 | FY2025 347 | FY2026 estimated 72, Change from FY2025 -275 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-other-fy25","text":"FY2025 spending on Other (supplies, equipment, travel) was $280,000.","value":280000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Other (supplies, equipment, travel): FY2024 278 | FY2025 280 | FY2026 estimated 0 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-other-fy26-request","text":"The FY2026 shutdown-level request zeroed out the Other (supplies, equipment, travel) category entirely.","value":0,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Other (supplies, equipment, travel): FY2024 278 | FY2025 280 | FY2026 estimated 0, Change from FY2025 -280 (figures in $ thousands)","locator":"p.1, \"Budget by Category\" table","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-house-matches-request","label":null,"method":"1000000-1000000","result":0,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-senate-vs-enacted","label":null,"method":"4500000-4300000","result":200000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-request-cut-pct","label":null,"method":"(1000000-4500000)/4500000*100","result":-77.78,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-restored-gap","label":null,"method":"4300000-1000000","result":3300000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-yoy-enacted-change","label":null,"method":"(4300000-4500000)/4500000*100","result":-4.44,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-personnel-cut-pct","label":null,"method":"(928000-2821000)/2821000*100","result":-67.1,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"computed-research-cut-pct","label":null,"method":"(0-1052000)/1052000*100","result":-100,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/marine-mammal-commission-shutdown-dollar","title":"Congress Rejected a Bid to Shut Down the Marine Mammal Commission","dek":"The Trump Administration's FY2026 budget proposed eliminating the Marine Mammal Commission, a 12-person federal agency that reviews marine-mammal permits and research, cutting its request to [$1,000,000](https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/MMC-FY26-Congressional-Justification.pdf) -- enough only for severance and unpaid rent. Congress rejected the proposal: [the appropriations act signed January 23, 2026](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ74/pdf/PLAW-119publ74.pdf) funded the Commission at $4,300,000, just 4.4% below the year before."}},{"schema":1,"id":"al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar","slug":"al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Alabama Cannabis Commission Returned $11.9M, Overpaid Vendor $204K","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-al","date":"2026-03-20","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/eopa/audit_reports/26-198_26-198-AL%20Medical%20Cannabis%20Commission.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar-doc-al-examiners-26-198","title":"Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission — Examination Report No. 26-198","sourceUrl":"https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/eopa/audit_reports/26-198_26-198-AL%20Medical%20Cannabis%20Commission.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"aca59c987f5a69307f90db21803ca7363bbe9e927334d46a92ffa229fc1ee1dd","servable":"full","bytes":2255081,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:20:52.552Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar-doc-al-examiners-26-198/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State legislative examination of Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission operations and fund management"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar-doc-al-examiners-26-198","title":"Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission — Examination Report No. 26-198","sourceUrl":"https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/eopa/audit_reports/26-198_26-198-AL%20Medical%20Cannabis%20Commission.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"aca59c987f5a69307f90db21803ca7363bbe9e927334d46a92ffa229fc1ee1dd","servable":"full","bytes":2255081,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:20:52.552Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar-doc-al-examiners-26-198/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State legislative examination of Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission operations and fund management"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":0.8,"d-governance":0.7,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.6,"d-health":0.4},"labels":["cannabis-commission","fund-reversion","state-examination","alabama-alison"],"whyItMatters":"A March 2026 examination by Alabama's Department of Examiners of Public Accounts found the state's Medical Cannabis Commission returned $11,932,496.30 of its $21,695,648.00 in General Fund appropriations unspent between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2025 -- while separately overpaying a legal-services vendor $204,197.55 above its contracted cap because no one at the Commission was checking invoices against the contract.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":23,"claims":[{"id":"f-overpayment","text":"The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission paid a legal-services vendor $604,197.55 against a $400,000.00 contract cap — a $204,197.55 overpayment (about 51% over the contracted total) — because the Commission failed to monitor payments against the contract terms.","value":204197.55,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. G, Finding 2025-003","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-contract-cap","text":"The Commission's legal-services contract had a total authorized amount of $400,000.00.","value":400000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. G, Finding 2025-003","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-board-of-adjustments","text":"The overpaid vendor filed a claim with the Alabama Board of Adjustments over the contract dispute, and the Board ordered the additional amount paid.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. G, Finding 2025-003","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-appropriation","text":"From the Commission's creation in May 2021 through September 30, 2025, the Alabama Legislature appropriated $21,695,648.00 in General Fund money to the Commission.","value":21695648,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 2, Exhibit #1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-license-fees","text":"Over the same period, the Commission itself collected $2,774,625.50 in cannabis license and application fees — about one dollar in license revenue for every eight dollars the Legislature appropriated to fund it.","value":2774625.5,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 2, Exhibit #1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-current-reversion","text":"Of the General Fund money it was given, the Commission sent $11,932,496.30 back to the General Fund as unspent 'current year reversions' across fiscal years 2022 through 2025.","value":11932496.3,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 2, Exhibit #1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-commission-fund-balance","text":"As of September 30, 2025, the Commission's license-fee-funded account (the Medical Cannabis Commission Fund) held $2,404,364.89 in unobligated cash — money collected from license and application fees that had not been spent or committed.","value":2404364.89,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 2, Exhibit #1; p. 4, Exhibit #3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2022-appropriation","text":"In fiscal year 2022 (its first full year), the Commission was appropriated $3,500,000.00 from the General Fund and reverted $2,827,643.95 of it (80.8%) unspent.","value":3500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2022-reversion","text":"FY2022 current-year reversion to the General Fund: $2,827,643.95.","value":2827643.95,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2023-appropriation","text":"In fiscal year 2023, the Commission was appropriated $6,357,040.00 and reverted $3,809,303.33 of it (59.9%) unspent.","value":6357040,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2023-reversion","text":"FY2023 current-year reversion to the General Fund: $3,809,303.33.","value":3809303.33,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2024-appropriation","text":"In fiscal year 2024, the Commission was appropriated $6,396,301.00 and reverted $2,767,593.47 of it (43.3%) unspent.","value":6396301,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2024-reversion","text":"FY2024 current-year reversion to the General Fund: $2,767,593.47.","value":2767593.47,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2025-appropriation","text":"In fiscal year 2025, the Commission was appropriated $5,442,307.00 and reverted $2,527,955.55 of it (46.5%) unspent.","value":5442307,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2025-reversion","text":"FY2025 current-year reversion to the General Fund: $2,527,955.55.","value":2527955.55,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 3, Exhibit #2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2021-fund-balance","text":"At the end of fiscal year 2021 — the Commission's first partial year, funded by a $500,000.00 transfer from the Departmental Emergency Fund rather than license fees — its Medical Cannabis Commission Fund held a $500,000.00 cash balance.","value":500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 4, Exhibit #3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2022-fund-balance","text":"At the end of fiscal year 2022, the Commission Fund's cash balance stood at $33,086.71.","value":33086.71,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 4, Exhibit #3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2023-fund-balance","text":"At the end of fiscal year 2023, the Commission Fund's cash balance stood at $1,376,647.39.","value":1376647.39,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 4, Exhibit #3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy2024-fund-balance","text":"At the end of fiscal year 2024, the Commission Fund's cash balance stood at $1,877,892.39.","value":1877892.39,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. 4, Exhibit #3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-open-meetings","text":"Examiners reviewed the minutes of 62 Commission meetings and found recurring gaps in Alabama Open Meetings Act compliance: missing votes on rulemaking, missing executive-session return times, missing attendance records, and missing meeting locations, including one meeting notice that omitted the physical location entirely.","value":62,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"pp. E-F, Finding 2025-002","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fee-schedule-gap","text":"The Commission charged fees for at least eight categories of licenses, registrations, and card replacements without ever adopting the specific fee amounts as an administrative rule, as Alabama law requires.","value":8,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"pp. G-H, Finding 2025-004","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rda-gap","text":"The Commission never obtained a Records Disposition Authority from the State Records Commission and missed its required annual RDA Implementation Report in January of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.","value":4,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. E, Finding 2025-001","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-card-rule-conflict","text":"The Commission's own administrative rule requires patients and caregivers to report a lost or stolen medical cannabis card within 72 hours, while the enabling statute (Code of Alabama 20-2A-36(d)) allows 10 days — a stricter, non-conforming deadline set by the Commission itself.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p. I, Finding 2025-005","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-fy2022-reversion-share","label":"FY2022 share of appropriation reverted","method":"$2,827,643.95 current-year reversion ÷ $3,500,000.00 appropriation","result":null,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-license-fee-share","label":"License-fee revenue as a share of General Fund appropriations","method":"$2,774,625.50 total license/fee receipts ÷ $21,695,648.00 total General Fund appropriations, FY2022–FY2025","result":null,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/al-cannabis-commission-fund-reversion-dollar","title":"Alabama Cannabis Commission Returned $11.9M, Overpaid Vendor $204K","dek":"A March 2026 examination by Alabama's Department of Examiners of Public Accounts found the state's Medical Cannabis Commission returned $11,932,496.30 of its $21,695,648.00 in General Fund appropriations unspent between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2025 -- while separately overpaying a legal-services vendor $204,197.55 above its contracted cap because no one at the Commission was checking invoices against the contract."}},{"schema":1,"id":"nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar","slug":"nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Nebraska Miscalculated State Aid for All 247 School Districts","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-ne","date":"2025-12-17","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2026/SA13-02062026-July_1_2024_through_June_30_2025_ACFR_Management_Letter.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar-doc-ne-apa-teeosa-letter","title":"Management Letter to the Nebraska Department of Education (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2025)","sourceUrl":"https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2026/SA13-02062026-July_1_2024_through_June_30_2025_ACFR_Management_Letter.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"dddeaf8ee142fa77b28eb6a189166d8bb7d4f1f0cd3ed1e4f541f5d953e4dc83","servable":"full","bytes":991755,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:20:50.362Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar-doc-ne-apa-teeosa-letter/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State auditor management letter on Nebraska Department of Education Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and TEEOSA accounting"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar-doc-ne-apa-teeosa-letter","title":"Management Letter to the Nebraska Department of Education (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2025)","sourceUrl":"https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2026/SA13-02062026-July_1_2024_through_June_30_2025_ACFR_Management_Letter.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"dddeaf8ee142fa77b28eb6a189166d8bb7d4f1f0cd3ed1e4f541f5d953e4dc83","servable":"full","bytes":991755,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T16:20:50.362Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar-doc-ne-apa-teeosa-letter/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"State auditor management letter on Nebraska Department of Education Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and TEEOSA accounting"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"d-education":1,"m-oversight":0.9,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8,"m-expenditure":0.5},"labels":["state-aid-errors","acfr","teeosa","management-letter","nebraska-apa"],"whyItMatters":"Nebraska's Auditor of Public Accounts found the state's Department of Education miscalculated special-education reimbursements for all 247 of the state's school districts in fiscal 2025 -- from a $5.14 million overpayment to Omaha to a $994,863 underpayment to Lincoln -- on top of $54.8 million in financial-statement errors and a poverty-allowance formula mistake the department itself could not quantify.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":13,"claims":[{"id":"f-dept-responsible-1-1b","text":"The Nebraska Department of Education is solely responsible for the $1.1 billion in State Aid payments and all necessary control procedures related to the accurate calculation, certification, and distribution of aid to each of the state's school districts.","value":1.1,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":"fiscal year 2025","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-poverty-allowance-21-districts","text":"The Department failed to multiply the number of students by the identified student percentage -- a step Nebraska statute (Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 79-1003(18)) requires -- for all 21 school districts participating in the federal community eligibility provision, an error affecting the poverty-allowance component of each district's State Aid calculation.","value":21,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal year 2025 audit; error traced back to when each district began community-eligibility participation","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, 'Poverty Allowance Error,' pp.2-3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-omaha-30m-unverified","text":"Omaha Public Schools stated in November 2025 that the Department's poverty-allowance error had overpaid it $30 million for the year tested; the Auditor of Public Accounts states this reported figure has not been verified by its own testing and will be reviewed in a future audit.","value":30,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":"reported November 2025; unverified as of the December 17, 2025 letter","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, pp.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-gfoe-maaps-147-districts","text":"A receipt code tied to Medicaid Administrative Activities was wrongly included as a reduction in the General Fund Operating Expenditure (GFOE) calculation, which is not a reduction permitted by statute, causing errors in the amount of State Aid paid to 147 school districts totaling $3,669,200 in underpayments, with the largest underpayments at Lincoln Public Schools ($883,692) and Millard Public Schools ($487,047).","value":3669200,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year 2025 State Aid calculation","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, 'GFOE Errors,' p.5-6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-transportation-unsupported-mileage","text":"The Department had no documented review process or verification for the accuracy of miles traveled reported by school districts for the transportation allowance; for 22 of the 26 school districts the audit sampled, 2,144,931 miles traveled produced a calculated transportation allowance of $5,747,156 that the audit found unsupported.","value":5747156,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year 2025 State Aid calculation (26-district sample)","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, 'Transportation Allowance Error,' p.6-7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-sped-all-247-districts","text":"A Department error in applying a 2025 legislative change (LB 264, amending Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 79-1142) to require pro-rata special-education reimbursement caused all 247 Nebraska school districts to be paid the incorrect amount of special-education expense reimbursements during fiscal year 2025, ranging from a $5,142,285 overpayment to Omaha Public Schools to a $994,863 underpayment to Lincoln Public Schools.","value":247,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal year 2025","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #2, 'Special Education Expense Reimbursement Errors,' pp.9-10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-sped-cause-software","text":"The special-education reimbursement error appeared to be related in part to Department staff's full reliance on the Department's special-education reimbursement software and a lack of understanding of how that software was distributing funds.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Comment #2, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-sped-dept-response","text":"In its written response, the Department said it updated its special-education reimbursement system (SPEDFRS) to correctly apply the pro-rata methodology required by statute, corrected the current year's miscalculations, and is formalizing internal procedures to verify the system's reimbursement calculations going forward.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Comment #2, 'Department Response,' p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-sped-transportation-payable-understated","text":"The Department underreported its special-education transportation payable by $16,424,343 because it calculated the payable using only unspent General Fund appropriations, when a portion of that funding is paid from the Education Future Fund as well.","value":16424343,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year 2025 financial statements","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #3, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fy25-itemized-total","text":"The Auditor of Public Accounts' management letter itemizes over $54.7 million in Department errors for fiscal year 2025 -- precisely $54,767,657 -- that were proposed and adjusted by the State's central accounting office to keep the State's financial statements materially correct; the total includes the $16,424,343 special-education transportation payable understatement, misstatements across nine federal grant payables (including an $18,555,571 understatement tied to the Every Student Succeeds Act grant and a resulting $17,981,228 understatement of the associated federal receivable), and a $2,380,858 overstatement from unvoided, rebilled interagency transactions.","value":54767657,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year 2025 financial statements","quote":null,"locator":"Comment #3, 'Financial Statement Errors,' pp.10-12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-error-trend-4yr","text":"The Auditor of Public Accounts' own year-by-year table of the Department's significant financial-statement accounting errors, identified since 2021, shows: $6,187,991 in fiscal year 2021; $6,891,971 in fiscal year 2023; $281,351,290 in fiscal year 2024; and $55,311,855 in fiscal year 2025.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, p.4 (table refuting a Board member's characterization of the Department's audit history)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-significant-deficiency-not-material","text":"The Auditor of Public Accounts classifies the TEEOSA calculation errors, the special-education reimbursement errors, and the financial-statement errors each as a 'significant deficiency' in internal control -- a category the audit defines as less severe than a 'material weakness,' but still important enough to merit the attention of those charged with governance.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Introductory summary, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-omaha-no-windfall","text":"The Auditor of Public Accounts notes that Omaha Public Schools did not receive a sudden windfall from the poverty-allowance error -- the Department's calculation has been incorrect since Omaha began participating in the community eligibility provision -- and questions both the logic and the Department's specific legal authority for its stated plan to reallocate the disputed funds among all districts rather than treat the original certification as final.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Comment #1, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-fy24-vs-fy21-multiple","label":"FY2024 errors as a multiple of FY2021 errors","method":"281,351,290 / 6,187,991","result":45.47046072,"unit":"RATIO","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-sped-swing","label":"Gap between the largest SPED overpayment and largest underpayment","method":"5,142,285 + 994,863","result":6137148,"unit":"USD","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-itemized-share-of-aid","label":"FY2025 itemized errors as a share of total State Aid","method":"54,767,657 / 1,100,000,000 × 100","result":4.978877909090909,"unit":"PCT","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/nebraska-state-aid-errors-dollar","title":"Nebraska Miscalculated State Aid for All 247 School Districts","dek":"Nebraska's Auditor of Public Accounts found the state's Department of Education miscalculated special-education reimbursements for all 247 of the state's school districts in fiscal 2025 -- from a $5.14 million overpayment to Omaha to a $994,863 underpayment to Lincoln -- on top of $54.8 million in financial-statement errors and a poverty-allowance formula mistake the department itself could not quantify."}},{"schema":1,"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-broadband-actions-needed-to-strengthen-fragmented-federal","slug":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-broadband-actions-needed-to-strengthen-fragmented-federal","tier":"sealed","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Broadband: Actions Needed to Strengthen Fragmented Federal Effort","publisher":"U.S. Government Accountability Office","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-21","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109297"},"provenance":{"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-broadband-actions-needed-to-strengthen-fragmented-federal","title":"Broadband: Actions Needed to Strengthen Fragmented Federal Effort","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109297","kind":"audit","sha256":"3d8c6ed9a2da6dda9c695e4dddd503f271119e2079393cacb9260fa95e842e38","servable":"full","bytes":84830,"contentType":"text/html; 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Healthy school district fiscal emergency; official state audit finding"}},{"id":"ed-ohio-fiscal-emergency-duration-gap-doc-dew-annual-report","title":"School Districts in Fiscal Emergency: 2026 Report to the Ohio General Assembly","sourceUrl":"https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/About/Annual-Reports/2026-School-Districts-in-Fiscal-Emergency.