Sandoval to require disclosure of reviews
CARSON CITY — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval plans to require state agencies to disclose all U.S. reviews after he learned from The Associated Press about problems at rural public health clinics that have cost the state hundreds of thousands of federal dollars over the past two years.
Sandoval’s office said he and state finance officials will rescind the discretion of high-ranking state employees to tell their bosses about unflattering reports or to stick them in a drawer indefinitely, a change that could lead to the unveiling of hundreds of U.S. reviews done to maintain federal funding.
The state lacks requirements for officials to disclose possible problems in hundreds of grants and programs, because in most cases, they are not forced to share federal or internal reviews outside their office.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found misused grant funds, sloppy record-keeping and undertrained staff at state-run reproductive health clinics in 2015. Officials denied Nevada’s application for $600,000 in annual funding for the clinics eight months later.
The report on the Title X family-planning program went directly to the state administrator who oversees those services. It was not heard of again for two years, when the administrator asked lawmakers for money.
Sandoval and his top advisers say state employees committed no wrongdoing because they worked quickly to address the issues and because no law required them to share the review’s findings.