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Washington State Auditor
The state auditor of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Eleven individuals have held the office since statehood. The incumbent is Pat McCarthy, a Democrat and the first woman to occupy the office. Powers and duties Established in 1889, the office of State Auditor was designed by Washington's founders to assure that all public money received and disbursed by state and local governments is spent wisely and in the public interest.Taylor, Briahna. The Citizen's Advocate: History of the Washington State Auditor's Office' Washington State Auditor's Office. Olympia: Washington State Department of Printing, 2007. The state auditor exercises this constitutional power, duty, and authority as "auditor of public accounts" by conducting financial, single, accountability, cybersecurity, and performance audits of local governments and state agencies. In a similar vein, the state auditor i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat McCarthy (politician)
Patrice A. McCarthy (born 1953) is an American politician serving as the 11th Washington State Auditor since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life and education McCarthy earned her Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies from the University of Washington Tacoma in 1992. Career McCarthy served as the school board director for the Tacoma School District from 1987 to 1999 and as the county executive of Pierce County, Washington from 2009 to 2017. In 2016, McCarthy was elected Washington State Auditor, defeating Republican Mark Miloscia with 52% of the vote.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2016&fips=53&f=0&off=3&elect=0&class=3&type=state&all=1 She won reelection in 2020, receiving 58 percent of the vote against Republican Chris Leyba. On August 1, 2023, McCarthy announced she would be running for a third term in 2024. She was reelected again with 58% of the vote against Republican Matt Hawkins. Personal life Her husband, John, has ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waste (law)
Waste is a term used in property law to describe a cause of action that can be brought in court to address a change in condition of real property brought about by a current tenant that damages or destroys the value of that property. A lawsuit for waste can be brought against a life tenant or lessee of a leasehold estate, either by a current landlord or by the owner of a vested future interest. The holder of an executory interest, however, has no standing to enforce an action for waste, since his future interest is not vested. There are several different kinds of waste under the law. Voluntary waste Voluntary waste (sometimes called affirmative waste) is any change made to the estate that intentionally or negligently causes harm to the estate or depletes its resources, unless this depletion is a continuation of a pre-existing use. Some jurisdictions follow what is called the open mines doctrine, which permits continued excavation from any mine on the property that is already ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant Governor Of Washington
The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the U.S. state of Washington. The incumbent is Denny Heck, a Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the Washington State Senate, fills in as acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ... whenever the governor leaves the state or is unable to serve, and assumes the duties of governor in case of a vacancy. There have been 17 holders of the office, three of whom have ascended to the office of governor of Washington. Prior to statehood, there were 10 territorial secretaries of state of Washington that acted in the territorial governor's absence, but were unable to ascend to governor. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whistleblower Protection In The United States
A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The Whistleblower Protection Act was made into federal law in the United States in 1989. Whistleblower protection laws and regulations guarantee freedom of speech for workers and contractors in certain situations. Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation for disclosing information that the employee or applicant reasonably believes provides evidence of a violation of any law, rule, regulation, gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Law The law covering whistleblowers falls under the category of Public law. Public law Public law governs the relationship between people and the state and comprises three types: constitutional law, criminal law, and administrative law. ''Constitutional law'' governs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Public Records Act
The Public Records Act (PRA) is a law of the U.S. state of Washington requiring public access to all records and materials from state and local agencies. It was originally passed as a ballot initiative by voters in 1972 and revised several times by the state legislature. The definition of public records, especially concerning the state legislature, was subject to several legal challenges in the decades since the law was passed. In 2018, a county judge ruled that legislative records and communications were subject to public disclosure, after a lawsuit was filed by media outlets. In response, the state legislature appealed the ruling and introduced a bill that would exempt their records from the act. The bill was passed by the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Jay Inslee after public outcry; the lawsuit was subsequently ruled in favor of the media outlets and upheld by the Washington Supreme Court. The act is listed in the ''Revised Code of Washington'' as Chapter 42, Section 56 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Of Information In The United States
Freedom of information in the United States relates to the public's ability to access government records, meetings, and other information. In the United States, freedom of information legislation exists at all levels of government: federal level, state level, and local level. Federal level Since the founding of the United States, the public's right to know the affairs of their government has been foundational democracy. James Madison wrote during the United States Constitutional Convention, "The right of freely examining public characters and measures and free communication, is the only effective guardian of every other right." Several federal laws have strengthened the public's ability to access public records. Federal legislation The most important was the Freedom of Information Act, signed into law on July 4, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson. * Administrative Procedure Actbr>PL 79-404; 1946* Freedom of Information Actbr>PL 85-619; 1966* Federal Advisory Committee Actb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regulatory Compliance
In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the violations both by the wrongdoer (specific deterrence) and by others (general deterrence). This view has been supported by economic theory, which has framed punishment in terms of costs and has explained compliance in terms of a cost-benefit equilibrium (Becker 1968). However, psychological research on motivation provides an alternative view: granting rewards (Deci, Koestner and Ryan, 1999) or imposing fines (Gneezy Rustichini 2000) for a certain behavior is a form of extrinsic motivation that weakens intrinsic motivation and ultimately undermines compliance. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that organizations aspire to achieve in their efforts to ensure that they are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws, policies, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Administration
Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the Administrative Process''. Washington D.C.: CQ Press and also to the academic discipline which studies how public policy is created and implemented. In an academic context, public administration has been described as the study of government decision-making; the analysis of policies and the various inputs that have produced them; and the inputs necessary to produce alternative policies. It is also a subfield of political science where studies of policy processes and the structures, functions, and behavior of public institutions and their relationships with broader society take place. The study and application of public administration is founded on the principle that the proper functioning of an organization or institution relies on effectiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Practices
A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to alternatives because it tends to produce superior results. Best practices are used to achieve quality as an alternative to mandatory standards. Best practices can be based on self-assessment or benchmarking. Best practice is a feature of accredited management standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14001. Some consulting firms specialize in the area of best practice and offer ready-made templates to standardize business process documentation. Sometimes a best practice is not applicable or is inappropriate for a particular organization's needs. A key strategic talent required when applying best practice to organizations is the ability to balance the unique qualities of an organization with the practices that it has in common with others. Good operating practice is a strategic management term. More specific uses of the term include good agricultural practices, good manufacturing practice, good l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consulting Services
A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Consulting services generally fall under the domain of professional services, as contingent work. The Harvard Business School defines a consultant as someone who advises on "how to modify, proceed in, or streamline a given process within a specialized field". Subject-matter expert vs. consultant According to ''Institute of Management Consultants USA'', "The value of a consultant s compared to a subject-matter expert (SME)is to be able to correctly diagnose and effectively transform an often ill-defined problem and apply information, resources and processes to create a workable and usable solution. Some experts are good consultants and vice versa, some are neither, few are both." Another differentiation would be that a consultant sells advi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the source of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) used by state and local governments in the United States. As with most of the entities involved in creating GAAP in the United States, it is a private, non-governmental organization. The GASB is subject to oversight by the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), which selects the members of the GASB and the Financial Accounting Standards Board The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is a private standard-setting body whose primary purpose is to establish and improve Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) within the United States in the public's interest. The Secur ..., and it funds both organizations. Its mission is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, audi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Reporting
Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand. They typically include four basic financial statements accompanied by a management discussion and analysis: # A balance sheet reports on a company's assets, liabilities, and owners equity at a given point in time. # An income statement reports on a company's income, expenses, and profits over a stated period. A profit and loss statement provides information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sales and the various expenses incurred during the stated period. # A statement of changes in equity reports on the changes in equity of the company over a stated period. # A cash flow statement reports on a company's cash flow activities, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities over a stated period ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
