October 15, 2014 5:08 PM

Perry staff is grilled about Enterprise Fund audit

“Frankly I have a lot more issues about the portrayal of what the audit said than what the actual audit said.”

A House select committee on economic incentives appears poised to recommend the state consolidate and evaluate all incentives after a tense exchange this morning with Gov. Rick Perry’s current head of the Texas Enterprise Fund.

If the legislature agrees, it would follow nine other states that have passed bills to determine whether millions of state dollars handed over to private business delivered the right “bang for the buck.” Wednesday morning, Perry staffer Jonathan Taylor faced a committee that was, in turns, frustrated and baffled by Taylor’s assurances the Texas Enterprise Fund was both straightforward and transparent.

Taylor, director of the governor’s Economic Development and Tourism Division, asked the committee to maintain flexibility over the fund, even as a recent State Auditor’s report noted a lack of internal controls and spotty recordkeeping in both early applications and later contracts. In opening comments, Taylor said he had more problems with the portrayal of the audit than its actual contents.

“The big stuff, the audit answered,” Taylor said, noting the audit found funds were disbursed in accordance with the law, with compliance and oversight. “Frankly I have a lot more issues about the portrayal of what the audit said than what the actual audit said. I think some of the criticism over the audit wasn’t the audit, especially not in the detail of the audit.”

By Kimberly Reeves