The Bureau of State Audits released a report this morning that California is on the verge of losing $93 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money earmarked for residential weatherization. The money is contingent on California proving it has effectively used $93 million already received through July of last year for the same purpose, but "as of December 1, 2009, no homes had been weatherized," auditors found.
The state's Department of Community Services and Development, which is the responsible for using the money, says that a lack of timely guidance at the federal level over things like prevailing wage standards for weatherization workers delayed lining up contractors. And the department takes seriously its obligation to be transparent and to choose contractors wisely -- priorities that have understandably slowed down the process, CSD Director Lloyd Throne said in a response letter attached to the audit.
Click here to download the BSA report. This link will open the audit's fact sheet.
Added at 11:30 a.m.: Click here to read California Recovery Task Force Director Herb K. Schultz's response to the audit.


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