Third 'audit work paper' bill introduced.

• Position: Ohio

Another bill has been introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives seeking to make audit work papers, memoranda and other related documentation public records.

The proposed legislation would impact independent accounting firms hired to conduct audits of state and local government entities. It would retroactively affect government audits already completed by public accounting firms.

The bill (HB 598) is in response to the media's desire to see all possible documentation related to investment scandals at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC). This includes statutorily protected audit work papers created by independent public accounting firms in the course of an audit.

Two other bills pending in the legislature, HB 9 and SB 302, would make the work papers...