The Kansas Legislature’s auditors reported Monday the state Department of Commerce didn’t consistently adhere to internal evaluation processes and maintain transparency in selecting recipients of $99 million in federal infrastructure and economic development funding. Kristen Rottinghaus, deputy auditor of the Kansas Division of Post Audit, said the review raised questions about the commerce department’s compliance in early 2022 with its method of scoring the 250 qualifying applications and the authority wielded by Secretary David Toland to include his personal analysis of applications in wake of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible applications were to be scored by two state agency staff members, but in some instances only one score existed or reviewers left certain questions on scoring sheets blank. Absence of that information could have disadvantaged applicants, the audit report said.
Source: The Lawrence Times
