October 18, 2010 Contact CERS
For Immediate Release 608.257.8035

Sullivan Ignored Repeated Calls to Investigate Fraud

Senate Republican Leader Says Millions of Dollars Lost Due To Sullivan’s Inaction

(Madison, WI) – “As Chairman of the Legislature’s Audit Committee, Jim Sullivan had a unique
ability to investigate fraud and abuse occurring in state government; but instead, he buried his head in
the sand during one of the most rampant abuses of state tax dollars, and millions have been lost because of his inaction”, said Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald, as records show repeated requests were made to Sullivan to investigate fraud in the taxpayer-funded, $350 million child care program known as Wisconsin Shares – requests which Sullivan repeatedly ignored.

Sullivan is currently being challenged by Republican State Representative Leah Vukmir in the closely
watched 5th Senate District. Both Fitzgerald and Vukmir believe more accountability in state
government is needed to protect taxpayers, but unfortunately, Jim Sullivan has provided none. An open
records request of the Legislative Audit Bureau shows calls for an audit of the state child care program
were discussed in February and March of 2007, and again in September 2008 by Sullivan and Bureau
staff, but Sullivan refused to take any action or hold hearings (documentation can be seen at
www.SullivanWatch.com). It wasn’t until 2009 when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finally blew the
lid off the fraud, waste, and abuse occurring in Wisconsin Shares when the Legislature and Department
of Children and Families (DCF) acted.

“Nearly two years before the story broke, Sullivan knew something might be wrong with the program,
yet he did absolutely nothing – he needs to answer one very basic question: Why?” Fitzgerald queried.
“Why did he sit on his hands for more than two years and allow this to go on? Why did he ignore not
one, not two, but three requests for an audit? Why did he refuse to take an active role in this? Why
should anyone trust Jim Sullivan to be the watchdog for taxpayers’ money?”

In 2009, numerous cases of fraud in the Shares program were uncovered by the media, and eventually,
the state stepped in to deal with it. Those shocking revelations cost taxpayers millions of dollars and
created a great deal of outrage among lawmakers and the public – with perhaps the exception of Jim
Sullivan, who knew something was wrong since early 2007 but did nothing about it. The Legislature
eventually adopted several new initiatives to crack down on the program, and agency officials recently
announced the hiring of 31 new employees to monitor and track down fraud. But Fitzgerald says all that
could have been dealt with well before things got out of control.

“If Jim Sullivan had simply done his job and upheld his obligation to act on three legitimate audit
requests, we could have saved millions of taxpayer dollars,” Fitzgerald concluded. “In my book, three
strikes and you’re out – and come November 2nd, Jim Sullivan should be out.”

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