A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE AND TO REQUIRE A PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Government Performance Audit Committee is established. The Committee shall be located administratively in the General Assembly. The Committee shall consist of 10 members appointed as follows:  (i)  five members of the House of Representatives shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and (ii) five members of the Senate shall be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
Terms on the Committee begin on August 1, 2006. A member continues to serve until a successor is appointed. A vacancy shall be filled within 30 days by the officer who made the original appointment. The Committee and the terms of the members shall expire when the Committee submits a final report to the General Assembly.
The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each designate a cochair of the Committee. The Committee shall meet at least once a quarter upon the joint call of the cochairs. A quorum of the Committee is six members. No action may be taken except by a majority vote at a meeting at which a quorum is present.
From funds available to the General Assembly, the Legislative Services Commission shall allocate monies to fund the meetings of the Committee. Members of the Committee shall receive subsistence and travel expenses as provided in G.S. 120‑3.1.
The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist the Committee in its work. Upon the direction of the Legislative Services Commission, the Directors of Legislative Assistants of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall assign clerical staff to the Committee. The expenses for clerical employees shall be borne by the Committee.
SECTION 2.  The Committee shall contract for a performance audit of the executive branch of State government.  The goals of the audit are to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of State government and to identify specific ways to make improvements.  The audits may examine entire departments, agencies, or institutions, or similar programs in several departments.  The results of the audits shall be reported on or before February 1, 2008.  
The performance audit shall include an examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of major management policies, practices, and functions, including the following areas:
(1)	Planning, budgeting, and program evaluation policies and practices, including an analysis of the compliance of the executive branch with existing planning requirements, such as the Capital Improvement Planning Act, Article 1B of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(2)	Personnel systems operations and management.
(3)	State purchasing operations and management.
(4)	Information technology and telecommunications systems policy, organization, and management.
(5)	Review of duplications and related or overlapping services or activities for the purpose of coordinating and streamlining programs to achieve consistent and clear objectives.
SECTION 3.  The Committee shall issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a government performance audit to be conducted in accordance with this act. The Committee may award a contract pursuant to the RFP.
SECTION 4.(a)  The sum of up to six million dollars ($6,000,000) is transferred from the 20% Collection Assistance Fee Account, Budget Code 24704‑2474, to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year.
SECTION 4.(b)   Section 6.37(a) of S.L. 2005‑276, as rewritten by Section 6.9(a) of S.L. 2006‑66 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 6.37.(a) Availability. – The availability used to support appropriations made in this act from the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund is based upon estimated collections of fines and forfeitures from the agencies and in the amounts listed below:
				FY 2005‑2006	FY 2006‑2007
Department of Revenue	$ 80,000,000		$ 63,000,000
Department of Transportation	$ 15,000,000		$ 15,000,000
Employment Security Commission	$ 3,000,000	$ 3,000,000
Department of Insurance	$ 3,000,000	$ 1,000,000
University of North Carolina	$ 5,000,000	$ 3,500,000
Other Agencies	$ 14,500,000	$10,000,000
Transfer from the 20% Collection 
   Assistance Fee Account, Budget
   Code 24704‑2474		$ 6,000,000
Total Funds Available	$ 120,500,000	$ 101,500,000".
SECTION 4.(c)  Section 6.37(b) of S.L. 2005‑276, as rewritten by Section 6.9(b) of S.L. 2006‑66 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 6.37.(b)  Appropriations. – Appropriations are made from the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund for the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 2007, as follows:
	2005‑2006	2006‑2007
School Technology Fund	$ 18,000,000	$ 18,000,000
State Public School Fund	$ 102,500,000	$ 83,500,000
Total Appropriation	$ 120,500,000	$ 101,500,000".
SECTION 4.(d)  Section 2.1 of S.L. 2006‑66 is amended by deleting the language:
"Department of Public Instruction					$139,944,021" and substituting:
"Department of Public Instruction					$133,944,021".
SECTION 4.(e)  Section 2.1 of S.L. 2006‑66 is amended by deleting the language:
"General Assembly							$   38,284" and substituting:
"General Assembly							     $38,284
	General Assembly – GPAC					$6,000,000".
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.