State Auditor Shad White spoke to the Stennis Press Forum at Hal & Mal's in downtown Jackson, defending his office's clout and standing, which is under assault by the state legislature.
The state legislature recently introduced legislation to defang the auditor's office by removing the word "investigation" from the enabling statute for the state auditor's office. This would severely limit the scope of the auditor's office powers. White said the legislation was political in nature. White is considering running for governor.
Recently White testified before a state senate committee and had some tense words with state senator John Polk, who questioned whether White used proper bidding procedures when White hired Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to do a study on state waste. At one point during the senate hearing, White called Polk a liar and threatened to sue Polk for defamation if Polk said White's wife had formerly worked for BCG.
White said the legislation was stopped by a groundswell of opposition from rank and file voters. White said watching this grassroots movement was inspiring and has greatly increased his chance of running for governor.
During the talk White defended his pro school choice position and got in a testy exchange with Bobby Harrison, a senior writer at Mississippi Today.
White said most of his leads on embezzlement scandals come from individual whistleblowers. White backs a state law that would compensate state whistleblowers like they are compensated under federal law. That bill keeps dying in committee.
White answered a variety of questions from the press.All of this is contained in the video.
