State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, plans to introduce a bill in 2016 to create a “citizens watchdog committee” to hold state agencies accountable for meeting spending and policy goals.

Johnson said she has been frustrated by state officials whom she accused of misleading lawmakers about how agencies spend money and the progress of major projects, such as the state’s failed Cover Oregon insurance exchange.

“When I watched some of the staff from Cover Oregon come in and just flat fib to the Legislature, I think that’s where an accountability committee could dig in, and I think there ought to be consequences for that,” Johnson said. Some lawmakers felt misled after Cover Oregon officials testified the project was on track, and Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, in January asked a state official to testify under oath on the exchange.

Johnson wants the committee to check whether agencies are sticking to budgets approved by the Legislature and spending money for the purposes it was appropriated.

“I don’t think that we do nearly as rigorous a job as we should in tracking where those dollars go and how they’re spent,” Johnson said.

The committee could also follow up when agencies fail to implement suggestions by state auditors. For example, employees at the Department of Administrative Services, which houses the state data center, failed to fix security problems at the data center despite repeated warnings by auditors dating back to 2006.

“This committee on accountability would be in demanding agencies’ conformance to management letters, if there were letters of improvement that were issued with an audit that called out deficiencies at an agency,” Johnson said.

One aspect of the proposal that could generate opposition is Johnson wants membership to be split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.

Another sticking point could be the cost. Although Johnson has not proposed a specific budget for the committee, she said “I would give them access to lawyers, I would give them access to an audit function.”

The Legislature already has nonpartisan staff lawyers, budget staff and economists to forecast revenue and other impacts of legislation and policy.

The Legislative Fiscal Office, which works on budgets, is already short-staffed, Johnson said.

“The fact of the matter is that I think there are too few people in legislative fiscal for the work that they’re doing, and the amount of complexity that now is out there in agency land,” Johnson said. “And by complexity, I mean information technology projects.”

In addition, Johnson would hand the committee decision-making authority over what state programs to audit, which would mean taking control away from the Secretary of State.

“I would let them, rather than a partisan secretary of state, make the decision about where and how audits would occur,” Johnson said.

Molly Woon, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office, declined to comment.

Johnson said her proposal was not intended as a criticism of the Secretary of State’s audits staff, whom she described as “very capable professionals.”

“But somebody is making a policy decision about where those audits ought to dig into,” Johnson said, and she believes lawmakers ought to make that call.

Although legislative leaders could create an accountability committee without legislation, it would last only as long as lawmakers supported it.

“I would like (the accountability committee) embedded in statute so it cannot be revoked at the whim of a presiding officer,” Johnson said.

If the bill lacks momentum in the short 2016 session, Johnson said she will reintroduce it in 2017.