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US","kind":"report","sha256":"188e5692fd352d609edc7fbd0a6f3492b5e8a6152c36a44b37190fcffbd6ef10","servable":"full","bytes":488943,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T15:20:20.640Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ohio-fiscal-emergency-duration-gap-doc-dew-annual-report/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":1,"descriptor":"Ohio Dept of Education official annual fiscal emergency status report; corroborated by Auditor declarations and ORC 3316.03"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"d-education":1,"m-budget":0.8,"m-debt":0.7,"m-oversight":0.6,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7},"labels":["ohio-dew","fiscal-emergency-status","school-district-finance","annual-report","budget-deficit","state-education-authority"],"whyItMatters":"Ohio declares a school district in fiscal emergency once its deficit tops 15% of general-fund revenue -- and the state's own history shows the district should expect to stay there a while. The 44 districts declared since 1996 averaged 41.3 months under state oversight before release. Mount Healthy City Schools, two years into its own emergency, has cycled through six treasurers and now projects its cumulative fund-balance shortfall widening again, to $7.1 million, by 2029.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":39,"claims":[{"id":"f-statute-threshold","text":"Ohio law requires the Auditor of State to declare fiscal emergency when a district's operating deficit exceeds 15% of its general fund revenue for the preceding fiscal year (and voters have not approved a levy sufficient to close it); the Auditor may also declare emergency for deficits of 10-15% if necessary to correct the district's fiscal problems.","value":15,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Division (B)(1), (B)(5)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-commission-rif-power","text":"Once fiscal emergency is declared, a district's Financial Planning and Supervision Commission may order reductions in force to balance the budget notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the district's collective bargaining agreements, and may remove the superintendent or treasurer if necessary.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-02-11","quote":null,"locator":"webpage text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-emergency-deficit","text":"On April 8, 2025, the Auditor of State certified Trimble's current fiscal year (FY25) general fund deficit at -$2,994,000 -- 24% of the district's prior fiscal year actual total revenue -- and declared fiscal emergency.","value":2994000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-04-08","quote":null,"locator":"press release text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-second-in-year","text":"Trimble was the second Ohio school district placed in fiscal emergency within one year, following Mount Healthy in April 2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-04-10","quote":null,"locator":"press release text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-watch-forecast","text":"When the Auditor of State placed Trimble in fiscal watch on January 21, 2025, the district's five-year forecast projected deficits of $1.6 million in the current fiscal year, $2.3 million in FY26 and $3.3 million in FY27.","value":1600000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-01-21","quote":null,"locator":"press release text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-original-deficit","text":"At declaration, the Auditor of State certified Mount Healthy's projected operating fund deficit at $10,758,000, equal to 26% of the district's general fund revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.","value":10758000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"press release text","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-currently-two","text":"As of the report, two Ohio school districts -- Mount Healthy City Schools (Hamilton County) and Trimble Local Schools (Athens County) -- are in a state of fiscal emergency.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.2-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-declared-released","text":"Since the General Assembly established the fiscal-oversight process, 44 Ohio school districts have been declared in fiscal emergency and 42 have been released from it.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-avg-duration","text":"The average time an Ohio school district spends in fiscal emergency, across every district declared since the first case in 1996, is 41.33 months.","value":41.33,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, p.12 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-declared","text":"Mount Healthy City School District was declared to be in a state of fiscal emergency on April 5, 2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-04-05","quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-duration","text":"As of March 31, 2026, Mount Healthy has been in fiscal emergency for 24 months.","value":24,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":"2026-03-31","quote":null,"locator":"p.4 (Annual Statistics table)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-cash","text":"Mount Healthy's FY2025 cash balance was $3,261,875, equal to 7.30% of its FY2025 total expenditures.","value":3261875,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-enrollment","text":"Mount Healthy's student population (ADM) declined 38.63% between FY2020 and FY2025.","value":38.63,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-property","text":"Property values in Mount Healthy's district increased 80.4% between Tax Year 2019 and Tax Year 2024.","value":80.4,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-treasurers","text":"Mount Healthy has had six different treasurers since fiscal emergency was declared in April 2024.","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-repay-schedule","text":"In May 2025, the Department and the Office of Budget and Management granted Mount Healthy a revised solvency assistance repayment schedule: $485,000 in FY25, $750,000 in FY26, $1,250,000 in FY27, then $1,654,600 per year for five years (FY28-FY32).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-05-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-forecast-deficit-spending","text":"Mount Healthy's October 2025 financial forecast, reflecting its approved recovery plan, projects annual deficit spending of -$1,560,396 in FY27, -$3,189,371 in FY28, and -$4,511,095 in FY29.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-10-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-forecast-balance-deficit","text":"That same October 2025 forecast projects the district's cumulative general fund balance deficit widening to -$2,588,674 in FY28 and -$7,099,768 in FY29.","value":7099768,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2029","quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-mthealthy-new-frp","text":"In January 2026, Mount Healthy's oversight commission adopted a new FY26 Financial Recovery Plan for FY27-FY29, directing the district to identify further revenue and expenditure changes because, per the Commission, deficit spending 'cannot continue' if the district is to repay its solvency assistance obligations through FY32.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-01-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-declared","text":"Trimble Local School District was declared to be in a state of fiscal emergency on April 8, 2025.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-04-08","quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-duration","text":"As of March 31, 2026, Trimble has been in fiscal emergency for 12 months.","value":12,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":"2026-03-31","quote":null,"locator":"p.4 (Annual Statistics table)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-cash","text":"Trimble's FY2025 cash balance was $1,397,537, equal to 8.30% of its FY2025 expenses.","value":1397537,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-enrollment","text":"Trimble's student population (ADM) declined 15.13% between FY2020 and FY2025.","value":15.13,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-property","text":"Property values in Trimble's district increased 31.10% between Tax Year 2019 and Tax Year 2024.","value":31.1,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-first-forecast","text":"Trimble's treasurer resigned in June 2024; a successor was appointed September 19, 2024 and, within two months, submitted the district's first required financial forecast (Nov. 22, 2024), projecting a current-year deficit of -$1,620,794 and increasing deficits in every subsequent year.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-11-22","quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-caution","text":"The Department declared Trimble in fiscal caution effective December 17, 2024.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2024-12-17","quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-advance","text":"On April 21, 2025, the Controlling Board approved Trimble's request for an advance of $2,994,000 from the state's solvency assistance fund to meet its FY25 fiscal obligations.","value":2994000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-04-21","quote":null,"locator":"p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-pay-freeze","text":"In August 2025, Trimble's certified bargaining unit agreed to a base-and-step pay freeze for the 2025/2026 school year, and the district began approving volunteers for unpaid supplemental contracts to fulfill coaching and extracurricular assignments.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-08-01","quote":null,"locator":"p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-levy","text":"On November 4, 2025, Trimble voters approved a 1.00% earned income tax levy, effective January 1, 2026, for a period of five years.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-11-04","quote":null,"locator":"p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-latest-deficit","text":"On March 19, 2026, the Auditor of State's office completed its annual examination of Trimble's current-year deficit and certified it at -$996,000, down from the -$1,880,974 the district itself had projected the previous September.","value":996000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2026-03-19","quote":null,"locator":"p.7-8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-trimble-repay-revised","text":"On March 24, 2026, the state approved a revised solvency assistance repayment schedule for Trimble: $0 in FY26, then $748,500 per year for four years (FY27-FY30).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-03-24","quote":null,"locator":"p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-southern","text":"Southern Local School District (Meigs County) was in fiscal emergency for 113 months (11/8/1999-4/22/2009), the longest on record.","value":113,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-eastcleveland","text":"East Cleveland City School District (Cuyahoga County) was in fiscal emergency for 98 months (3/12/2003-5/24/2011).","value":98,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-bellaire","text":"Bellaire Local School District (Belmont County) was in fiscal emergency for 87 months (12/31/2009-4/17/2017).","value":87,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-coventry","text":"Coventry Local School District (Summit County) was in fiscal emergency for 66 months (12/4/2015-6/21/2021).","value":66,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-eastliverpool","text":"East Liverpool City School District (Columbiana County) was in fiscal emergency for 63 months (12/18/2003-3/24/2009).","value":63,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-ledgemont","text":"Ledgemont Local School District (Geauga County) was in fiscal emergency for 60 months (3/27/1997-4/11/2002), its first of two declarations.","value":60,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-brookfield","text":"Brookfield Local School District (Trumbull County) was in fiscal emergency for 58 months (5/14/2013-4/13/2018).","value":58,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 12 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-dur-fedhocking","text":"Federal Hocking Local School District (Athens County) was in fiscal emergency for 57 months (5/21/2007-3/1/2012).","value":57,"unit":"MONTHS","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"p.9, 11 (Exhibits A-B)","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"trimble-deficit-grew-during-review","label":null,"method":"2994000 - 1600000","result":1394000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"mthealthy-repayment-sums-to-original-deficit","label":null,"method":"485000 + 750000 + 1250000 + (1654600 * 5)","result":10758000,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"ohio-fiscal-emergency-duration-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ohio-fiscal-emergency-duration-gap","title":"Ohio School Districts Spend Years Trapped in 'Fiscal Emergency'","dek":"Ohio declares a school district in fiscal emergency once its deficit tops 15% of general-fund revenue -- and the state's own history shows the district should expect to stay there a while. The 44 districts declared since 1996 averaged 41.3 months under state oversight before release. Mount Healthy City Schools, two years into its own emergency, has cycled through six treasurers and now projects its cumulative fund-balance shortfall widening again, to $7.1 million, by 2029."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar","slug":"ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"NTSB's Competitively Awarded Contracts Nearly Doubled in Five Years","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2025-05-30","kind":"filing","sourceUrl":"https://www.ntsb.gov/about/reports/Documents/FY2026%20Budget%20Submission.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar-d-ntsb-fy26-budget","title":"National Transportation Safety Board, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request","sourceUrl":"https://www.ntsb.gov/about/reports/Documents/FY2026%20Budget%20Submission.pdf","kind":"filing","sha256":"edff3cd8ad5385d6c90f37507f6b3d6ada6055f3f287924729efa2e24444ead1","servable":"full","bytes":2380858,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T14:50:28.447Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar-d-ntsb-fy26-budget/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal agency budget submission (official primary); NTSB FY2026 Budget Request PDF from issuing body"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar-d-ntsb-fy26-budget","title":"National Transportation Safety Board, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request","sourceUrl":"https://www.ntsb.gov/about/reports/Documents/FY2026%20Budget%20Submission.pdf","kind":"filing","sha256":"edff3cd8ad5385d6c90f37507f6b3d6ada6055f3f287924729efa2e24444ead1","servable":"full","bytes":2380858,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T14:50:28.447Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar-d-ntsb-fy26-budget/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal agency budget submission (official primary); NTSB FY2026 Budget Request PDF from issuing body"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-budget":1,"m-expenditure":0.6,"m-appropriation":0.5,"d-safety":0.8,"d-transport":0.7,"d-governance":0.4,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.9,"e-verified":0.3},"labels":["ntsb-budget","fy2026-budget","federal-agency-budget","transportation-safety","budget-submission","contract-obligations","federal-procurement"],"whyItMatters":"A [GAO review requested under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108506) found the National Transportation Safety Board obligated about $86 million on awarded contracts between fiscal 2020 and 2024, adjusted to fiscal 2024 dollars -- 84% of it competitively bid. Competitively awarded obligations nearly doubled over that span, from about $10 million to nearly $20 million a year, which NTSB officials attribute mostly to growing IT investment; noncompetitive obligations barely moved, rising from about $2.5 million to about $2.6 million.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":1,"claims":[{"id":"fact-ntsb-fy24-total-budget","text":"NTSB's total obligations across its entire Salaries and Expenses account for fiscal year 2024 were $139,392,000, as reported in its FY2026 budget request to Congress.","value":139392000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024 (FY, actual)","quote":"99.9 Total Obligations 139,392 145,000 145,000","locator":"Object Classification table, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-annual-avg-pct-of-budget","label":null,"method":"(86000000 / 5) / 139392000 * 100","result":12.339302112029385,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ntsb-contract-obligations-dollar","title":"NTSB's Competitively Awarded Contracts Nearly Doubled in Five Years","dek":"A [GAO review requested under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108506) found the National Transportation Safety Board obligated about $86 million on awarded contracts between fiscal 2020 and 2024, adjusted to fiscal 2024 dollars -- 84% of it competitively bid. Competitively awarded obligations nearly doubled over that span, from about $10 million to nearly $20 million a year, which NTSB officials attribute mostly to growing IT investment; noncompetitive obligations barely moved, rising from about $2.5 million to about $2.6 million."}},{"schema":1,"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a","slug":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a","tier":"sealed","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"National Transportation Safety Board: Use of Competitive and Noncompetitive Contract Awards to Acquire Products and Services","publisher":"U.S. Government Accountability Office","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-21","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108506"},"provenance":{"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a","title":"National Transportation Safety Board: Use of Competitive and Noncompetitive Contract Awards to Acquire Products and Services","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108506","kind":"audit","sha256":"f103410a259a7e3b0826d5be2c9b199110812129b3a515121ebc581d499d865e","servable":"full","bytes":83901,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:50:21.413Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO audit of NTSB competitive and noncompetitive contract awards FY2020-2024 from Federal Procurement Data System"}},"sources":[{"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a","title":"National Transportation Safety Board: Use of Competitive and Noncompetitive Contract Awards to Acquire Products and Services","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108506","kind":"audit","sha256":"f103410a259a7e3b0826d5be2c9b199110812129b3a515121ebc581d499d865e","servable":"full","bytes":83901,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:50:21.413Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/gao-reports-2026-07-21-national-transportation-safety-board-use-of-competitive-a/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO audit of NTSB competitive and noncompetitive contract awards FY2020-2024 from Federal Procurement Data System"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-expenditure":0.9,"m-appropriation":0.6,"m-oversight":0.8,"d-governance":0.8,"d-transport":0.5,"e-primary":0.85,"e-quantitative":0.9,"e-verified":0.4,"e-timecritical":0.3,"e-gap":0.2},"labels":["ntsb-contracting","competitive-awards","federal-procurement","gao-audit","it-infrastructure","contract-spending","transportation","acquisition"],"whyItMatters":"A GAO audit examined NTSB's contracting practices — the balance between competitive and noncompetitive awards for products and services. Procurement patterns reveal whether the agency is maximizing competition or creating vendor dependency.","angle":"Review NTSB's contract awards database to determine whether critical IT and infrastructure purchases are competitively sourced or concentrated with specific vendors.","enriched":true,"verifiedFactCount":0,"claims":[],"computed":[],"article":null},{"schema":1,"id":"federal-workforce-reduction-2025","slug":"federal-workforce-reduction-2025","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Federal Workforce Shrank 255,971 in 2025 — Mostly Not by Layoff","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (federal-workforce-reduction-2025)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-17","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108583"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-federal-workforce-reduction-2025-doc-gao-108583","title":"Federal Agency Workforce Changes: Update for July 2025 to January 2026 (GAO-26-108583)","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108583","kind":"report","sha256":"096f97d23964ad7ed60ff9fbc82e8417aec62a56d7e8b252c55060e3bfdf2174","servable":"full","bytes":82881,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:50:19.191Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-federal-workforce-reduction-2025-doc-gao-108583/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO audit of 2025-2026 federal workforce separations across 22 agencies based on OPM administrative data"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-federal-workforce-reduction-2025-doc-gao-108583","title":"Federal Agency Workforce Changes: Update for July 2025 to January 2026 (GAO-26-108583)","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108583","kind":"report","sha256":"096f97d23964ad7ed60ff9fbc82e8417aec62a56d7e8b252c55060e3bfdf2174","servable":"full","bytes":82881,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:50:19.191Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-federal-workforce-reduction-2025-doc-gao-108583/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO audit of 2025-2026 federal workforce separations across 22 agencies based on OPM administrative data"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-expenditure":0.6,"m-oversight":0.7,"d-labor":0.9,"e-primary":0.8,"e-quantitative":0.95,"e-verified":0.4,"e-timecritical":0.3,"e-gap":0.4},"labels":["federal-workforce","reduction","executive-order","gao-audit","opm-data","agency-staffing","hiring-trends","personnel"],"whyItMatters":"Over 2025, the federal civilian workforce shrank by 255,971 people -- 11.3% -- across the 22 major agencies GAO could get data from, with 18 of them losing more than a tenth of their staff. But GAO's own breakdown of how those departures happened undercuts the layoff narrative: only 1.7% of the 377,722 people who left did so through a formal reduction in force. 