It’s only rock ‘n’ roll — but the state auditor doesn’t like it.
A report from the auditor criticized the Oregon Lottery Commission for, among other things, reimbursing employees for college courses the auditor deemed questionable. Lottery Commission officials are defending the classes as necessary steps toward a college degree.
The courses specifically mentioned in the report are “Fundamentals of Acting” and “Introduction to Rock Music,” each of which was taken by a different employee of the Lottery Commission.
Chuck Hibner, deputy director of the Audits Division for the Secretary of State’s office, said the purpose of the report was to identify ways for the Lottery Commission to cut expenditures. In addition to the college courses, the audit also questioned expenditures for travel, meals and other training.
Lee Moore, deputy director for the Lottery Commission, said employees can be reimbursed for education expenses as long as they are pursuing degrees related to some aspect of the commission’s operations, such as business administration or computer science.
The primary goal of the program is to retain an educated work force, Moore said.
“Once a person gets a degree, they owe us two years,” he said. Moore added that workers who leave before the two-year period has ended must reimburse the commission for education expenses.
Moore said both of the employees in question were enrolled in degree programs at Chemeketa Community College in Salem. The acting class was an elective for a student working toward an associate’s degree in business, and the rock history course was for a student pursuing an associate’s degree in marketing.
Both courses help fulfill liberal arts requirements for Associate of Arts degree programs at Chemeketa.
Hibner said it is not uncommon for state agencies to finance college courses for employees, but the courses must be directly related to the employees’ job duties. Because the Lottery Commission is funded by lottery ticket sales instead of tax revenues, it is not subject to the same expenditure restrictions as other state agencies.
Nonetheless, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said the Lottery Commission should cut expenses for the benefit of programs that are funded by lottery proceeds.
“Every dollar that the lottery spends on administrative expenses costs public schools in Oregon 63 cents, costs economic development programs 21 cents, costs state parks and salmon recovery programs 15 cents and costs gambling treatment programs a penny,” Bradbury said in a prepared statement.
Moore said the degree program is cost effective in the long run because retaining educated workers is vital for the commission.
“Education is an investment that we make in people,” he said.