California Assemblyman Dante Acosta

SACRAMENTO – California State Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) Monday announced a request to pursue a forensic audit of the University of California’s Office of the President through the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC), of which he is a member.

This request comes following recent revelations of a $175 million secret slush fund maintained by the University of California’s Office of the President and persisting unanswered questions in budget practices and expenditures.

“There is no question that the UC System provides a world-class education, however, the audit clearly reveals a pattern of obstruction and deception isolated within the Office of the President,” Acosta said.

“In pursuing this forensic audit, I want to ensure accountability and transparency so that students who pay growing tuition and take out large loans to pay for their education have confidence their money is being used wisely,” he said.

In the wake of newly approved tuition and fee increases, the UC Administration could only produce records for $10.4 million when asked about $35.8 million in expenditures for lodging, meals and entertainment.

The State Auditor’s report claims that the UC Office of the President used “misleading budgeting practices, provided its employees with generous salaries and atypical benefits, and failed to satisfactorily justify its spending on system-wide initiatives.”