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decline among the 22 reporting agencies: about 0.9 percent, from 231,337 employees in December 2024 to 229,342 in January 2026.","value":-0.9,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, Department of Homeland Security row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-education-largest-decline","text":"The Department of Education had the largest workforce decline among the 22 reporting agencies: 45.6 percent, from 4,273 employees in December 2024 to 2,326 in January 2026.","value":-45.6,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, Department of Education row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-defense-decline","text":"The Department of Defense's civilian workforce declined 10.7 percent, from 778,188 employees in December 2024 to 695,248 in January 2026 -- the largest reporting agency by headcount.","value":-10.7,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, Department of Defense row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-hhs-decline","text":"The Department of Health and Human Services' workforce declined 19.6 percent, from 93,035 employees in December 2024 to 74,795 in January 2026.","value":-19.6,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, Department of Health and Human Services row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-treasury-decline","text":"The Department of the Treasury's workforce declined 26.1 percent, from 117,063 employees in December 2024 to 86,461 in January 2026.","value":-26.1,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 1, Department of the Treasury row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-total-separations","text":"Across the 22 reporting agencies, 377,722 employees (including temporary employees) separated during 2025 -- equal to 17.6 percent of the agencies' combined average workforce.","value":377722,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":null,"locator":"Table 2: Separations and Hires at Chief Financial Officers Act Agencies, January 2025-January 2026, Total row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-total-hires","text":"Across the same 22 agencies, 127,360 employees (including temporary employees) were hired during 2025 -- equal to 5.9 percent of the agencies' combined average workforce.","value":127360,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2025","quote":null,"locator":"Table 2: Separations and Hires at Chief Financial Officers Act Agencies, January 2025-January 2026, Total row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-65pct-second-half","text":"About 65 percent of the year's separations occurred in the second half of 2025, as employees who had taken a deferred resignation offer departed their agencies.","value":65,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"nearly 378,000 employees separated from their agencies during the year, with about 65 percent of those separations coming in the second half of 2025 as employees who had taken a deferred resignation offer departed their agencies.","locator":"Page 6, paragraph following Table 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sba-decline","text":"The Small Business Administration did not provide requested data to GAO, but OPM's Federal Workforce Data website showed SBA's workforce fell from 8,611 employees in December 2024 to 5,418 in January 2026, a 37 percent decline.","value":-37,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"the size of SBA's workforce decreased from 8,611 at the end of December 2024 to 5,418 in January 2026 (a decline of 37 percent)","locator":"Page 6, paragraph on SBA and USAID","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-usaid-decline","text":"USAID did not provide requested data to GAO, but OPM's Federal Workforce Data website showed USAID's workforce fell from 4,895 employees in December 2024 to 258 in January 2026, a 95 percent decline.","value":-95,"unit":"PCT","asOf":null,"quote":"USAID's workforce declined from 4,895 to 258 (a decline of 95 percent) over the same period","locator":"Page 6, paragraph on SBA and USAID","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-other-retirement","text":"Of the 377,722 total separations, 172,527 (45.7 percent) were other retirements or resignations not tied to the deferred resignation program or a RIF.","value":172527,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3: Number and Percent of Chief Financial Officers Act Agency Employees Who Left Agency Employment by Type of Separation","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-drp","text":"128,589 separations (34.0 percent of the total) were deferred resignation program recipients who separated under the government-wide DRP announced January 28, 2025, or an agency-specific DRP.","value":128589,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Deferred resignation program recipients who separated\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-rif-total","text":"Only 6,331 separations (1.7 percent of the total) were employees separated through a formal reduction in force during 2025.","value":6331,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Employees separated through a RIF\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-rif-early-retirement","text":"An additional 10,243 separations (2.7 percent of the total) were employees who took early retirement due to an agency reduction in force or reorganization.","value":10243,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Employees who took early retirement due to an agency reduction in force (RIF) or reorganization\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-in-lieu","text":"2,235 separations (0.6 percent of the total) were employees who resigned or retired in lieu of an involuntary action or separation, such as demotion or termination.","value":2235,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Employees who resigned or retired in lieu of involuntary action or separation\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-probationary","text":"6,697 separations (1.8 percent of the total) were employees terminated during their probationary or trial period.","value":6697,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Employees terminated during probationary or trial period\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-other-terminations","text":"39,848 separations (10.5 percent of the total) were other terminations or removals, including for unacceptable performance or conduct or the expiration of a temporary appointment.","value":39848,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"Other terminations/removals\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sep-all-other","text":"11,252 separations (3.0 percent of the total) were all other separations, including when an employee died or transferred to another agency.","value":11252,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Table 3, \"All other separations\" row","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-continuing-approps-rif-pause","text":"The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026, retroactively rescinded all RIF notices agencies had issued between October 1 and November 12, 2025, and generally prohibited agencies from carrying out any additional RIFs through January 30, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-11","quote":"The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026, generally prohibited federal funds from being used to initiate, notice, or carry out RIFs from November 12, 2025, through January 30, 2026. It also invalidated RIF actions and notices issued between October 1 and November 12, 2025.","locator":"Figure 1 timeline (Nov. 12, 2025 entry) and footnote f, page 5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-drp-mechanics","text":"Under the government-wide deferred resignation program, employees who agreed to resign or retire by September 30, 2025, could be placed on administrative leave while retaining their salary and benefits in the interim.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-01","quote":"established a government-wide deferred resignation program (DRP) that allowed federal employees who agreed to resign or retire by September 30, 2025, to be placed on administrative leave while retaining their salary and benefits in the interim","locator":"\"Background\" section, third bullet","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-agencies-no-data","text":"The Small Business Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development did not provide the workforce data GAO requested for this report.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-06","quote":null,"locator":"Page 1 (\"To address the first objective\" section) and page 6","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"net-decline-count","label":null,"method":"2268585-2012614","result":255971,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"net-decline-pct-precise","label":null,"method":"255971/2268585*100","result":11.3,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"combined-voluntary-share","label":null,"method":"(172527+128589)/377722*100","result":79.7,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"all-other-separations-count","label":null,"method":"377722-172527-128589-6331","result":70275,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"rif-related-broad-share","label":null,"method":"(6331+10243)/377722*100","result":4.4,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"federal-workforce-reduction-2025","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/federal-workforce-reduction-2025","title":"Federal Workforce Shrank 255,971 in 2025 — Mostly Not by Layoff","dek":"Over 2025, the federal civilian workforce shrank by 255,971 people -- 11.3% -- across the 22 major agencies GAO could get data from, with 18 of them losing more than a tenth of their staff. 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Unresolved issues waste taxpayer money and delay intended benefits.","angle":"Contact the federal agency or its regional office to ask what they're doing to address the GAO's findings and timeline for fixes.","enriched":true,"verifiedFactCount":0,"claims":[],"computed":[],"article":null},{"schema":1,"id":"arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar","slug":"arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"APERS Skipped Its Own Monthly Check -- Then a Software Bug Hit","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-01-06","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://arklegaudit.gov/downloadReport.php?id=SA1037025"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar-d-apers-fy25-audit","title":"Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, Annual Financial Report, For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 (Report SA1037025)","sourceUrl":"https://arklegaudit.gov/downloadReport.php?id=SA1037025","kind":"audit","sha256":"95dfae2a1ccb6230c92a36e9d774d115ed65a5ed30bd9364300432b419ca7c22","servable":"full","bytes":667548,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:20:42.854Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar-d-apers-fy25-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721132041/https://arklegaudit.gov/downloadReport.php?id=SA1037025","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Arkansas State Auditor AFR documenting pension system benefit processing"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar-d-apers-fy25-audit","title":"Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, Annual Financial Report, For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 (Report SA1037025)","sourceUrl":"https://arklegaudit.gov/downloadReport.php?id=SA1037025","kind":"audit","sha256":"95dfae2a1ccb6230c92a36e9d774d115ed65a5ed30bd9364300432b419ca7c22","servable":"full","bytes":667548,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T13:20:42.854Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar-d-apers-fy25-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721132041/https://arklegaudit.gov/downloadReport.php?id=SA1037025","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Arkansas State Auditor AFR documenting pension system benefit processing"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-debt":0.8,"d-labor":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8},"labels":["state-audit","pension-system","retirement-benefits","benefit-processing","arkansas-apers"],"whyItMatters":"A January 6, 2026 audit from Arkansas Legislative Audit found the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System self-reported $261,993 in FY2025 benefit overpayments from mis-set calculations, then let a pension-software defect overpay five more retirees a further $95,264 -- a defect the agency's own monthly safeguard, built in 2022 after a prior audit finding, was not being reviewed to catch. A separate, unrelated incident left $2,692 in redirected benefits unrecovered.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":15,"claims":[{"id":"fact-report-metadata","text":"Arkansas Legislative Auditor Kevin William White, CPA, JD, issued the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System's annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2025, on January 6, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-01-06","quote":"We have audited the financial statements of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, an office of Arkansas state government, as of and for the year ended June 30, 2025 ... ARKANSAS LEGISLATIVE AUDIT, Kevin William White, CPA, JD, Legislative Auditor, Little Rock, Arkansas, January 6, 2026","locator":"p.1-2 (Independent Auditor's Report, signature block)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-total-assets","text":"As of June 30, 2025, APERS held $13,571,757,992 in total assets across its three plans, up from $12,549,690,788 the prior year, with net position restricted for pensions of $12,777,504,238.","value":13571757992,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-06-30","quote":"Total Assets $ 13,571,757,992 $ 12,549,690,788 ... Net Position Restricted for Pensions 12,777,504,238","locator":"Schedule 10, Schedule of Selected Information, p.45","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-membership","text":"APERS's public employees, state police, and judicial retirement plans together covered 104,051 members as of June 30, 2025: 44,186 active members, 44,316 retirees and beneficiaries currently receiving benefits (including DROP participants), and 15,549 terminated members entitled to future benefits.","value":104051,"unit":"PEOPLE","asOf":"2025-06-30","quote":"Retirees and beneficiaries currently receiving benefits, including DROP participants 43,344 789 183 ... Active members 43,499 542 145 ... Total 102,257 1,454 340","locator":"Note 1.B, Plan Descriptions, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-net-pension-liability","text":"The public employees retirement plan -- APERS's largest -- carried a total pension liability of $14,030,817,236 against plan net position of $11,932,028,241, leaving a $2,098,788,995 net pension liability for participating employers and a funded ratio of 85.04%.","value":2098788995,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-06-30","quote":"Total pension liability $ 14,030,817,236 ... Less: plan net position 11,932,028,241 ... Employers' net pension liability $ 2,098,788,995 ... Plan net position as a percentage of the total pension liability 85.04%","locator":"Note 3, Net Pension Liability of Participating Employers, p.31","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-breach-2692","text":"In December 2024, an APERS call center employee reset Member Self Service account credentials twice without verifying the caller was the account holder, granting an unauthorized user access; before access was revoked, that user redirected one month's benefit payment of $2,692, which had not been recovered as of the report's January 2026 date.","value":2692,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025-12","quote":"In December 2024, APERS became aware of two instances in which an employee in the APERS call center reset account credentials for a Member Self Service (MSS) account without verifying that the caller was the account holder; therefore, access was granted to an unauthorized user. Before access to the MSS account was revoked, the unauthorized user redirected one month's benefit payment of $2,692. As of report date, the funds had not been recovered.","locator":"Finding 2025-1, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-security-response","text":"In its written response to Finding 2025-1, APERS said it added two-factor authentication to the Member Self Service portal and now blocks online banking changes to a list of institutions frequently used by fraudsters, requiring a notarized application to change to one of those institutions instead.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-01-06","quote":"Additional fraud detection processes were implemented, including compiling a list of institutions frequently used by bad actors to misdirect funds. Our software now blocks those institutions, so online changes to them are not allowed. A member may still use those institutions, but they must submit a notarized application for that change to be made. ... Two-factor authentication was added to the Member Self Service portal to combat attempts by bad actors seeking to take control of members' accounts.","locator":"Finding 2025-1, Management response, p.4-5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-overpay-fy25-total","text":"For the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, APERS self-reported to Arkansas Legislative Audit a total of $261,993 in overpayments to retirees and beneficiaries across its public employees, state police, and judicial plans, caused by benefits calculated incorrectly at initial setup.","value":261993,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-07-01/2025-06-30","quote":"APERS reported to ALA overpayments to retirees and beneficiaries of the public employees, state police, and judicial plans totaling $261,993 for the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. ... ineffective internal controls allowed payments to be calculated incorrectly upon initial setup, resulting in the following excessive amounts.","locator":"Finding 2025-2, p.5-6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-overpay-reciprocal","text":"The largest single overpayment in Finding 2025-2 was $42,317 to a public employees plan member: APERS failed to recognize reciprocal service as concurrent service, letting the member retire under normal retirement provisions instead of the less generous early retirement provisions.","value":42317,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-07-01/2025-06-30","quote":"APERS overpaid a public employees plan member approximately $42,317 by not appropriately recognizing reciprocal service as concurrent service, allowing the member to retire under normal retirement provisions versus early retirement provisions.","locator":"Finding 2025-2, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-overpay-judicial","text":"The second-largest overpayment in Finding 2025-2 was $46,764 to a judicial plan member, caused by APERS calculating the benefit under the more generous Tier II provisions instead of the applicable Tier I provisions, and at an inaccurate Tier II rate on top of that.","value":46764,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-07-01/2025-06-30","quote":"APERS overpaid a judicial plan member approximately $46,764 by not appropriately calculating the benefit under Tier I provisions, but rather using Tier II provisions, and furthermore at an inaccurate rate for Tier II.","locator":"Finding 2025-2, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-sample-60-net-752","text":"Testing 60 members added to the benefit rolls in FY2025 who retired, entered, or exited APERS's deferred retirement option program (DROP), Arkansas Legislative Audit found two members with discrepancies that netted to a $752 combined overpayment before correction: a $512 underpayment from incorrect earnings history, and a $1,264 overpayment caused by a pension-system error.","value":752,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025 fiscal year","quote":"ALA tested 60 members added to the benefit rolls who retired, entered the deferred retirement option program (DROP), or retired from the DROP in FY2025. For two members, differences were noted between the amount received and the amount recalculated; when combined, these differences resulted in a total overpayment of $752 before they were corrected. One difference occurred when, despite being reconciled and finalized, incorrect earnings history was used in the final average salary calculation, allowing for a $512 underpayment in benefits.","locator":"Finding 2025-3, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-flag-bug-1264-and-94000","text":"The $1,264 overpayment in the sample was traced to APERS's pension administration system, COMPASS, erroneously removing an internal 'flag' marking a member's monthly benefit as capped under the IRS Section 415 limit when that member exited DROP; a follow-up query found four additional members affected by the same flag error on DROP exit, with a combined additional overpayment of approximately $94,000 -- five members and roughly $95,264 total tied to the single software defect.","value":94000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2025 fiscal year","quote":"The second difference occurred when the Agency's pension administration system, COMPASS, erroneously removed a 'flag' within the system when the member was exiting the DROP. This 'flag' was indicative of the member's monthly benefit being capped in accordance with IRS Title 26 Section 415 Limit, and removal of the 'flag' allowed for a $1,264 overpayment in benefits. As a result of this discovery, a query was performed to see if any other members were affected. Four additional members were affected by the 415 Limit 'flag' error within the system upon DROP exit, with an additional overpayment for these four members totaling approximately $94,000.","locator":"Finding 2025-3, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-vendor-service-credit","text":"APERS negotiated with the COMPASS vendor to cover the overpayments tied to the Section 415 limit flag error in the form of a service credit, expected in the first quarter of 2026, rather than pursuing repayment from the affected retirees.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026 Q1 (expected)","quote":"APERS was ultimately able to negotiate with the COMPASS vendor to cover the overpayments related to this issue in the form of a service credit expected in the first quarter of 2026.","locator":"Finding 2025-3, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-review-gap","text":"APERS has run a monthly 'Benefit Reconciliation Audit Report' since January 2022 -- created in response to a prior audit finding -- meant to flag exactly this kind of discrepancy, but when Arkansas Legislative Audit sampled two months of FY2025 to check whether the report was actually being reviewed, APERS could not produce evidence that it had been, and told auditors the agency was still working to identify an experienced team to review it monthly.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025 fiscal year","quote":"In response to a prior audit finding related to benefit overpayments, APERS implemented a procedure in January 2022, the Benefit Reconciliation Audit Report. ... ALA randomly selected two months from FY2025 to review to ensure the Benefit Reconciliation Audit Report was being reviewed and the control was operating effectively. The Agency was unable to provide evidence that the reports were being reviewed monthly, and upon questioning management, it was noted that the Agency is still working to identify an experienced team to review these reports monthly.","locator":"Finding 2025-3, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-review-gap-caveat","text":"Arkansas Legislative Audit noted that even when working as designed, the Benefit Reconciliation Audit Report would not have caught this specific error: APERS's own management response states the report did not identify the removed Section 415 limit flag, so the agency is separately working with the COMPASS vendor to add system-level controls against it.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-01-06","quote":"While this report offers value, it should be noted that the report did not identify the removal of the flag for the Section 415 Limit. We are working with our pension administration system vendor, COMPASS, to enhance system controls and prevent similar errors in the future.","locator":"Finding 2025-3, Management response, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-significant-deficiency","text":"Arkansas Legislative Audit classified the benefit-calculation control failures in Findings 2025-2 and 2025-3 as significant deficiencies in internal control -- not material weaknesses -- while cautioning that its audit was not designed to catch every deficiency that might exist.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-01-06","quote":"We identified certain deficiencies in internal control, described in the Schedule of Findings and Responses below as items 2025-2 and 2025-3, that we consider to be significant deficiencies.","locator":"Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-total-identified","label":null,"method":"2692 + 261993 + 95264","result":359949,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"computed-share-of-fund","label":null,"method":"359949 / 13571757992 * 100","result":0.0026521914125802663,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"computed-flag-bug-members","label":null,"method":"1 + 4","result":5,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/arkansas-apers-benefit-errors-dollar","title":"APERS Skipped Its Own Monthly Check -- Then a Software Bug Hit","dek":"A January 6, 2026 audit from Arkansas Legislative Audit found the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System self-reported $261,993 in FY2025 benefit overpayments from mis-set calculations, then let a pension-software defect overpay five more retirees a further $95,264 -- a defect the agency's own monthly safeguard, built in 2022 after a prior audit finding, was not being reviewed to catch. A separate, unrelated incident left $2,692 in redirected benefits unrecovered."}},{"schema":1,"id":"odni-recommendation-implementation-gap","slug":"odni-recommendation-implementation-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"ODNI's Fix Rate Trails the Government's by 29 Points","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (odni-recommendation-implementation-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-21","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108954.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-odni-recommendation-implementation-gap-doc-gao26-108954","title":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108954.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"e7585c281bf1b1e04672e339c50003e86bb907fc017a77b5b604cc56d3c1145a","servable":"full","bytes":277160,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:52:04.837Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-odni-recommendation-implementation-gap-doc-gao26-108954/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO priority open recommendations report on ODNI; federal legislative oversight agency official primary source, published 2026-07-21"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-odni-recommendation-implementation-gap-doc-gao26-108954","title":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108954.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"e7585c281bf1b1e04672e339c50003e86bb907fc017a77b5b604cc56d3c1145a","servable":"full","bytes":277160,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:52:04.837Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-odni-recommendation-implementation-gap-doc-gao26-108954/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"GAO priority open recommendations report on ODNI; federal legislative oversight agency official primary source, published 2026-07-21"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"d-governance":0.9,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.5,"e-timecritical":0.9,"e-gap":1},"labels":["gao-report","national-intelligence","federal-oversight","recommendations-gap","priority-open","implementation-gap"],"whyItMatters":"GAO's July 14, 2026 letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence William J. Pulte found ODNI has implemented just 48 percent of GAO's recommendations within five years, versus 77 percent government-wide. ODNI still has 44 open recommendations, including 6 rated priority -- down from 14 in May 2025, but GAO credits ODNI with actually completing only one of those; the other eight simply lost priority status. GAO is pressing two areas now: unreliable data behind ODNI's oversight of the security-clearance process, and four classified recommendations on intelligence-enterprise management.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":11,"claims":[{"id":"doc-title-date","text":"GAO-26-108954, 'Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence,' a letter dated July 14, 2026 from GAO's Acting Comptroller General to Acting DNI William J. Pulte, publicly released July 21, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence ... July 14, 2026 ... The Honorable William J. Pulte, Acting Director of National Intelligence","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"odni-vs-government-wide-rate","text":"GAO reported in January 2026 that, government-wide, 77 percent of its recommendations made 5 years earlier had been implemented; ODNI's own 5-year implementation rate was 48 percent.