State Inspector General; powers and duties.

State Inspector General; powers and duties.  Provides that in order for the State Inspector General to refer a complaint alleging fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by a public institution of higher education to the internal audit department of that institution, such institution must be (i) a covered institution as defined by the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act and (ii) classified as a Level 3 institution by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. A public institution of higher education that receives a complaint from the State Inspector General shall provide periodic updates on the status of investigations, whether they originated internally or were referred by the State Inspector General, and report annually to the State Inspector General on the results of all such investigations. The bill requires the State Inspector General to establish procedures governing the intake and investigation of complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by a state agency or nonstate agency or by any officer or employee of a state agency or nonstate agency. At a minimum, the procedures must (a) provide for the State Inspector General, or his designee, to review each decision to dismiss an allegation reported to the State Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline at the initial intake stage without further investigation; (b) require investigators designated by the State Inspector General to directly investigate allegations of serious administrative violations and provide for other agency internal audit divisions to investigate allegations meeting certain specified criteria, only if the internal audit division has demonstrated the ability to conduct investigations in an independent, effective, and timely manner; (c) require oversight by the Office of the State Inspector General of all investigations referred to other agencies to ensure quality, timeliness, and independence; and (d) develop a process for the regular review of the status of recommendations made by the Office of the State Inspector General. The bill also clarifies the duty of the State Inspector General to provide oversight of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and community-based providers to identify system-level issues and conditions affecting quality of care and safety and provide recommendations to alleviate such issues and conditions. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.