Federal Reports

The Office of the Inspector General included an audit of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Back to Business Credit Program (Program) in our annual audit plan due to reputational and financial risks associated with the Program. Our audit objective was to determine if adequate controls were in place to ensure Back to Business credits were provided to businesses in compliance with Program guidelines. Our audit scope was all $13.1 million in credits issued during the life of the Program (April 2020 through September 2021).We found controls were adequate to ensure the Program credits were accurately calculated in accordance with Program guidance. However, we found some credits were not passed from the local power company to the customer. We also determined the Program did not have controls needed to more appropriately achieve the stated objective. Specifically, the Program did not include controls needed to (1) verify the reduced on-peak demand was due to a reduced level of operations as a result of COVID-19 and (2) specify how/when customers were considered back to prepandemic operating conditions.

For this report, we assessed the adequacy of the U.S. Census Bureau’s (the Bureau's) quality control processes to ensure the data collected during the 2020 Decennial Census (2020 Census) was complete and accurate. This report discusses lessons learned during the nonresponse followup (NRFU) operations for the 2020 Census: I. Students were likely undercounted at off-campus addresses despite outreach efforts; II. A significant number of NRFU enumerations were completed using a proxy; and III. The Bureau’s improper execution of its 2020 Census Quality Assurance Plan may have adversely affected data quality. While the 2020 Census operations have concluded, we suggest proposed actions for change from these lessons learned to inform the research and planning efforts for the 2030 Census.

For our final report on our audit of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (the Department’s) security controls for cloud-based high value assets (HVAs), our objective was to verify that the Department implemented security controls for cloud-based HVAs in accordance with federal requirements. We found that the Department does not incorporate all customer responsibility controls for its cloud-based HVAs into system security plans.

The DOI has not finalized its body camera policy, and not all of its bureaus have finalized and implemented their body camera policies.

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the State of Michigan (Michigan) designed and implemented awarding processes that ensured that the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER grant) was used to support local educational agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) that were most significantly impacted by the coronavirus or LEAs, IHEs, or other education-related entities within the State that were deemed essential for carrying out emergency educational services; and monitoring processes to ensure that subgrantees used GEER grant funds in accordance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and other applicable Federal requirements.Grant Awards - For five of the seven programs that Michigan funded with its GEER grant (Evolution Labs, Building Healthy Communities: Step Up for School Wellness, Statewide public television, teacher professional learning, and Early On), Michigan could not support that it awarded the funds to eligible entities that were deemed essential for carrying out emergency educational services, providing childcare and early childhood education, providing social and emotional support, or protecting education-related jobs. As a result, Michigan lacks assurance that its awards to four entities under these programs— totaling $5.4 million of the State’s $89.4 million GEER grant—aligned with the purpose of the GEER grant fund. Monitoring Processes - MDE did not have a written plan to monitor its GEER grant subgrantees. It had planned to contract with an audit firm to conduct monitoring of its GEER grant subgrantees; however, as of March 30, 2022, the contract had not been finalized. MDE did, however, conduct some monitoring activities and implement reimbursement processes for its subgrantees.

Independent Review of 4003(b) Loan Recipient’s Validation Memo – Republic Airways, Inc.