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In January 2026, we reported that, on a government-wide basis, 77 percent of our recommendations made 5 years ago were implemented. ODNI's recommendation implementation rate was 48 percent.","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"odni-open-priority-counts","text":"As of June 2026, ODNI had 44 open GAO recommendations, including 6 rated priority.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"As of June 2026, ODNI has 44 open recommendations, including 6 priority recommendations.","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"one-implemented-since-may2025","text":"Since GAO's May 2025 priority-recommendations letter, ODNI implemented one of the priority recommendations.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Since our May 2025 letter, ODNI implemented one priority recommendation.","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"priority-recommendation-churn","text":"GAO's May 1, 2025 letter (GAO-25-108078) identified 14 priority recommendations for ODNI. Since then, beyond the one implemented, GAO removed priority status from eight recommendations and added one new priority recommendation, netting to 6.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In this letter, we identified 14 priority recommendations. Since then, in addition to the one that was implemented, we removed the priority status from eight recommendations and added one new priority recommendation.","locator":"Page 1, footnote 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"personnel-vetting-data-unreliable","text":"Over 60 percent of selected data that ODNI used to oversee the security clearance process in fiscal year 2024 was not sufficiently reliable, per GAO.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"For example, over 60 percent of selected data that ODNI used to oversee the security clearance process in fiscal year 2024 was not sufficiently reliable.","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"personnel-vetting-recommendations-detail","text":"GAO recommended that ODNI improve the IT systems used to make security-clearance reciprocity determinations, and that ODNI develop a procedure to assess the reliability of the agency data it relies on.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We recommended that ODNI improve IT systems used to make reciprocity determinations, and that ODNI develop a procedure to assess the reliability of agency data.","locator":"Page 1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"intelligence-enterprise-four-classified","text":"GAO's four priority recommendations on intelligence enterprise management are all sensitive or classified, relating to issues such as oversight of business functions and systems, and counterterrorism.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Our four priority recommendations in this issue area are all sensitive or classified and relate to issues such as oversight of business functions and systems, and counterterrorism, among others.","locator":"Page 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"personnel-vetting-high-risk-list","text":"Personnel vetting risk is one of the areas on GAO's government-wide High-Risk List.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"One of these areas—mitigating personnel vetting risks—is included on GAO's High Risk List.","locator":"Page 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"priority-definition","text":"GAO designates a recommendation 'priority' when implementing it could realize large dollar savings, eliminate mismanagement, fraud and abuse, or make progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"GAO considers a recommendation to be a priority if, when implemented, it may significantly improve government operations, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue.","locator":"Page 1, footnote 2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fraudnet-contact","text":"GAO's FraudNet accepts public reports of suspected fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs via its website or a toll-free automated answering system, (800) 424-5454.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Contact FraudNet: Website: https://www.gao.gov/about/what-gao-does/fraudnet Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454","locator":"Page 5","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"priority-count-reconciliation","label":null,"method":"14 - 1 - 8 + 1","result":6,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"odni-recommendation-implementation-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/odni-recommendation-implementation-gap","title":"ODNI's Fix Rate Trails the Government's by 29 Points","dek":"GAO's July 14, 2026 letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence William J. Pulte found ODNI has implemented just 48 percent of GAO's recommendations within five years, versus 77 percent government-wide. ODNI still has 44 open recommendations, including 6 rated priority -- down from 14 in May 2025, but GAO credits ODNI with actually completing only one of those; the other eight simply lost priority status. GAO is pressing two areas now: unreliable data behind ODNI's oversight of the security-clearance process, and four classified recommendations on intelligence-enterprise management."}},{"schema":1,"id":"francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar","slug":"francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"A Missouri High School's Cost Nearly Doubled to $164.7M","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-mo","date":"2024-12-01","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2024105&token=7697101168"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2024-105","title":"Francis Howell R-III School District (Report No. 2024-105)","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2024105&token=7697101168","kind":"audit","sha256":"bf9351be0792ece1a0dcde920110b597924edde22a9c86ac8ad83846419d6003","servable":"full","bytes":1138195,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:51:46.254Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2024-105/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721125145/https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2024105&token=7697101168","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Missouri State Auditor performance audit on state school district; primary official record from issuing constitutional officer"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2026-059","title":"Francis Howell R-III School District, Follow-Up Report on Audit Findings (Report No. 2026-059)","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2026059&token=4101311117","kind":"audit","sha256":"ac879ee2caa51c87490350cd25d6561dd2e3efe6b66ce6bea2452928e48ece48","servable":"full","bytes":555198,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:51:55.311Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2026-059/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721125154/https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2026059&token=4101311117","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Missouri State Auditor follow-up audit on school district implementation of prior findings; primary official record from issuing constitutional officer, published 2026-07"}},{"id":"ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2024-105","title":"Francis Howell R-III School District (Report No. 2024-105)","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2024105&token=7697101168","kind":"audit","sha256":"bf9351be0792ece1a0dcde920110b597924edde22a9c86ac8ad83846419d6003","servable":"full","bytes":1138195,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:51:46.254Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar-doc-fhn-2024-105/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721125145/https://auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/ViewReport?report=2024105&token=7697101168","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Missouri State Auditor performance audit on state school district; primary official record from issuing constitutional officer"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"j-district":0.9,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.8,"d-education":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.8,"e-gap":0.7},"labels":["missouri-auditor","school-district","bond-overrun","performance-audit","construction-cost","findings-audit"],"whyItMatters":"A Missouri State Auditor's review of the Francis Howell R-III School District found the new Francis Howell North High School's final guaranteed price came in at $164.7 million -- nearly double the $86.35 million publicized to voters, and equal to roughly a third of the district's entire $244 million bond program. Officials knew costs were climbing for months before telling the Board. A July 2026 follow-up found the district has fixed some of what the audit flagged; other fixes are still in progress.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":21,"claims":[{"id":"followup-scope","text":"The State Auditor's follow-up review covered the status of selected 2024-105 recommendations; the follow-up fieldwork was substantially completed in October 2025, and the follow-up report's cover is dated July 2026 -- roughly 19 months after the original December 2024 audit.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-10","quote":null,"locator":"Auditor's letter, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bid-packages-approved-blind","text":"During the period covered by the original audit, the Board approved $38 million in Proposition S bid packages without knowing the project's full cost.","value":38000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Status of Findings, 1.1 Construction costs, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"status-transparency-in-progress","text":"The follow-up rated the transparency/reporting recommendation (1.1) 'In Progress.' The Executive Director of Facilities and Operations now provides weekly or bi-weekly capital-project reports to the Superintendent's cabinet, which are shared with the Board weekly, and began quarterly public construction-progress presentations at Board meetings in February, May, August, and November; a regulation requiring such reports was still being revised as of the follow-up.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2025-10","quote":null,"locator":"Status of Findings 1.1, p.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"status-pm-selection-implemented","text":"The follow-up rated the project-manager and architect selection-process recommendation (1.2) 'Implemented.' A Purchasing Manager now oversees bid evaluation, negotiation, and Board recommendations, and the Board requested and reviewed architectural-services qualifications in May 2024 before approving a firm.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Implemented","locator":"Status of Findings 1.2, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"status-safety-drills-in-progress","text":"The follow-up rated the safety-drills recommendation 'In Progress.' Reviewing 2024-2025 school-year records for all 23 schools, auditors found 16 still had missing drills or documentation errors -- including miscounting planned intruder drills as surprise drills, or holding two required drills in one semester instead of one per semester.","value":16,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"2024-2025","quote":"In Progress","locator":"Status of Findings 2, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"status-attendance-hours-implemented","text":"The follow-up confirmed the district corrected the attendance-coding error: the miscoded 'COL' code, which had overstated high-school attendance by 3,075 hours across the two school years and resulted in approximately $11,500 in excess state funding, no longer counts college-visit time as present, and the recommendation was rated 'Implemented.'","value":3075,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Implemented","locator":"Status of Findings 3.2, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"status-cash-handling-in-progress","text":"The follow-up rated the cash-handling segregation-of-duties recommendation (5.2) and the receipts/deposits recommendation (5.3) both 'In Progress' -- the district engaged an outside accounting firm in December 2024 to review finance procedures and began requiring a supervisory review of deposits, but that review is not yet documented in policy or regulation.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In Progress","locator":"Status of Findings 5.2-5.3, p.7-8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"prop-s-bond-total","text":"Francis Howell voters approved a $244 million general obligation bond issuance, known as Proposition S, in June 2020, with the single largest planned outlay going toward building a new Francis Howell North High School (FHN).","value":244000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2020-06","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1 narrative, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"prop-s-spent-to-date","text":"As of July 31, 2024, the district had Proposition S bond revenues (investment earnings, bond premiums, and bond sales) of approximately $288 million, and had spent or encumbered $233 million of it on various projects.","value":233000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-07-31","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1 narrative, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-estimate-2018-architect","text":"In 2018, the district's architect estimated the new FHN building at $93.5 million, based on square footage and comparable school construction costs, as part of the approved Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan; the Board was notified of this estimate. The building was then sized at 380,000 square feet.","value":93500000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2018","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-publicized-estimate","text":"Proposition S marketing materials publicized an estimated cost for the new FHN of $86.35 million -- the low end of an $86.35-97.5 million range the architects had actually presented -- and this remained the publicly discussed figure for approximately a year. The Board was notified of the $86.35 million figure.","value":86350000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2019-2020","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table and narrative, p.5-6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-estimate-nov2020","text":"In November 2020, the Proposition S Design Team presented the Board with an updated FHN cost estimate of $91.35 million.","value":91350000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2020-11","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-estimate-feb2021","text":"In February 2021, the construction manager's internal estimate for FHN reached $105 million, based on a building now sized at 410,000 square feet -- but the Board was not notified of this estimate.","value":105000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2021-02","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-estimate-may2021","text":"By May 2021, the construction manager's internal estimate for FHN had climbed to $116 million; the Board was again not notified.","value":116000000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2021-05","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-final-gmp","text":"The construction manager presented the final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for FHN to the Board in November 2021, over a year after initial construction had begun: $164.7 million, for a building that had grown to 410,000 square feet.","value":164700000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2021-11","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1, cost-estimate timeline table and narrative, p.4, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"coo-declined-estimate","text":"In September 2021, when a Board member asked how much over budget the new FHN building would be, the former Chief Operating Officer would say only that costs would be higher than originally projected, calling it 'short-sighted' to give an estimate -- even though he was aware the construction manager had put the preliminary GMP at $135 million or more. In October 2021, when another Board member asked for a broad percentage estimate ('are we talking 60-70 percent, [or] 10-20 percent?'), the former COO again declined, citing a desire not to 'tip their hand' on pricing negotiations -- despite the bids having already been opened at a public Zoom meeting.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2021-09","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.1 narrative, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"prop-s-projects-eliminated","text":"As of March 2024, district officials had identified 71 originally planned Proposition S projects, totaling at least $56.18 million, that will not be completed; 22 of those were classified as no longer needed and the remaining 49 as requiring additional funding or further evaluation.","value":56180000,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2024-03","quote":"71 originally planned Prop S projects, totaling at least $56.18 million","locator":"Citizens Summary, p.1; Finding 1.1 narrative, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"pm-selection-firm-switch","text":"A June 12, 2020 draft of the Board's project-manager recommendation memo scored one firm highest at 19 points and a second at 18; the firm eventually selected had scored only 16. On June 17, 2020 -- the day before the Board's scheduled vote -- district officials edited the recommendation to drop the top-scoring firm (whose advantage had included agreeing to hire a former district employee for on-site project management) in favor of the 16-point firm, which the former employee's brother owned, without documenting why. The former employee's own June 17, 2020 email stated he and his company always intended to work directly with the district and would not partner with another firm, meaning the district's insistence on his participation had limited eligible firms to just one from the start.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2020-06-17","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 1.2, p.9-10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"bond-underwriter-fees","text":"The district issued its general obligation bonds through negotiated, privately sold issuances rather than competitive sales, did not solicit competing proposals for underwriting services, and received its financial advice from the same firm that underwrote the bonds -- a firm the district had used for at least the prior 20 years. That underwriter's fees across the bond issuances totaled approximately $1.6 million.","value":1600000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"the district's bond underwriter received fees for the bond issuances totaling approximately $1.6 million","locator":"Finding 4, p.19","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"attendance-overstatement-original","text":"A miscoded attendance code counted college-campus-visit time as instructional attendance, overstating the three high schools' attendance hours by approximately 1,617 hours in the 2021-2022 school year and 1,458 hours in 2022-2023 -- resulting in approximately $11,500 in total excess state funding for the three schools across the two years.","value":11500,"unit":"USD","asOf":"2021-2023","quote":null,"locator":"Finding 3.2, p.16","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"overall-rating-2024","text":"In the areas audited, the December 2024 report rated the Francis Howell R-III School District's overall performance 'Poor' -- the audit's lowest of four rating tiers.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In the areas audited, the overall performance of this entity was Poor.","locator":"Citizens Summary rating, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"attendance-hours-cross-check","label":"Combined overstated attendance hours, both school years","method":"1617 + 1458","result":3075,"unit":"COUNT","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-cost-overrun","label":"Final cost above the publicized estimate","method":"164700000 - 86350000","result":78350000,"unit":"USD","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-overrun-share-of-bond","label":"Overrun as a share of the entire $244M bond program","method":"78350000 / 244000000","result":0.3211,"unit":"RATIO","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fhn-final-vs-published-ratio","label":"Final GMP as a multiple of the publicized estimate","method":"164700000 / 86350000","result":1.9074,"unit":"RATIO","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"eliminated-projects-share-of-bond","label":"Eliminated-projects value as a share of the total bond program","method":"56180000 / 244000000","result":0.2302,"unit":"RATIO","verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/francis-howell-fhn-cost-overrun-dollar","title":"A Missouri High School's Cost Nearly Doubled to $164.7M","dek":"A Missouri State Auditor's review of the Francis Howell R-III School District found the new Francis Howell North High School's final guaranteed price came in at $164.7 million -- nearly double the $86.35 million publicized to voters, and equal to roughly a third of the district's entire $244 million bond program. Officials knew costs were climbing for months before telling the Board. A July 2026 follow-up found the district has fixed some of what the audit flagged; other fixes are still in progress."}},{"schema":1,"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n","slug":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n","tier":"sealed","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence","publisher":"U.S. Government Accountability Office","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-07-21","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108954"},"provenance":{"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n","title":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108954","kind":"audit","sha256":"d04f7e3a883f458b3abd270ec2aa00a16eb1c43ad564ba10914e0d22aa595275","servable":"full","bytes":79005,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:20:59.226Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Government Accountability Office priority open recommendations report for federal intelligence community governance oversight"}},"sources":[{"id":"gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n","title":"Priority Open Recommendations: Office of the Director of National Intelligence","sourceUrl":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108954","kind":"audit","sha256":"d04f7e3a883f458b3abd270ec2aa00a16eb1c43ad564ba10914e0d22aa595275","servable":"full","bytes":79005,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:20:59.226Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/gao-reports-2026-07-21-priority-open-recommendations-office-of-the-director-of-n/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Government Accountability Office priority open recommendations report for federal intelligence community governance oversight"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.5,"e-gap":0.8,"d-governance":0.7},"labels":["audit-report","gao","odni","intelligence-community","open-recommendations","oversight","federal-governance","federal-management"],"whyItMatters":"The GAO tracks unresolved recommendations across federal agencies—audits that identified problems, but agencies haven't yet fixed them. Unfixed gaps mean ongoing risk.","angle":"Follow up with the federal agency's regional office on progress toward fixing GAO's longstanding recommendations.","enriched":true,"verifiedFactCount":0,"claims":[],"computed":[],"article":null},{"schema":1,"id":"iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap","slug":"iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"USAID, IAF Missed Required Drug-Trafficking Checks on LAC Grants","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2024-05-30","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Pre-Award%20Risk%20Management%20-%20USAID%20and%20IAF%20Missed%20Opportunities%20to%20Enhance%20Risk%20Management%20of%20Local%20Entities%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%20%289-000-24-004-P%2C%20%2099100222%29.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap-doc-preaward","title":"Pre-Award Risk Management: USAID and IAF Missed Opportunities to Enhance Risk Management of Local Entities in Latin America and the Caribbean (Audit Report 9-000-24-004-P)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Pre-Award%20Risk%20Management%20-%20USAID%20and%20IAF%20Missed%20Opportunities%20to%20Enhance%20Risk%20Management%20of%20Local%20Entities%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%20%289-000-24-004-P%2C%20%2099100222%29.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"d01baf3be0c438c2e56d41db8e72ecdbab22ce6e4427c96002b4eb23f4891acc","servable":"full","bytes":1274395,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:20:56.521Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap-doc-preaward/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721122056/https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Pre-Award%20Risk%20Management%20-%20USAID%20and%20IAF%20Missed%20Opportunities%20to%20Enhance%20Risk%20Management%20of%20Local%20Entities%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%20%289-000-24-004-P%2C%20%2099100222%29.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USAID Office of Inspector General audit report on pre-award risk management for local entities in international development"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap-doc-preaward","title":"Pre-Award Risk Management: USAID and IAF Missed Opportunities to Enhance Risk Management of Local Entities in Latin America and the Caribbean (Audit Report 9-000-24-004-P)","sourceUrl":"https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Pre-Award%20Risk%20Management%20-%20USAID%20and%20IAF%20Missed%20Opportunities%20to%20Enhance%20Risk%20Management%20of%20Local%20Entities%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%20%289-000-24-004-P%2C%20%2099100222%29.