Nev. AG investigating state employees double-dipping
By Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal
The Nevada Attorney General’s office was asked to investigate whether some state workers were illegally paid as contractors while collecting their regular salaries after an audit revealed possible abuse by some employees.
One state worker was paid $250 per hour for work done while on sick leave; another collected contract money for work done during normal business hours; another left his $65-per-hour state job and now gets $350-per-hour as a contractor, a recent audit by the Legislative Counsel Bureau found. (Read full PDF document on top right of this page)
Assemblywoman Shiela Leslie, a Reno Democrat who chairs an audit subcommittee, said her panel voted this week to send the material to the attorney general’s office to determine whether any criminal activities were involved.
Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, a Sparks Democrat who sponsored a bill during the 2009 legislative session to strengthen controls over the way the state uses contractors, said she knew there were problems, but not this bad.