Rep. Richardson's Newsletter
February 14, 2014
Federal GAO Audit
Requested for Cover Oregon
In last week’s newsletter, “The Cover Oregon
Cover-Up”, I reviewed why Oregon citizens would never fully uncover
the fraud, waste and abuse that permeates the Cover Oregon fiasco without an
independent federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit.
I offered a petition ( click here) to those who
agreed and nearly 5,000 Oregonians joined me in petitioning for the GAO audit. |
This request is timely since
KATU (Portland Channel 2) now reports that Governor Kitzhaber’s Information
Technology Director on the project, Carolyn Lawson, may have misled the federal government in order to
secure additional funds for the project. The KATU
Report states that on February 21, 2013 Lawson indicated that a
“SOS [Secretary of State] audit found everything in order” relating to Cover
Oregon. Yet, when KATU requested a copy of the SOS audit, the Secretary of
State denied that such an audit had ever been performed. Carolyn Lawson, who has resigned from her Oregon I.T. position
and moved back to California, has some
serious explaining to do.
For additional information on the uncovering of Cover
Oregon and the request for the independent federal GAO audit, you can watch the
following February 13, 2014 Walden and Richardson press conference conducted at
the Congressman’s Medford office. Click here for a link
to video of that press conference.
Although here in the State Capitol several of my
colleagues in the Legislature have been working for greater accountability and
positive reforms relating to Cover Oregon, those proposals have been blocked
for political reasons.(Click
here) Thus, the only sure way to get to the bottom of
the Cover Oregon failure is for the federal GAO audit requested by Congressman
Walden to take place. We must learn from the fraud, waste and abuse that
permeate Cover Oregon so that a future $300 million fiasco can be avoided.
Sincerely,
Dennis Richardson
State Representative
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