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"d01baf3be0c438c2e56d41db8e72ecdbab22ce6e4427c96002b4eb23f4891acc","servable":"full","bytes":1274395,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T12:20:56.521Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap-doc-preaward/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721122056/https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Pre-Award%20Risk%20Management%20-%20USAID%20and%20IAF%20Missed%20Opportunities%20to%20Enhance%20Risk%20Management%20of%20Local%20Entities%20in%20Latin%20America%20and%20the%20Caribbean%20%289-000-24-004-P%2C%20%2099100222%29.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USAID Office of Inspector General audit report on pre-award risk management for local entities in international development"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.6,"e-gap":0.8,"d-governance":0.6},"labels":["audit-report","usaid","international-affairs-foundation","vetting-gap","counternarcotics","risk-management","corruption-prevention","foreign-aid","latin-america","caribbean"],"whyItMatters":"A USAID Office of Inspector General audit of pre-award risk management found that two of three audited USAID missions in Latin America, and the Inter-American Foundation itself, couldn't show the federally required anti-drug-trafficking screening was performed before local groups received grants -- IAF's own manual never built the check in at all, even as the agency awarded $26.3 million across 142 projects in FY2022.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":16,"claims":[{"id":"fact-audit-scope","text":"OIG sampled 15 of 29 USAID awards and 14 of 42 IAF awards to local entities in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru, made from FY2019 through the second quarter of FY2022, stratified by dollar amount and award type.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"we selected a judgmental sample of 15 of 29 USAID awards and 14 of 42 IAF awards based on the stratified dollar amount of the award (high, medium, and low) and award type (grant and cooperative agreement).","locator":"p.2-3, \"Introduction\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-country-sample","text":"USAID's sample split four awards from the Dominican Republic, five from Mexico, and six from Peru; IAF's sample split four from the Dominican Republic, five from Mexico, and five from Peru.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"For USAID, we sampled four awards from the Dominican Republic, five from Mexico, and six from Peru. For IAF, we sampled four awards from the Dominican Republic, five from Mexico, and five from Peru.","locator":"p.3, footnotes 6-7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-dr-screening","text":"None of the four sampled USAID/Dominican Republic awards underwent the required pre-award review to determine whether local entities had known involvement with drug trafficking.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"none of the four sampled awards for USAID/Dominican Republic underwent the determination process","locator":"p.8, \"Selected Missions Did Not Consistently Request Reviews of Local Entities for Drug-Trafficking Prior to Making Awards\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-mx-screening","text":"USAID/Mexico could not provide documentation that its narcotics coordinator performed the drug-trafficking determination process for any of its five sampled awards.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"USAID/Mexico was unable to provide supporting documentation that the narcotics coordinator performed the process for any of the five sampled awards.","locator":"p.8, \"Selected Missions Did Not Consistently Request Reviews of Local Entities for Drug-Trafficking Prior to Making Awards\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-peru-screening","text":"All applicable sampled awards at USAID/Peru underwent the drug-trafficking determination process, though the process for one award was not requested or completed until after the award had already been issued.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"All applicable sampled awards at USAID/Peru underwent the determination process, although the process for one award was not requested or completed until after the award was issued.","locator":"p.8, \"Selected Missions Did Not Consistently Request Reviews of Local Entities for Drug-Trafficking Prior to Making Awards\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-mx-cert","text":"USAID/Mexico did not obtain the required signed anti-trafficking certifications and assurance statements for any of its sampled awards.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"USAID/Mexico did not obtain signed certifications and assurances for any of the sampled awards. According to USAID/Mexico staff, this was an omission on their part.","locator":"p.9, \"Two of Three Selected Missions Did Not Always Obtain Pre-Award Certifications and Assurances\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-peru-cert","text":"USAID/Peru could not produce the required signed certifications and assurances for two of its six sampled awards because mission personnel could not find the documents in their files.","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"In the case of USAID/Peru, the mission was not able to provide the required signed certifications and assurances for two of six awards in our sample, as mission personnel could not find the documents in their files.","locator":"p.9, \"Two of Three Selected Missions Did Not Always Obtain Pre-Award Certifications and Assurances\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-iaf-sample","text":"OIG's 14 sampled IAF awards represented one-third of all IAF awards made in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru during the audit period.","value":14,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For the 14 awards sampled in the three selected LAC countries—one-third of all awards in those countries—IAF took steps to identify and assess risks during its pre-award process as required by the Grant-Making Process manual.","locator":"p.11, \"IAF Assessed Local Entities Before Making Awards but Did Not Address Certain Federal Anti-Drug Trafficking Requirements\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-iaf-manual-gap","text":"IAF did not address the drug-trafficking determination-process requirements for any of the sampled awards, because its Grant-Making Process manual never clearly laid out the Foreign Assistance Act requirements -- it gave staff no instructions on when exemptions applied, how to ask embassies to run the check, or how to coordinate with embassies to follow through.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"IAF did not address the determination process requirements for the sampled awards because its Grant-Making Process manual did not clearly lay out all requirements of the FAA. The manual did not provide detailed instructions to its staff on how to (1) determine when to apply the exemptions from Federal requirements, (2) ask embassies how to implement the determination process, or (3) coordinate with embassies to follow the requirements.","locator":"p.11, \"IAF Assessed Local Entities Before Making Awards but Did Not Address Certain Federal Anti-Drug Trafficking Requirements\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-iaf-erm-gap","text":"At the time of the audit, IAF had no formal enterprise risk management framework in place to guide its risk management practices, an effort it had not finalized since OMB first issued its ERM circular in 2016.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"At the time of this audit, IAF did not have a formal ERM framework in place to inform and guide the implementation of its risk management practices. IAF officials acknowledged the need for a framework... However, they had not finalized these efforts since the initial release of OMB Circular A-123 in 2016.","locator":"p.12, \"IAF Missed Opportunities to Integrate Key Risk Management Practices Into Its Pre-Award Selection Procedures and Management Processes\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-iaf-fy22","text":"IAF awarded $26.3 million for 142 projects in FY2022, bringing its total active portfolio to 398 active awards across 27 LAC countries (378 single-country and 20 multi-country awards).","value":26.3,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":"Awarded $26.3 million for 142 projects in FY 2022, bringing its total active portfolio to 398 active awards in 27 LAC countries (378 single-country and 20 multi-country awards).","locator":"p.4, Table 1, \"USAID and IAF Operations and Programs in LAC\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-iaf-award-range","text":"IAF is a centralized agency that makes small-dollar awards, generally between $25,000 and $400,000, to local entities across LAC countries from its Washington, DC headquarters.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"IAF is a centralized organization that makes small dollar awards, generally between $25,000 and $400,000, to local entities in many LAC countries from its headquarters in Washington, DC.","locator":"p.3, \"Background\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-usaid-funding-growth","text":"USAID's direct funding to local entities in the LAC region nearly doubled between FY2020 and FY2022, from $53 million to $104 million.","value":104,"unit":"USD_M","asOf":null,"quote":"Direct funding to local entities in LAC nearly doubled between FY 2020 and FY 2022, from $53 million to $104 million.","locator":"p.4, Table 1, \"USAID and IAF Operations and Programs in LAC\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-lac-context","text":"For fiscal year 2022, the administration requested nearly $2.1 billion in foreign assistance for the Latin America and Caribbean region.","value":2.1,"unit":"USD_B","asOf":null,"quote":"For fiscal year (FY) 2022, the Biden administration requested nearly $2.1 billion in foreign assistance for this region to achieve these and other interests.","locator":"p.2, \"Introduction\"","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-recs-status","text":"OIG made six recommendations -- three for USAID, three for IAF. Both agencies agreed with five; USAID partially agreed with one. As of the report's transmittal, two recommendations were closed (USAID's #3, IAF's #6) and four remained open pending completion of planned corrective action (USAID's #1-2, IAF's #4-5).","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"The report contains three recommendations for USAID and three for IAF to improve their compliance with agency and Federal requirements and strengthen risk management procedures prior to issuing assistance awards. After reviewing information you provided in response to the draft report, we consider two closed (Recommendation 3 for USAID and 6 for IAF) and four resolved but open pending completion of planned activities (Recommendations 1 and 2 for USAID and 4 and 5 for IAF).","locator":"p.1, transmittal memorandum","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-conclusion","text":"OIG's audit found that both USAID and IAF lacked full compliance with federal regulations designed to ensure that those who engage in criminal activity, including drug trafficking, do not benefit from U.S. foreign assistance.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Our work identified that both agencies lacked full compliance with Federal regulations designed to ensure that those who engage in criminal activity do not benefit from U.S. foreign assistance.","locator":"p.13, \"Conclusion\"","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"computed-usaid-shortfall","label":"USAID sampled awards (Dominican Republic + Mexico) with no documented drug-trafficking screening","method":"4 + 5","result":9,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"computed-usaid-shortfall-pct","label":"Share of USAID's 15 sampled Latin America awards with no documented drug-trafficking screening","method":"(4 + 5) / 15 * 100","result":60,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"computed-usaid-funding-growth","label":"Growth in USAID's direct funding to local LAC entities, FY2020-FY2022","method":"104 - 53","result":51,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/iaf-drug-trafficking-vetting-gap","title":"USAID, IAF Missed Required Drug-Trafficking Checks on LAC Grants","dek":"A USAID Office of Inspector General audit of pre-award risk management found that two of three audited USAID missions in Latin America, and the Inter-American Foundation itself, couldn't show the federally required anti-drug-trafficking screening was performed before local groups received grants -- IAF's own manual never built the check in at all, even as the agency awarded $26.3 million across 142 projects in FY2022."}},{"schema":1,"id":"isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar","slug":"isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Illinois's $28.6 Billion Pension Pool Had a $99 Million Gap","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar)","jurisdiction":"state-il","date":"2026-07-14","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Retirement-Systems/ISBI/FY25-ISBI-Comp-Full.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar-doc-isbi-comp","title":"Illinois State Board of Investment (An Internal Investment Pool of the State of Illinois) — State Compliance Examination for the Two Years Ended June 30, 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2025","sourceUrl":"https://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Retirement-Systems/ISBI/FY25-ISBI-Fin-Full.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"b6fda89c38ada7fe0dece5654e70d87b3df8267092e571ed675a82f0fb88f6cc","servable":"full","bytes":477280,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:58:36.498Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar-doc-isbi-fin/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Illinois State Auditor financial audit of the Illinois State Board of Investment internal investment pool, FY2025"}},{"id":"ed-isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar-doc-isbi-comp","title":"Illinois State Board of Investment (An Internal Investment Pool of the State of Illinois) — State Compliance Examination for the Two Years Ended June 30, 2025","sourceUrl":"https://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/Retirement-Systems/ISBI/FY25-ISBI-Comp-Full.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"49932352571f6d4c2028b00e9cf900ec8341c1fee35b8ddc296d468364a4cc45","servable":"full","bytes":274784,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:58:24.622Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar-doc-isbi-comp/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Illinois State Auditor compliance examination of the Illinois State Board of Investment internal investment pool, FY2025"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-debt":1,"m-expenditure":0.6,"d-labor":1,"d-governance":0.6,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.9},"labels":["pension-fund","compliance-audit","isbi","illinois","investment-pool","fy2025"],"whyItMatters":"The Illinois State Board of Investment, which manages $28.6 billion for three state pension systems and a state trust fund, booked an uncorrected $99.1 million misstatement in its FY2025 books after payables and receivables for investment trades stopped matching its own custodian's records -- a finding state auditors call a material weakness even as ISBI cleared four other control findings from its prior review.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":13,"claims":[{"id":"f-net-position-fy25","text":"ISBI's total net position was approximately $28,581,051,604 as of June 30, 2025.","value":28581051604,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Management's Discussion and Analysis, Financial Highlights","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-net-position-fy24","text":"ISBI's total net position was approximately $26,166,688,840 as of June 30, 2024.","value":26166688840,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Management's Discussion and Analysis, Financial Highlights","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-isbi-funds","text":"ISBI was created in 1969 to manage the assets of the General Assembly Retirement System, the Judges' Retirement System, and the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois, and in 2007 was also given responsibility for managing the Illinois Power Agency Trust Fund.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2007","quote":null,"locator":"Management's Discussion and Analysis, Introduction","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-misstatement-total","text":"ISBI's FY2025 financial statements carried an uncorrected misstatement of $99,072,159 from investment payables and receivables that did not reconcile with the amounts reported by ISBI's asset custodian.","value":99072159,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-misstatement-member","text":"Of the $99,072,159 uncorrected misstatement, $98,910,967 hit the ISBI Member System (the pooled assets of the General Assembly, Judges', and State Employees' Retirement Systems).","value":98910967,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-misstatement-trust","text":"Of the $99,072,159 uncorrected misstatement, $161,192 hit the Illinois Power Agency Trust Fund.","value":161192,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reclassification","text":"On its auditors' recommendation, ISBI separately reclassified $27,712,272 from a receivable for investments sold to a payable for investments purchased; the reclassification had no impact on net position.","value":27712272,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-finding-type","text":"The compliance examination classifies Finding 2025-001 as a \"Material Weakness and Material Noncompliance.\"","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Material Weakness and Material Noncompliance","locator":"Schedule of Findings summary table, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-findings-cleared","text":"In the same examination cycle, ISBI cleared four prior findings from its FY2023 compliance examination: failure to implement cybersecurity program controls, lack of controls reviewing service providers, inadequate computer security controls, and insufficient controls over monthly reconciliations.","value":4,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Summary of Findings and Prior Findings Not Repeated, pp.7, 9-10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-repeated-findings","text":"The compliance examination's Summary of Findings reports zero repeated findings in the current cycle -- one new finding (2025-001), against four resolved.","value":0,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":null,"locator":"Schedule of Findings, Summary of Findings table, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-isbi-response","text":"ISBI's management response says the underlying variance-balancing practice \"has existed throughout the duration of ISBI's relationship with its asset custodian, which began in 2017,\" and \"has never been identified as an issue in any prior financial audit.\"","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"has existed throughout the duration of ISBI's relationship with its asset custodian, which began in 2017. It has never been identified as an issue in any prior financial audit.","locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, ISBI Response, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-isbi-cause","text":"ISBI management attributed the error to a change in the ledger system used by ISBI's asset custodian that affected its reporting process, calling it a missed oversight.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"ISBI management stated that the error was due to a change in the ledger system utilized by ISBI's asset custodian which impacted ISBI's reporting process. This change was missed due to oversight.","locator":"Schedule of Findings, Finding 2025-001, p.8","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-compliance-opinion","text":"The compliance examination's accountant's report \"does not contain scope limitations or disclaimers, but does contain a modified opinion on compliance and identifies material weaknesses over internal control over compliance.\"","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"does not contain scope limitations or disclaimers, but does contain a modified opinion on compliance and identifies material weaknesses over internal control over compliance","locator":"State Compliance Report Summary, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-misstatement-share-net-position","label":null,"method":"99072159/28581051604*100","result":0.347,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"c-member-system-share","label":null,"method":"98910967/99072159*100","result":99.837,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/isbi-pension-reconciliation-gap-dollar","title":"Illinois's $28.6 Billion Pension Pool Had a $99 Million Gap","dek":"The Illinois State Board of Investment, which manages $28.6 billion for three state pension systems and a state trust fund, booked an uncorrected $99.1 million misstatement in its FY2025 books after payables and receivables for investment trades stopped matching its own custodian's records -- a finding state auditors call a material weakness even as ISBI cleared four other control findings from its prior review."}},{"schema":1,"id":"usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap","slug":"usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"USITC never reviewed the contract for its own building security","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2026-06-29","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-06/Management%20Letter%20%E2%80%93%20Inadequate%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Interagency%20Agreement%20for%20Building%20and%20Security%20Services.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap-doc-oig-ml-26-05","title":"Management Letter -- Inadequate Oversight of the Interagency Agreement for Building and Security Services (OIG-ML-26-05)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-06/Management%20Letter%20%E2%80%93%20Inadequate%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Interagency%20Agreement%20for%20Building%20and%20Security%20Services.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"25037621d128b1ab245d88768f678f93392c2de00d6a575c4d9074306b486b3d","servable":"full","bytes":1145652,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:58:12.766Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap-doc-oig-ml-26-05/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"U.S. International Trade Commission Office of Inspector General management letter identifying inadequate oversight of interagency agreement for building and security services"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap-doc-oig-ml-26-05","title":"Management Letter -- Inadequate Oversight of the Interagency Agreement for Building and Security Services (OIG-ML-26-05)","sourceUrl":"https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-06/Management%20Letter%20%E2%80%93%20Inadequate%20Oversight%20of%20the%20Interagency%20Agreement%20for%20Building%20and%20Security%20Services.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"25037621d128b1ab245d88768f678f93392c2de00d6a575c4d9074306b486b3d","servable":"full","bytes":1145652,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:58:12.766Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap-doc-oig-ml-26-05/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"U.S. International Trade Commission Office of Inspector General management letter identifying inadequate oversight of interagency agreement for building and security services"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.8,"d-governance":1,"d-safety":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-gap":0.9},"labels":["federal-oig","security-oversight","interagency-agreement","facilities-management","inadequate-oversight"],"whyItMatters":"The U.S. International Trade Commission pays the Federal Protective Service about $2.4 million a year to guard the leased building where its 433 employees work. A June 29, 2026 inspector general management letter, issued mid-audit, found USITC's security office had never reviewed the underlying guard contract, kept no monitoring procedures, and could not verify what it was buying -- and that the building's own security log, the Post Orders, had been removed and shredded without the Commission's knowledge.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":10,"claims":[{"id":"f-ia-value-2-4m","text":"USITC's interagency agreement with the Federal Protective Service (FPS) for basic building and security services was worth approximately $2.4 million in Fiscal Year 2025.","value":2400000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"The USITC has not documented any procedures for monitoring the FPS activities or provided any analysis of the documents reviewed, despite the approximately $2.4 million IA for basic building and security services in Fiscal Year 2025.","locator":"Monitoring Gaps section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-no-monitoring-procedures","text":"USITC has not documented any procedures for monitoring FPS's performance under the interagency agreement, and provided no analysis of the documents its own audit team reviewed.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The USITC has not documented any procedures for monitoring the FPS activities or provided any analysis of the documents reviewed.","locator":"Monitoring Gaps section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-contract-never-reviewed","text":"OSS staff first told the OIG that the underlying contract between FPS and the security firm guarding the USITC building barred certain monitoring, such as reviewing logs -- but the OIG then found the Commission had never reviewed or even possessed that contract.