California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Auditor General’s Office Is Restored

Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation Monday restoring the independent state auditor general as a watchdog against government waste. “The savings that result from their efforts far outweigh the costs of maintaining the office,” Wilson said. The bill by Senate GOP leader Ken Maddy of Fresno took effect as soon as Wilson signed it. The nonpartisan investigative agency had been closed for the past six months after voters defeated a measure designed to establish it as a separate constitutional entity. As a first order of business, the auditor general must complete by July 1 an audit of more than $16 billion in federal funds spent in California.