Auditor, commission bill passes hurdle

A bill that would prohibit the state auditor from investigating violations of the state ethics act passed a key Senate committee Monday afternoon.

The bill would require the state auditor to turn over possible violations of the ethics act to the N.C. State Ethics Commission. The ethics act deals with possible conflicts of interest involving officials and their duties.

A similar bill in the House is scheduled for a committee Tuesday.

Lawmakers took up the change after State Auditor Les Merritt began investigating a senator over his son's business dealings. The N.C. State Ethics Commission sees no problem in the case. Merritt disagrees.

In a news release, Merritt said Monday that two eyes are better than one.

"I believe that this legislation is unnecessary because two watchdogs, the State Auditor and the Ethics Commission are better than one when it comes to uncovering abuses in state government," Merritt said in the release.

The problem with two eyes, ethics commission officials have said, is that in the ethics law is complex and in the case of a disagreement, officials would be unsure what to do.

The bill would also require the auditor to refer potential criminal matters over to law enforcement and possible election law violations to elections officials. That would leave waste and fraud as the auditor's main areas of responsibility.

The senate bill is 1875. The house version is 2544.