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"OSS personnel initially told the OIG that the underlying contract between FPS and the security firm assigned to the USITC building, as well as the Post Orders, prohibited certain monitoring activities, such as reviewing logs. However, the OIG discovered that the Commission had never reviewed or possessed the contract.","locator":"Monitoring Gaps section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-no-mou","text":"FPS confirmed there is no Memorandum of Understanding or Agreement defining USITC's and FPS's respective roles and responsibilities, and no such language appears in the interagency agreement itself.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The FPS confirmed that there is no Memorandum of Understanding or Agreement related to USITC and FPS roles and responsibilities, and no such language exists in the IA.","locator":"Monitoring Gaps section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-no-reports-to-usitc","text":"FPS leadership told the OIG that USITC does not receive any reports from FPS about access control at the building; FPS said all such information is captured only in the on-site Post Orders.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We met with FPS leadership, who told us that the USITC does not receive any reports from FPS regarding access control at the building. They explained that all information is noted in the Post Orders.","locator":"Monitoring Gaps section, p.2","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-credibility-issues","text":"The OIG's audit team found that OSS's explanations for the identified deficiencies and its oversight activities were not backed by contemporaneous documentation, could not be independently verified, and in several instances conflicted with other evidence gathered during the audit -- to the point of raising serious credibility issues.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"During the OIG's audit, the explanations provided by OSS staff were inconsistent with the available evidence, to the point of raising serious credibility issues. The audit team found that explanations provided by OSS regarding the identified deficiencies and oversight activities conducted were not supported by contemporaneous documentation, could not be independently verified, and, in several instances, were inconsistent with other evidence obtained during the audit.","locator":"Credibility Issues with OSS Staff section, pp.2-3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-post-orders-shredded","text":"When the OIG arranged to inspect the building's Post Orders at the guard desk, the document could not be found; FPS ultimately told the OIG the Post Orders had been removed and shredded, a fact the Commission itself did not know.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Although FPS made another effort to locate the Post Orders at USITC, they subsequently informed the OIG that the Post Orders had been removed and shredded, which was not known by the Commission.","locator":"Credibility Issues with OSS Staff section, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-passive-oversight-unknowns","text":"After interviewing OSS staff and reviewing email correspondence and available USITC/FPS documents, the OIG could not determine whether OSS had demonstrated the ability to oversee the agreement effectively, had reviewed evidence of FPS's performance, had established basic protocols to assess whether the services met USITC's needs, or had received all the services the agreement describes.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"the OIG could not determine whether OSS had: demonstrated the knowledge, experience, and ability to oversee the IA effectively; reviewed reports or other evidence demonstrating FPS's fulfillment of IA responsibilities; established basic protocols or procedures to assess whether the services provided by the IA with FPS meet the USITC's needs and applicable federal requirements; and received all services described in the General Terms and Conditions document.","locator":"Passive Oversight section, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-culture-minimal-engagement","text":"The OIG's stated reason for issuing the letter mid-audit was to prompt management's immediate attention to what it called a culture of minimal engagement with the agreement's oversight.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"the OIG believes management's prompt attention to this matter is warranted to address a culture of minimal engagement.","locator":"Summary section, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-not-gagas","text":"The document is a management letter issued during an ongoing badge-access-controls audit, not a completed audit report; it was not performed under generally accepted government auditing standards and presents no conclusions or recommendations of its own.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"This management letter was not performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards and does not present any conclusions or recommendations.","locator":"Letter opening, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"ia-share-of-services","label":null,"method":"2400000 / 13739000","result":0.1747,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"ia-share-of-total","label":null,"method":"2400000 / 130030000","result":0.01846,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/usitc-fps-security-oversight-gap","title":"USITC never reviewed the contract for its own building security","dek":"The U.S. International Trade Commission pays the Federal Protective Service about $2.4 million a year to guard the leased building where its 433 employees work. A June 29, 2026 inspector general management letter, issued mid-audit, found USITC's security office had never reviewed the underlying guard contract, kept no monitoring procedures, and could not verify what it was buying -- and that the building's own security log, the Post Orders, had been removed and shredded without the Commission's knowledge."}},{"schema":1,"id":"ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap","slug":"ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"CT Auditors Flag the Same SDE Failures for 22 Years","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap)","jurisdiction":"state-ct","date":"2026-06-04","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://wp.cga.ct.gov/apa/wp-content/cgacustom/reports/FullReports/Education%2C%20Department%20of%20FULL_20260604_FY2023%2C2024.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-sde-audit-full","title":"Auditors' Report: State Department of Education, Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2023 and 2024","sourceUrl":"https://wp.cga.ct.gov/apa/wp-content/cgacustom/reports/FullReports/Education%2C%20Department%20of%20FULL_20260604_FY2023%2C2024.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"2e9514efcb1a61bd91f5d43ea415e2a6c246e87d722b3639758770a646797a7d","servable":"full","bytes":300077,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:57:48.070Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-sde-audit-full/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Connecticut State Department of Education full audit report by State Auditors, covering fiscal years 2023-2024"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-apa-whistleblower","title":"Whistleblower Complaints -- Auditors of Public Accounts","sourceUrl":"https://wp.cga.ct.gov/apa/take-action/whistleblower-complaints/","kind":"other","sha256":"4442ea1cd0227c86d747c10e83b0766a5e5ed5ddfd96a59ddeda8df3444c4e1c","servable":"full","bytes":78042,"contentType":"text/html; charset=UTF-8","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:58:00.088Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-apa-whistleblower/v1.html","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Official Connecticut state government whistleblower complaint webpage addressing audit findings"}},{"id":"ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-sde-audit-full","title":"Auditors' Report: State Department of Education, Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2023 and 2024","sourceUrl":"https://wp.cga.ct.gov/apa/wp-content/cgacustom/reports/FullReports/Education%2C%20Department%20of%20FULL_20260604_FY2023%2C2024.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"2e9514efcb1a61bd91f5d43ea415e2a6c246e87d722b3639758770a646797a7d","servable":"full","bytes":300077,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:57:48.070Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap-doc-ct-sde-audit-full/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Connecticut State Department of Education full audit report by State Auditors, covering fiscal years 2023-2024"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.6,"d-education":1,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7,"e-gap":0.7},"labels":["state-audit","ct-education","fiscal-audit","education-spending","repeat-findings","fy2023-2024"],"whyItMatters":"A statutory audit of Connecticut's State Department of Education found 15 problems, seven of them repeats -- including a revenue-reconciliation failure state auditors have now flagged across 22 years and ten straight audit reports, and a physical property inventory the department has not completed since fiscal year 2015. The department administers $3.1 billion a year in state education spending; auditors found it also could not show it filed 49 of the 77 reports state law required during the two years reviewed.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":23,"claims":[{"id":"f-whistleblower-scope","text":"The Auditors of Public Accounts accepts whistleblower complaints, including anonymous ones, covering corruption, unethical practices, violation of state or federal law or regulation, mismanagement, gross waste of public funds, abuse of authority, or danger to public safety at any Connecticut state department or agency.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-07-21","quote":"corruption, unethical practices, violation of state or federal law or regulation, mismanagement, gross waste of public funds, abuse of authority or danger to the public safety","locator":"Whistleblower Complaints page, \"What's Covered\" and \"Who Can File\" sections","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-total-findings","text":"The audit disclosed 15 recommendations, of which seven were repeated from the previous audit.","value":15,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"audit issued 2026-06-04","quote":"Our examination of the records of the State Department of Education disclosed the following 15 recommendations, of which seven were repeated from the previous audit.","locator":"State Auditors' Findings and Recommendations, opening line, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-inventory-not-since-2015","text":"SDE has not conducted a complete physical inventory of its property since the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"as of the audit's fiscal 2023-2024 review","quote":"SDE has not conducted a complete physical inventory since the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015.","locator":"Finding 9, Property Control -- Physical Control over Assets and Conducting Annual Inventory, Condition, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-inventory-fy23-balance","text":"SDE reported a $15,882,982 ending balance on its CO-59 annual property inventory form for fiscal year 2023.","value":15882982,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year ended June 30, 2023","quote":"The department reported $15,882,982 and $11,683,382 in ending balances on its CO-59 inventory form for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively.","locator":"Finding 9, Context, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-inventory-fy24-balance","text":"SDE reported an $11,683,382 ending balance on its CO-59 annual property inventory form for fiscal year 2024.","value":11683382,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year ended June 30, 2024","quote":"The department reported $15,882,982 and $11,683,382 in ending balances on its CO-59 inventory form for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively.","locator":"Finding 9, Context, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-inventory-repeat-history","text":"The physical-inventory finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports, covering the fiscal years ended 2009 through 2022.","value":5,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2009-2022","quote":"This finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports covering the fiscal years ended 2009 through 2022.","locator":"Finding 9, Prior Audit Finding, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-teachercert-diff-fy23","text":"Auditors found a $4,894 difference between the Connecticut Educator Certification System and Core-CT for fiscal year 2023.","value":4894,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year ended June 30, 2023","quote":"We noted $4,894 and ($18,884) differences between the Connecticut Educator Certification System (CECS) and Core-CT for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2024, respectively.","locator":"Finding 7, Revenues -- Teacher Certification Reconciliation, Condition, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-teachercert-diff-fy24","text":"Auditors found an $18,884 difference between the Connecticut Educator Certification System and Core-CT for fiscal year 2024.","value":18884,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year ended June 30, 2024","quote":"We noted $4,894 and ($18,884) differences between the Connecticut Educator Certification System (CECS) and Core-CT for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2024, respectively.","locator":"Finding 7, Condition, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-teachercert-repeat-history","text":"The teacher-certification revenue reconciliation finding has previously been reported in the last nine audit reports, covering fiscal years 2002 through 2022, and SDE management failed to address the underlying condition for over 20 years.","value":9,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2002-2022","quote":"SDE management failed to address this condition for over 20 years. ... This finding has previously been reported in the last nine audit reports covering the fiscal years 2002 through 2022.","locator":"Finding 7, Cause and Prior Audit Finding, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reporting-49of77","text":"SDE did not maintain evidence that it submitted 49 of the 77 reports the department was statutorily required to file during the audited period; of those 49, only ten were available and appeared complete.","value":49,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"SDE did not maintain evidence that it submitted 49 required reports to their intended recipients. Of the 49, ten reports were available and appeared complete. ... We reviewed all 77 SDE reporting requirements due during the audited period for compliance.","locator":"Finding 11, Reporting -- Inadequate Monitoring and Noncompliance with Reporting Requirements, Condition and Context, pp.14-15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reporting-13-late","text":"SDE submitted 13 required reports between 13 days and over a year late.","value":13,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"SDE submitted thirteen reports between 13 days to over a year late.","locator":"Finding 11, Condition, p.14","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-reporting-repeat-history","text":"The reporting-compliance finding has previously been reported in the last two audit reports, covering fiscal years 2018 through 2022.","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2018-2022","quote":"This finding has previously been reported in the last two audit reports covering the fiscal years 2018 through 2022.","locator":"Finding 11, Prior Audit Finding, p.15","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-deposits-late","text":"73 check or money-order deposits for Teacher Certificate Licenses, totaling $83,050, were posted to Core-CT between two and 17 business days late.","value":83050,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"Our review of the State Department of Education's check or money order deposits for Teacher Certificate Licenses disclosed that 73 deposits, totaling $83,050, were posted to Core-CT between two and 17 business days late.","locator":"Finding 8, Revenues -- Late Deposit and Posting of Deposits, Condition, p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-comptime-repeat-history","text":"The late-approval-of-compensatory-time finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports, covering fiscal years ended June 30, 2009 through 2022.","value":5,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2009-2022","quote":"This finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports covering the fiscal years ended June 30, 2009 through 2022.","locator":"Finding 3, Payroll -- Late Approval of Compensatory Time, Prior Audit Finding, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-comptime-condition","text":"Of ten sampled instances of compensatory time, six did not receive management approval until six to eleven days after the time was earned.","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"We reviewed ten instances of compensatory time and noted six that did not receive approval until six to eleven days after it was earned.","locator":"Finding 3, Condition, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-leaveincrement-repeat-history","text":"The minimum-leave-increment finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports, covering fiscal years ended June 30, 2009 through 2022.","value":5,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2009-2022","quote":"This finding has been previously reported in the last five audit reports covering the fiscal years ended June 30, 2009 through 2022.","locator":"Finding 2, Payroll -- Minimum Leave Increments, Prior Audit Finding, p.6","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-leaveincrement-employees","text":"74 employees charged leave time below the minimum contractual increments in 494 instances during fiscal year 2023, and 91 employees did so in 524 instances during fiscal year 2024.","value":91,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"The department had 74 and 91 employees who charged leave time below the minimum contractual increments, in 494 and 524 instances, during the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023, and 2024, respectively.","locator":"Finding 2, Condition, p.5","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-boards-oversight","text":"Of the 14 boards, councils, commissions and committees SDE leads, six were inactive, nine did not post regular meeting schedules with the Secretary of the State, eight did not post all meeting schedules and agendas on the state's public meeting calendar, and five did not post all minutes on the agency website.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"Six were inactive. Nine did not post regular meeting schedules with the Secretary of the State. Eight did not post all meeting schedules and agendas on the Secretary of the State's State Agency Public Meeting Calendar. Five did not post all minutes on the agency website.","locator":"Finding 12, Inadequate Oversight or Support of 14 Boards, Councils, Commissions and Committees, Condition, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-purchase-order-delay","text":"SDE did not promptly commit funds for four purchase orders totaling $246,705, delaying the commitment between one and 52 days.","value":246705,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"Our review of 25 expenditure transactions disclosed that SDE did not promptly commit funds for four purchase orders, totaling $246,705. SDE delayed committing the funds between one and 52 days.","locator":"Finding 6, Procurement -- Internal Controls Over the Commitment of Funds, Condition, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-rehired-retirees","text":"SDE rehired two retirees who worked two and 24 days beyond the 120-day calendar-year limit in 2023; the department did not pursue reimbursement until auditors flagged it, after which it recouped $9,012.","value":9012,"unit":"USD","asOf":"calendar year 2023","quote":"The department rehired two retirees who worked two and 24 days over the 120-day limit in calendar year 2023. The department did not pursue reimbursements of the retirees' excess retirement benefits. ... Upon notification, the agency recouped $9,012 from the two rehired retirees who worked and were paid beyond the 120-day limit.","locator":"Finding 1, Payroll -- Inadequate Monitoring of Rehired Retirees, Condition and Effect, p.4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-separation-payments","text":"Reviewing five employees' accrued vacation and sick leave payments totaling $201,917, auditors found SDE overpaid $2,786 to three employees and underpaid $5,098 to one employee.","value":201917,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal years 2023-2024","quote":"Our review of five employees' accrued vacation and sick leave payments totaling $201,917, revealed that SDE overpaid $2,786 to three employees and underpaid $5,098 to one employee.","locator":"Finding 4, Payroll -- Inaccurate Leave Payments at Separation, Condition, p.7","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-gf-expenditures-fy24","text":"SDE's General Fund expenditures totaled $3,125,660,376 in fiscal year 2024.","value":3125660376,"unit":"USD","asOf":"fiscal year ended June 30, 2024","quote":"Total $ 2,938,621,506 [FY2022] $ 3,003,569,026 [FY2023] $ 3,125,660,376 [FY2024]","locator":"About the Agency, General Fund Expenditures table, p.33","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-inventory-agency-response","text":"In its written response, SDE said the inventory process was not completed in part due to staffing challenges and it plans to conduct a full inventory within six months of the audit's June 4, 2026 issuance.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"audit issued 2026-06-04","quote":"We agree with this finding. Due in part to staffing challenges, the inventory process was not completed. We plan to conduct a full inventory within the next six months.","locator":"Finding 9, Agency Response, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-teachercert-years","label":"Years spanned by the teacher-certification reconciliation finding","method":"2024 - 2002","result":22,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-inventory-years","label":"Years spanned by the physical-inventory finding","method":"2024 - 2009","result":15,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-comptime-years","label":"Years spanned by the compensatory-time finding","method":"2024 - 2009","result":15,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-leaveincrement-years","label":"Years spanned by the minimum-leave-increment finding","method":"2024 - 2009","result":15,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-reporting-years","label":"Years spanned by the reporting-compliance finding","method":"2024 - 2018","result":6,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-asset-swing","label":"Change in reported equipment balance, FY2023 to FY2024","method":"15882982 - 11683382","result":4199600,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-reporting-share","label":"Share of required reports not shown filed","method":"49/77*100","result":63.6,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-late-deposit-share","label":"Share of sampled certification deposits posted late","method":"83050/(172769+110650)*100","result":29.3,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/ct-sde-repeat-findings-gap","title":"CT Auditors Flag the Same SDE Failures for 22 Years","dek":"A statutory audit of Connecticut's State Department of Education found 15 problems, seven of them repeats -- including a revenue-reconciliation failure state auditors have now flagged across 22 years and ten straight audit reports, and a physical property inventory the department has not completed since fiscal year 2015. The department administers $3.1 billion a year in state education spending; auditors found it also could not show it filed 49 of the 77 reports state law required during the two years reviewed."}},{"schema":1,"id":"delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap","slug":"delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Delaware nursing homes passed Medicaid audits with 8 flaws each","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap)","jurisdiction":"state-de","date":"2026-02-19","kind":"release","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.delaware.gov/2026/02/19/long-term-care-facilities-fy22/"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap-doc-de-aoa-ltc-fy22-summary","title":"Long Term Care Facilities FY22","sourceUrl":"https://auditor.delaware.gov/2026/02/19/long-term-care-facilities-fy22/","kind":"release","sha256":"f6ae4fbee57a41fd676806aeb3085e765b37eb688e29306efb2ed89bc6f2dec6","servable":"full","bytes":73661,"contentType":"text/html; 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All 14 came back with unmodified opinions. All 14 also had findings, averaging 8 apiece with a high of 14 at one facility, and two facilities' management never responded at all. The auditor's own conclusion: the pattern is a sign the facilities' internal system is failing.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":20,"claims":[{"id":"fact-kentmere-findings-count","text":"Kentmere Rehabilitation and Healthcare's FY2022 examination logged six numbered findings (22-01 through 22-06).","value":6,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Finding 22-01 ... Finding 22-02 ... Finding 22-03 ... Finding 22-04 ... Finding 22-05 (Schedule of Adjustments to the Nursing Wage Survey) ... Finding 22-06 (Comment Number(s) Impacted: 1).","locator":"Schedule of Findings, pp.9-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-kentmere-changed-preparers","text":"Responding to three separate findings, Kentmere's management repeatedly cited a change in who prepares the facility's cost report as the fix -- indicating the errors were tied to turnover in that role rather than a single one-off mistake.