Report 2019-046 Recommendation 17 Responses

Report 2019-046: Proposition 56 Tobacco Tax: State Agencies' Weak Administration Reduced Revenue by Millions of Dollars and Led to the Improper Use and Inadequate Disclosure of Funds (Release Date: January 2021)

Recommendation #17 To: Public Health, Department of

To reduce the risk of exceeding Proposition 56's limit on the use of funds for administrative costs, Public Health should, by June 2021, develop and implement a procedure for verifying that its combined administrative costs for its Proposition 56-funded programs do not exceed 5 percent.

60-Day Agency Response

The California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) developed procedures for monitoring administrative expenditures. The document, Administrative Expenditure Tracking Procedures, is provided as supporting documentation.

The Office of Oral Health (OOH) developed a policy and procedures for monitoring administrative expenditures. The policy and procedures documents are provided as supporting documentation.

The Food and Drug Branch established written procedures to ensure the administrative costs do not exceed five percent (also provided).

The Financial Management Branch (FMB) has begun providing Prop 56 KK reports with pivot tables on a monthly basis beginning in February 2021 and developed procedures to fulfill this requirement. Refer to supporting document Prop 56 Expenditure FI$Cal Report.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2019-046

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.