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Management has changed cost report preparers (as of the 06/30/2025 year) and has updated groupings accordingly to reflect proper Medicaid cost report groupings. ... Management will communicate with the new cost report preparation team to break out beauty and barber revenue against the related expense. ... Management has changed cost report preparers and will be allocating these expenses in accordance with appropriate regulations.","locator":"Findings 22-01, 22-02, 22-03, Management's Response, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-kentmere-cost-breakdown","text":"Kentmere's FY2022 cost report, as originally filed, reported: $4,500,477 primary patient care, $723,832 secondary patient care, $2,512,892 support service, $2,049,395 administrative and routine, $900,325 capital, and $812,504 ancillary.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Primary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $4,500,477 ... Secondary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $723,832 ... Support Service Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $2,512,892 ... Administrative & Routine Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $2,049,395 ... Capital Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $900,325 ... Ancillary Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $812,504.","locator":"Schedule of Adjustments to the Trial Balance, pp.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-de-veterans-home-findings-count","text":"The Delaware Veterans Home's FY2022 examination logged seven numbered findings (22-01 through 22-07).","value":7,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Finding 22-01 ... Finding 22-02 ... Finding 22-03 ... Finding 22-04 ... Finding 22-05 ... Finding 22-06 (Schedule of Adjustments to Patient Days) ... Finding 22-07 (Schedule of Adjustments to the Nursing Wage Survey).","locator":"Schedule of Findings, pp.9-12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-de-veterans-home-state-owned","text":"The Delaware Veterans Home is owned and operated by the State of Delaware itself; its management response to a depreciation-expense finding explained that because of that ownership structure, depreciation is not recorded in the facility's routine accounting transactions.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Because the nursing facility is owned and operated by the State of Delaware, depreciation expense is not recorded in the routine accounting transactions which include the receipts and disbursements related to the nursing facility.","locator":"Finding 22-01, Management's Response, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-de-veterans-home-cmp-finding","text":"A separate Delaware Veterans Home finding: the facility included a non-allowable civil money penalty expense among costs submitted as reimbursable on its Medicaid cost report.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The provider included non-allowable civil money penalty expense with reimbursable cost. ... Non-allowable expense was submitted with allowable costs on the State of Delaware Medicaid Cost Report.","locator":"Finding 22-04, p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-de-veterans-home-cost-breakdown","text":"The Delaware Veterans Home's FY2022 cost report, as originally filed, reported: $4,658,730 primary patient care, $693,316 secondary patient care, $3,925,137 support service, $3,246,746 administrative and routine, $0 capital (no depreciation recorded), and $449,833 ancillary.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Primary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $4,658,730 ... Secondary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $693,316 ... Support Service Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $3,925,137 ... Administrative & Routine Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $3,246,746 ... Capital Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $- ... Ancillary Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $449,833.","locator":"Schedule of Adjustments to the Trial Balance, pp.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-cost-report-purpose","text":"Each facility's cost report and Nursing Wage Survey were prepared for the specific purpose of complying with DHSS's requirements for setting Medicaid program reimbursement.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The accompanying Schedule of Adjustments to the Trial Balance, Patient Days, and Nursing Wage Survey were prepared from information contained in the Provider's cost report for the purpose of complying with the DHSS's requirements for the Medicaid program reimbursement, and is not intended to be a complete presentation in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.","locator":"Independent Accountant's Report, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-atlantic-shores-findings-count","text":"Atlantic Shores Rehabilitation and Health Center's FY2022 examination logged seven numbered findings (22-01 through 22-07).","value":7,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Finding 22-01 ... Finding 22-02 ... Finding 22-03 ... Finding 22-04 ... Finding 22-05 ... Finding 22-06 (Schedule of Adjustments to the Nursing Wage Survey) ... Finding 22-07 (Comment Number(s) Impacted: 2).","locator":"Schedule of Findings, pp.9-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-atlantic-shores-lobbying-finding","text":"One of Atlantic Shores' findings: the facility included non-allowable personal-use cable television, lobbying, and nurse-aide-training expense among the costs it submitted as reimbursable on its Medicaid cost report.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The provider included non-allowable personal patient use cable television, lobbying, and nurse aide training expense with reimbursable cost. ... Provider Reimbursement Manual 15-1, Chapter 23, Section 2139 states that provider political and lobbying activities are not related to the care of patients. Therefore, costs incurred for such activities are unallowable.","locator":"Finding 22-01, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-atlantic-shores-cost-breakdown","text":"Atlantic Shores' FY2022 cost report, as originally filed (before the auditor's adjustments), reported six cost-center totals: $8,622,599 primary patient care, $670,937 secondary patient care, $2,657,644 support service, $3,886,207 administrative and routine, $3,703,222 capital, and $2,305,439 ancillary.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Primary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $8,622,599 ... Secondary Patient Care Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $670,937 ... Support Service Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $2,657,644 ... Administrative & Routine Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $3,886,207 ... Capital Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $3,703,222 ... Ancillary Costs per Trial Balance of Costs $2,305,439.","locator":"Schedule of Adjustments to the Trial Balance, pp.3-4","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fy22-batch-scope","text":"The Delaware Auditor of Accounts examined 14 long-term care facilities' fiscal records -- the Statement of Reimbursement Costs for Skilled and Intermediate Care Nursing Facilities (cost report) and the Nursing Wage Survey -- for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, filed with DHSS's Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance.","value":14,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"An examination of 14 Long-Term Care Facility fiscal records of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, Medicaid Long-Term Care Facilities' Statement of Reimbursement Costs for Skilled and Intermediate Care Nursing Facilities – Title XIX and Nursing Wage Survey (cost report and nursing wage survey, respectively) for fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.","locator":"Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-statutory-authority","text":"The State Auditor is authorized under 29 Del. C. Sec. 2906 to conduct audits of all financial transactions of all state agencies.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The State Auditor is authorized under 29 Del. C., §2906 to conduct audits of all financial transactions of all state agencies.","locator":"Background","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-unmodified-opinions","text":"All 14 long-term care facilities examined received unmodified opinions and complied, in all material respects, with the federal and state Medicaid criteria the examination applied.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"All of the fourteen (14) long-term care facilities examined received unmodified opinions and complied, in all material respects, with the criteria mentioned.","locator":"Key Information and Findings","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-all-had-findings","text":"Every one of the 14 facilities had adjustments or findings in its report; under Government Auditing Standards those findings did not materially affect the examination, but were included to alert readers to the auditors' comments.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"All facilities audited did have adjustments or findings in the reports. Under Governmental Auditing Standards, the adjustments and findings do not materially impact the examination. However, the findings are included to alert the readers of the reports with the comments made during the examination.","locator":"Key Information and Findings","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-common-findings-categories","text":"The auditor's office lists six categories of findings and adjustments that recurred across the batch: improper calculation of patient days on the cost report, improper calculation of depreciation, improperly reported nursing wage surveys, missing supporting documentation, expenses grouped to improper cost centers, and non-allowable expenses included with reimbursable costs.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Common findings and adjustments included: Improper calculation of patient days on the cost report; Improper calculation of depreciation; Nursing wage survey's improperly reported; Supporting documentation missing; Grouping expenses to improper cost centers; Inclusion of non-allowable expenses with reimbursable cost.","locator":"Common findings and adjustments","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-response-2of14","text":"Two of the 14 facilities' management did not provide any response acknowledging the findings or a plan to address them.","value":2,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"For the findings, two of the 14 facilities' management did not provide a response acknowledging the issue or the plan to address the findings found during the audit.","locator":"Management Response Issues","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-avg-high-findings","text":"Across the 14 facilities, the auditor's office counted a large volume of non-material findings -- an average of 8 per facility, with a high of 14 at one facility -- which it states is a strong indicator of deteriorating or weak internal controls, since individually small errors risk aggregating past the threshold for materiality.","value":8,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"The large volume of non-material audit findings (an average of 8, with a high of 14 per facility) is a strong indicator of deteriorating or weak internal controls within these long-term care facilities (LTCFs). The findings, though individually non-material, risk that many small, non-material errors can aggregate to cross the threshold for materiality, resulting in a modified opinion.","locator":"Critical Assessment on Internal Controls","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-internal-system-failing","text":"The auditor's office states directly that despite the unmodified opinions, the numerous findings point to a breakdown in facilities' day-to-day systems and procedures, and that relying on external auditors to catch this many errors is itself a sign the internal system is failing.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"While the audits issued an unmodified opinion (meaning no material misstatement), the numerous findings point to a breakdown in the day-to-day systems and procedures designed to prevent and detect errors. The sheer number of issues means the facilities are relying on external auditors to catch errors, a sign that the internal system is failing.","locator":"Critical Assessment on Internal Controls","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-public-release-date","text":"The Auditor of Accounts publicly posted this batch of 14 FY2022 long-term-care-facility examinations on February 19, 2026.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":"2026-02-19","quote":"Long Term Care Facilities FY22 -- February 19, 2026.","locator":"Page publish date","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"kentmere-total-cost","label":null,"method":"4500477+723832+2512892+2049395+900325+812504","result":11499425,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"sampled-three-avg-findings","label":null,"method":"(7+7+6)/3","result":6.67,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"de-veterans-home-total-cost","label":null,"method":"4658730+693316+3925137+3246746+0+449833","result":12973762,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"atlantic-shores-total-cost","label":null,"method":"8622599+670937+2657644+3886207+3703222+2305439","result":21846048,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"release-lag-days","label":null,"method":"days between 2022-06-30 and 2026-02-19","result":1330,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"}],"article":{"slug":"delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/delaware-ltc-medicaid-cost-report-gap","title":"Delaware nursing homes passed Medicaid audits with 8 flaws each","dek":"The Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts examined 14 nursing facilities' FY2022 Medicaid cost reports -- the filings that help set what the state pays each facility per patient-day. All 14 came back with unmodified opinions. All 14 also had findings, averaging 8 apiece with a high of 14 at one facility, and two facilities' management never responded at all. The auditor's own conclusion: the pattern is a sign the facilities' internal system is failing."}},{"schema":1,"id":"mi-hotline-oversight-gap","slug":"mi-hotline-oversight-gap","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"Michigan 211 missed every answer-time target; no manager was assigned","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (mi-hotline-oversight-gap)","jurisdiction":"state-mi","date":"2026-06-10","kind":"audit","sourceUrl":"https://audgen.michigan.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/r491021124-413691.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-mi-hotline-oversight-gap-doc-oag-hotline-audit","title":"Oversight of Selected Support, Information, and Referral Hotlines, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (Report 491-0211-24)","sourceUrl":"https://audgen.michigan.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/r491021124-413691.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"0d79255c8cbd3443da61908ce96d50b581033b8cb3a15253b7001d5276cebc72","servable":"full","bytes":877008,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:56:01.823Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-mi-hotline-oversight-gap-doc-oag-hotline-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Michigan Auditor General oversight report of selected support, information, and referral hotlines operated by Department of Health and Human Services"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-mi-hotline-oversight-gap-doc-oag-hotline-audit","title":"Oversight of Selected Support, Information, and Referral Hotlines, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (Report 491-0211-24)","sourceUrl":"https://audgen.michigan.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/r491021124-413691.pdf","kind":"audit","sha256":"0d79255c8cbd3443da61908ce96d50b581033b8cb3a15253b7001d5276cebc72","servable":"full","bytes":877008,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:56:01.823Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-mi-hotline-oversight-gap-doc-oag-hotline-audit/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":null,"grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Michigan Auditor General oversight report of selected support, information, and referral hotlines operated by Department of Health and Human Services"}}],"classification":{"j-state":1,"m-oversight":1,"m-expenditure":0.7,"d-health":1,"d-governance":0.5,"e-primary":1,"e-quantitative":0.7,"e-gap":0.6},"labels":["hotline-oversight","michigan-health","human-services","audit-report","service-quality"],"whyItMatters":"Michigan pays outside contractors and grantees $24 million a year to run its legally mandated help lines -- 211, the 988 crisis line, the problem-gambling helpline, and the domestic violence and sexual assault hotline, roughly 700,000 contacts a year. A June 10, 2026 report by the state's constitutional auditor found the flagship 211 line reported average answer times of 3 to 6 minutes against a 90-second contract target in every one of the 7 quarters reviewed, and hit its 90% database-accuracy requirement in just 1 of them -- while the department that holds the contract never designated anyone to manage it, imposed none of the penalties the contract allowed, and could not show it had followed up.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":25,"claims":[{"id":"fact-report-identity","text":"Performance audit report 491-0211-24, 'Oversight of Selected Support, Information, and Referral Hotlines, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services,' released June 2026 with the report letter dated June 10, 2026, by the Michigan Office of the Auditor General (Doug A. Ringler, Auditor General).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Oversight of Selected Support, Information, and Referral Hotlines / Michigan Department of Health and Human Services / June 2026 ... Report Number: 491-0211-24","locator":"Cover; Report Summary p.1; report letter dated June 10, 2026, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-totals-24m-700k","text":"MDHHS's hotlines covered by the audit receive 700,000 contacts per year in total, and MDHHS's contractor and grantee agreement expenditures for these hotline services totaled $24 million in fiscal year 2025.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In total, these MDHHS hotlines receive 700,000 contacts per year, and MDHHS's contractor and grantee agreement expenditures for fiscal year 2025 totaled $24 million for these hotline services.","locator":"Report Summary, p.1","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-211-contacts-spend","text":"The Michigan 211 hotline handles approximately 576,000 contacts annually; MDHHS's annual 211 contract expenditure totaled $5.9 million during the audit period (October 2022-June 2024), and its fiscal year 2025 agreement expenditures for 211 were $7.7 million.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Michigan 211 hotline handles approximately 576,000 contacts annually, and MDHHS's annual contract expenditure totaled $5.9 million during the audit period. ... MDHHS has an agreement with a contractor for the operation of Michigan 211, and its fiscal year 2025 agreement expenditures were $7.7 million.","locator":"Oversight of the Michigan 211 hotline, Background, p.9; Description, p.26","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-conclusion-not-sufficient","text":"The audit's conclusion on Objective 1 -- the sufficiency of MDHHS's oversight of the Michigan 211 hotline -- is 'Not sufficient,' with one material condition (Finding 1), the audit's most serious classification.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Objective 1: To assess the sufficiency of MDHHS's oversight of the Michigan 211 resource information and referral hotline. ... Conclusion: Not sufficient.","locator":"Report Summary, p.1; Conclusion, p.9","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-accuracy-1of7","text":"Michigan 211 achieved the contractually required 90% level of resource-database accuracy in only 1 (14%) of the 7 quarters during the audit period, and MDHHS imposed no penalties for the unmet requirements although the contract allowed them.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We noted Michigan 211 achieved the 90% required level of accuracy for only 1 (14%) of the 7 quarters during the audit period. ... Further, MDHHS informed us it had not imposed any penalties for these unmet requirements, as allowed by the contract, and it relied on the contractor's processes to update resource information in the database, as needed.","locator":"Finding 1, part a., pp.10-11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-answer-time-missed","text":"Michigan 211's performance reports showed it did not meet the average speed-to-answer target of 1 minute 30 seconds in any of the 7 quarters of the 21-month audit period, with average answer times ranging from 3 to 6 minutes; MDHHS lacked documentation that it reviewed the reports, followed up, or imposed the allowable penalty.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Performance reports indicating Michigan 211 did not meet the average speed-to-answer target of 1 minute 30 seconds during any of the 7 quarters during the audit period, with average answer times ranging from 3 to 6 minutes.","locator":"Finding 1, part c., pp.11-12; margin note pp.11-12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-assurance-fedramp","text":"MDHHS did not obtain independent third-party assurance reports for Michigan 211 or any of its four IT subservice organizations, nor did it ensure all were FedRAMP certified as the contract required; MDHHS management said it had determined the reports were not necessary and that the requirement had been mistakenly included in the executed contract.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS did not obtain independent third-party assurance reports for Michigan 211 or any of its four information technology subservice organizations, nor did it ensure all were Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certified, as contractually required. ... MDHHS management informed us it determined assurance reports were not necessary for Michigan 211, and MDHHS had mistakenly included the requirement in the executed contract.","locator":"Finding 1, part b., p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-500k-integrity","text":"The third-party assurance reports MDHHS never obtained were the mechanism for assurance over hotline availability, the security, privacy, and confidentiality of hotline users' information, and the integrity of resource information provided in response to over 500,000 contacts each year.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"This includes the system's ability to ensure the availability of Michigan 211 hotline services; the security, privacy, and confidentiality of hotline users' information; and the integrity of agency and resource information provided in response to over 500,000 contacts each year.","locator":"Finding 1, part b., p.11","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-legislative-report","text":"MDHHS did not verify the annual legislative report information received from Michigan 211 before submitting the final report to the Legislature; the fiscal year 2023 report was missing the required percentage of hotline users referred to public or private provider types.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS did not verify the required annual legislative report information received from Michigan 211 prior to submitting the final report to the Legislature to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the reported metrics. For example, the fiscal year 2023 report was missing the required percentage of hotline users referred to public or private provider types.","locator":"Finding 1, part d., p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-complaint-process","text":"MDHHS had not established a formalized process for Michigan 211 to communicate hotline user complaints about service delivery for monitoring.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS had not established a formalized process for Michigan 211 to communicate any hotline user complaints regarding its service delivery for monitoring.","locator":"Finding 1, part e., p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-no-manager","text":"MDHHS told auditors it had not designated a manager to oversee the Michigan 211 contract during the audit period, relied on the contractor to carry out its responsibilities, and did not document its periodic discussions with the contractor or any follow-up on operational deficiencies.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS informed us it had not designated a manager to oversee the contract during the audit period, and it relied on the contractor to carry out its responsibilities, which were discussed at periodic meetings with Michigan 211 management. However, MDHHS did not document these discussions or any related follow-up actions regarding operational deficiencies.","locator":"Finding 1, p.12","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-finding1-agrees","text":"MDHHS agrees with Finding 1 and committed to additional monitoring processes, while noting the finding relates to procedures and practices, not the effectiveness of the services Michigan 211 provides to residents.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS agrees with the finding. While this finding is related to procedures and practices and not the effectiveness of services provided by Michigan 211 to residents, MDHHS will work with Michigan 211 to implement additional monitoring processes to strengthen oversight.","locator":"Finding 1, Agency Preliminary Response, p.13","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-spot-check","text":"Auditors performed a limited accuracy review, as of July 2024, of 170 of 608 selected database resource records tied to 15 of 992 selected Michigan zip codes, and identified several inaccuracies in agency and resource website information in the 211 database.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Performing a limited review of website information accuracy as of July 2024 for 170 of 608 judgmentally and randomly selected database resource records related to 15 of 992 judgmentally and randomly selected Michigan zip codes. ... We also identified several inaccuracies in health and human service agency and resource website information contained in the database.","locator":"Objective 1 methodology, p.28; Finding 1, part a., p.10","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-objective2-sufficient","text":"On Objective 2 -- oversight of the MiCAL/988 crisis line, the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline, and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault hotlines -- the audit concluded 'Sufficient, with exceptions,' citing two reportable conditions (Findings 2 and 3).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Objective 2: To assess the sufficiency of MDHHS's oversight of selected crisis intervention, information, and referral hotlines. Conclusion: Sufficient, with exceptions.","locator":"Report Summary, p.2; Conclusion, p.17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-other-lines-contacts","text":"Annual contact volumes for the other audited hotlines: MiCAL (the 988 crisis line) approximately 87,000; the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline approximately 8,000; the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault hotlines approximately 7,000.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MiCAL handles approximately 87,000 contacts annually. ... The Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline handles approximately 8,000 contacts annually. ... The hotlines for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault handles approximately 7,000 contacts annually.","locator":"Oversight of Selected Crisis Intervention hotlines, Background, pp.15-17","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-carf-expired","text":"Neither MDHHS nor the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline grantee obtained an annual comprehensive third-party audit or other assurance report of the grantee's information system controls during the audit period, and the grantee's CARF accreditation -- the credential MDHHS relied on -- expired in August 2022 and was not renewed; MDHHS was unaware of the expiration before the audit period.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We noted neither MDHHS nor the grantee obtained an annual comprehensive third-party audit or other assurance report of the grantee's information system controls related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy during our audit period. ... the grantee's CARF accreditation expired in August 2022 and has not been renewed. MDHHS informed us it was unaware the grantee's CARF accreditation had expired prior to our audit period.","locator":"Finding 2, pp.19-20","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-finding2-disagrees","text":"MDHHS disagrees with Finding 2, arguing the gambling helpline grantee is programmatic and does not provide third-party IT services; the auditors note MDHHS does not challenge the existence of the weaknesses described and state the finding and recommendation stand as written.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS disagrees. ... Although MDHHS disagrees it should strengthen its monitoring of the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline grantee's information system controls, it does not challenge the existence of the weaknesses we describe in the Finding ... Therefore, our Finding and recommendation stand as written.","locator":"Finding 2, Agency Preliminary Response and Auditor's Comments, pp.20, 24-25","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-coi-15of20","text":"Of 20 MDHHS employees responsible for monitoring hotline agreement performance or approving payments, 15 (75%) had either not completed a conflict-of-interest disclosure form or had last completed one between 5 and 21 years before the effective date of the agreements they were monitoring.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"We noted 15 (75%) of these employees had either not completed a disclosure form or had completed a disclosure form between 5 and 21 years prior to the effective date of the applicable contracts and/or agreements they were responsible for monitoring during our audit period.","locator":"Finding 3, p.21","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-coi-response","text":"MDHHS agrees with the Finding 3 recommendation; it reports Human Resources has since reviewed the sampled employees' personnel files, each now contains a conflict-of-interest form, and no staff conflicts were identified in the forms reviewed.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"MDHHS agrees with the recommendation. ... MDHHS Human Resources has reviewed the personnel files for the employees selected for sample that are still employed with the Department, and each personnel file now contains a conflict of interest form in accordance with Civil Service regulations. For each conflict of interest form reviewed, there were no MDHHS staff conflicts identified.","locator":"Finding 3, Agency Preliminary Response, pp.21-22","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-fy25-spend-by-line","text":"Fiscal year 2025 MDHHS agreement expenditures by hotline: MiCAL $13.0 million; Michigan 211 $7.7 million; Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault hotlines $2.5 million; Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline $800,000.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"its fiscal year 2025 agreement expenditures were $7.7 million. ... its fiscal year 2025 contract expenditures were $13.0 million. ... its fiscal year 2025 grant agreement expenditures were $2.5 million. ... its fiscal year 2025 grant agreement expenditures were $800,000.","locator":"Description, p.26","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-mandates","text":"Each audited hotline is a legal mandate: Michigan 211 funding is required by Section 465 of Public Act 119 of 2023 (appropriations boilerplate); MiCAL by Section 330.1165 of the Michigan Compiled Laws; the domestic violence and sexual assault hotline by 28 CFR 94.119(a); and the compulsive gambling helpline by MCL 432.253(3).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Section 465, Public Act 119 of 2023, a boilerplate section of a fiscal year 2024 appropriations act, requires MDHHS to provide funds to Michigan 211 ... Section 330.1165 of the Michigan Compiled Laws requires MDHHS to establish and make available to the public mental health telephone access lines. ... Title 28, Part 94, section 119(a) of the Code of Federal Regulations requires states to provide crisis intervention and hotline services to survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault. ... Section 432.253(3) of the Michigan Compiled Laws requires MDHHS to fund a toll-free compulsive gambling helpline number.","locator":"Description, p.26","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-72-hotlines","text":"MDHHS operates 72 unique hotlines across the department; auditors reviewed 18 in their preliminary survey and selected 5 main hotlines (Michigan 211, MiCAL, Gambling, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault) for the audit.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Analyzed the MDHHS provided population of 72 unique hotlines across the department. We judgmentally selected 18 hotlines considering the type of service the hotline provided and the MDHHS bureau responsible for the hotline. ... Judgmentally selected 5 main hotlines, with 3 related auxiliary hotlines, related to crisis intervention, information, and referral services.","locator":"Methodology, pp.27-28","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-audit-scope-caveat","text":"The audit period generally covered October 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024, and the audit assessed MDHHS's oversight of the hotlines -- not whether appropriate crisis intervention, resources, or referral services were provided to individuals contacting them.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"Our audit procedures ... generally covered October 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024. ... Our audit objectives and corresponding audit procedures were directed toward concluding on MDHHS efforts to sufficiently oversee the selected hotlines and were not directed toward determining if appropriate crisis intervention, resources, or referral services were provided to individuals contacting the hotlines.","locator":"Audit Scope and Period, p.27","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-60-day-plan","text":"Michigan law and state administrative procedures require MDHHS to develop a compliance plan for the audit's recommendations within 60 days of the June 10, 2026 report's issuance and submit it to the Office of Internal Audit Services, State Budget Office.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Michigan Compiled Laws require an audited agency to develop a plan to comply with the recommendations and submit it to the State Budget Office (SBO) upon audit completion. State administrative procedures require the audited agency to develop the plan as early as practicable and within 60 days after report issuance and submit the plan to the Office of Internal Audit Services (OIAS), SBO.","locator":"Report letter, p.3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"fact-oag-identity","text":"The Michigan Office of the Auditor General is the state's constitutional post-auditor: Article IV, Section 53 of the Michigan Constitution directs the auditor general to conduct post audits of financial transactions and accounts of the state and performance post audits of all branches, departments, offices, boards, commissions, agencies, authorities, and institutions.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The auditor general shall conduct post audits of financial transactions and accounts of the state and of all branches, departments, offices, boards, commissions, agencies, authorities and institutions of the state established by this constitution or by law, and performance post audits thereof.","locator":"Inside cover, quoting Article IV, Section 53 of the Michigan Constitution","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"quarters-missed-share","label":null,"method":"6/7*100","result":85.7,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"answer-time-multiple","label":null,"method":"180/90; 360/90","result":4,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"spend-sum-check","label":null,"method":"13.0+7.7+2.5+0.8","result":24,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"},{"id":"contacts-211-share","label":null,"method":"576000/(576000+87000+8000+7000)*100","result":85,"unit":null,"verdict":"unverified"}],"article":{"slug":"mi-hotline-oversight-gap","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/mi-hotline-oversight-gap","title":"Michigan 211 missed every answer-time target; no manager was assigned","dek":"Michigan pays outside contractors and grantees $24 million a year to run its legally mandated help lines -- 211, the 988 crisis line, the problem-gambling helpline, and the domestic violence and sexual assault hotline, roughly 700,000 contacts a year. A June 10, 2026 report by the state's constitutional auditor found the flagship 211 line reported average answer times of 3 to 6 minutes against a 90-second contract target in every one of the 7 quarters reviewed, and hit its 90% database-accuracy requirement in just 1 of them -- while the department that holds the contract never designated anyone to manage it, imposed none of the penalties the contract allowed, and could not show it had followed up."}},{"schema":1,"id":"good-citizen-fsa","slug":"good-citizen-fsa","tier":"verified","generatedAt":"2026-08-01T12:13:20.912Z","report":{"title":"The Farm Service Agency","publisher":"BlackLeaf editorial research (good-citizen-fsa)","jurisdiction":"federal","date":"2025-05-30","kind":"report","sourceUrl":"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/26-2026-CJ-FSA.pdf"},"provenance":{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-fsa-cj-fy2026","title":"2026 USDA Explanatory Notes — Farm Service Agency (Congressional Justification)","sourceUrl":"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/26-2026-CJ-FSA.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":null,"servable":"pointer","bytes":null,"contentType":null,"capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:16:24.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":null,"archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260119055724/https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/26-2026-CJ-FSA.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Farm Service Agency Congressional Justification for FY 2026; official federal budget document from issuing agency"}},"sources":[{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-fsa-cj-fy2026","title":"2026 USDA Explanatory Notes — Farm Service Agency (Congressional Justification)","sourceUrl":"https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/26-2026-CJ-FSA.pdf","kind":"report","sha256":null,"servable":"pointer","bytes":null,"contentType":null,"capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:16:24.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":null,"archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260119055724/https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/26-2026-CJ-FSA.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Farm Service Agency Congressional Justification for FY 2026; official federal budget document from issuing agency"}},{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-fsa-fy25-execsummary","title":"Executive Summary, Farm Loan Programs, FY 2025 (as of September 30, 2025)","sourceUrl":"https://www.fsa.usda.gov/documents/fy2025-executive-summary","kind":"dataset","sha256":null,"servable":"pointer","bytes":null,"contentType":null,"capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:16:24.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":null,"archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721111430/https://www.fsa.usda.gov/documents/fy2025-executive-summary","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Programs executive summary FY 2025; official federal expenditure and programmatic data"}},{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-fsa-history","title":"Agency History — Farm Service Agency","sourceUrl":"https://www.fsa.usda.gov/about-fsa/history-mission/agency-history","kind":"release","sha256":null,"servable":"pointer","bytes":null,"contentType":null,"capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:16:24.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":null,"archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20251120070201/https://www.fsa.usda.gov/about-fsa/history-mission/agency-history","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Farm Service Agency official agency history document; administrative background and organizational context"}},{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-fsa-structure","title":"Structure and Organization — Farm Service Agency","sourceUrl":"https://www.fsa.usda.gov/about-fsa/structure-and-organization","kind":"release","sha256":null,"servable":"pointer","bytes":null,"contentType":null,"capturedAt":"2026-07-21T11:16:24.000Z","sealedRecordUrl":null,"archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20240712130838/https://www.fsa.usda.gov/about-fsa/structure-and-organization/","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Farm Service Agency organizational structure and administrative divisions; official organizational documentation"}},{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-nass-2022-ag-census","title":"2022 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1: Geographic Area Series, Part 51 — United States Summary and State Data, Table 1 (Historical Highlights)","sourceUrl":"https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_US/usv1.pdf","kind":"dataset","sha256":"ff5d37c3e3af2289d98c85a925e090d30e87c2735e1fe8c648525a46f896d7bd","servable":"full","bytes":18297078,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T10:25:27.435Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-nass-2022-ag-census/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721102520/https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_US/usv1.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"A","credibility":2,"descriptor":"USDA Census of Agriculture 2022 primary dataset; federal official record from issuing body"}},{"id":"ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-pl103-354","title":"Public Law 103-354 — Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, Sec. 226 (Consolidated Farm Service Agency)","sourceUrl":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-108/pdf/STATUTE-108-Pg3178.pdf","kind":"statute","sha256":"dc13aa8f404285327948fbc5d3ec3b7874cf2eacc63e6297c4ff240497929483","servable":"full","bytes":10371973,"contentType":"application/pdf","capturedAt":"2026-07-21T10:20:59.781Z","sealedRecordUrl":"https://storage.googleapis.com/blackleaf-media/artemis/ed-good-citizen-fsa-doc-pl103-354/v1.pdf","archiveUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260721102059/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-108/pdf/STATUTE-108-Pg3178.pdf","grading":{"reliability":"B","credibility":2,"descriptor":"Federal statute authorizing Consolidated Farm Service Agency (1994); official mirror via govinfo.gov"}}],"classification":{"j-federal":1,"m-budget":1,"m-appropriation":0.5,"e-primary":1,"d-governance":0.5},"labels":["fsa","usda","farm-service-agency","budget-justification","congressional-justification"],"whyItMatters":"The Farm Service Agency, USDA's lender of last resort for farmers and ranchers, obligated $6.74 billion in farm loans in FY2025 on an enacted FY2025 operating budget of $1.21 billion and 8,135 FTE -- about $636.31 per U.S. farm. Nearly 60% of its FY2024 loans went to beginning farmers, who by definition lack the credit history commercial banks require: the Good Citizen series' entry on the agency Congress created in 1994 to keep credit-shut-out farms in business.","angle":null,"enriched":false,"verifiedFactCount":11,"claims":[{"id":"f-fsa-establishment","text":"FSA was established October 13, 1994, pursuant to the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, Public Law 103-354, as amended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, Public Law 104-127. Section 226 of P.L. 103-354 (7 U.S.C. 6932) authorized the Secretary to establish and maintain a 'Consolidated Farm Service Agency.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The Farm Service Agency (FSA) was established October 13, 1994, pursuant to the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, Public Law (P.L.) 103-354, as amended by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, P.L. 104-127.","locator":"Agency-Wide, Purpose Statement, p. 26-3 (PDF p. 3)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-service-centers","text":"FSA delivers its programs through over 2,100 USDA Service Centers, 50 State offices, and an area office in Puerto Rico, with headquarters in Washington, DC, within USDA's Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area alongside NRCS, RMA, and the FPAC Business Center.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"FSA delivers its programs through over 2,100 USDA Service Centers, 50 State offices, and an area office in Puerto Rico. FSA has headquarters offices in Washington, DC. ... FSA is part of the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area which includes the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and the FPAC Business Center.","locator":"Agency-Wide, Purpose Statement, p. 26-3 (PDF p. 3)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-se-appropriation-fy25","text":"Congress enacted a $1,209,307,000 discretionary Salaries and Expenses appropriation for FSA for FY2025, supporting 8,135 FTE.","value":1209307000,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"Salaries and Expenses $1,215,307 8,602 $1,209,307 8,632 $1,209,307 8,135 $950,000 6,198 -$259,307 -1,937 (1) ... Enacted, 2025 ......... $1,209,307,000","locator":"Account 1: Salaries & Expenses, Table FSA-107 (Lead-Off Tabular Statement) and Table FSA-11 (Project Statement on Basis of Appropriations), p. 26-12/26-13 (PDF p. 13)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-loan-safety-net-quote","text":"FSA describes its own farm loan programs as a credit safety net for farmers and ranchers who cannot get credit from commercial lenders.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"FSA's farm loan programs provide a safety net for farmers and ranchers temporarily unable to obtain credit from commercial lenders, to finance their operations, at reasonable rates and terms.","locator":"Agency-Wide, Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund section, p. 26-3 (PDF p. 3)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-beginning-farmer-loans-fy24","text":"In FY2024, FSA made 14,703 beginning-farmer loans (Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership and Operating combined) out of a grand total of 24,555 direct and guaranteed loans agency-wide -- roughly 60% of all loans made.","value":14703,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Grand Total Number of Loans.................................................... 13,579 14,703 8 ... Grand Total Number of Loans ........................................ 22,601 24,555 9","locator":"Table FSA-53 (Total Beginning Farmer Loans) and Table FSA-51 (Total Direct and Guaranteed Loans), p. 26-44/26-45 (PDF p. 44-45)","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-fy25-loans","text":"FSA obligated $6,744,549,194 in direct and guaranteed farm loans across 27,792 loans in FY2025 (as of September 30, 2025), up 25% in dollars and 13% in loan count from FY2024's $5,393,837,808 across 24,555 loans.","value":6744549194,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"TOTAL AMOUNT 5,393,837,808 6,744,549,194 25 ... TOTAL NUMBER 24,555 27,792 13","locator":"Executive Summary Farm Loan Programs, FY2025 as of September 30, 2025, 'Total Dollar Amount' and 'Total Number of Loans' rows","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-fy24-loans","text":"FSA obligated $5,393,837,808 in direct and guaranteed farm loans across 24,555 loans in FY2024.","value":5393837808,"unit":"USD","asOf":null,"quote":"TOTAL AMOUNT 5,393,837,808 ... TOTAL NUMBER 24,555","locator":"Executive Summary Farm Loan Programs, FY2025 as of September 30, 2025, FY2024 comparison column","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-rename-1995","text":"The 1994 reorganization created the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, renamed Farm Service Agency in November 1995. The new FSA encompassed the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), and the farm-credit portion of the Farmers Home Administration.","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"In 1994, a reorganization of USDA resulted in the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, renamed Farm Service Agency in November 1995. The new FSA encompassed the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and the farm credit portion of the Farmers Home Administration.","locator":"Agency History page, paragraph beginning 'In 1994, a reorganization of USDA...'","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-fpac-structure","text":"The FSA Administrator reports to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC).","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"The FSA administrator reports to an undersecretary of agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC).","locator":"Structure and Organization page","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-nass-farm-count-2022","text":"The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1,900,487 farms in the United States.","value":1900487,"unit":"COUNT","asOf":null,"quote":"Farms ................................................................. number 1,900,487 2,042,220 2,109,303 2,204,792 2,128,982 2,215,876 1,911,859 1,925,300","locator":"Table 1, Historical Highlights: 2022 and Earlier Census Years, 'Farms ... number' row, 2022 column, report p. United States 3","verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"f-fsa-establishment-statute-text","text":"Section 226 of Public Law 103-354, 'Consolidated Farm Service Agency,' codified at 7 U.S.C. 6932: 'The Secretary is authorized to establish and maintain in the Department a Consolidated Farm Service Agency.'","value":null,"unit":null,"asOf":null,"quote":"SEC. 226. CONSOLIDATED FARM SERVICE AGENCY. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to establish and maintain in the Department a Consolidated Farm Service Agency.","locator":"Title II, Subtitle B, Sec. 226, 108 Stat. 3214","verdict":"confirmed"}],"computed":[{"id":"c-cost-per-farm","label":"FY2025 Salaries & Expenses appropriation per U.S. farm","method":"1209307000/1900487","result":636.3142710263212,"unit":null,"verdict":"confirmed"},{"id":"c-beginning-farmer-loan-share","label":"Beginning-farmer share of FY2024 total loans","method":"14703/24555*100","result":59.877825290164935,"unit":null,"verdict":"contradicted"}],"article":{"slug":"good-citizen-fsa","url":"https://blackleaf.app/articles/good-citizen-fsa","title":"The Farm Service Agency","dek":"The Farm Service Agency, USDA's lender of last resort for farmers and ranchers, obligated $6.74 billion in farm loans in FY2025 on an enacted FY2025 operating budget of $1.21 billion and 8,135 FTE -- about $636.31 per U.S. farm. Nearly 60% of its FY2024 loans went to beginning farmers, who by definition lack the credit history commercial banks require: the Good Citizen series' entry on the agency Congress created in 1994 to keep credit-shut-out farms in business."}}]}