NSAA President Beth Wood recently welcomed state auditors to Cherokee, North Carolina for the forty-first annual conference of the National State Auditors Association. The conference was held June 12-14 at Harrah's Cherokee and featured attendance of 184, including 30 principal state auditors and representation from 37 states. The conference was preceded on June 11 by a day of meetings of NSAA’s committees. 

Technical Agenda & Other Activities
The conference featured a roundtable session and several general sessions covering a diverse range of topics. PowerPoint presentations and speaker bios from the conference are available. 

Awards
An awards lunch was held on Thursday, June 13. President Wood announced the winner of the 2019 NSAA William R. Snodgrass Distinguished Leadership Award: Stacey Pickering, former state auditor of Mississippi. Greg Hook, legislative auditor of Maryland and chairman of NSAA’s Excellence in Accountability Awards Committee, announced this year’s Excellence in Accountability Awards. Receiving those awards were:

• Large Performance Audit: Michigan Office of the Auditor General
• Large Performance Audit: Oregon Division of Audits
• Small Performance Audit: Nevada Legislative Auditor
• Special Project: Colorado Office of the State Auditor
• Forensic Report: Tennessee Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury 

Large Performance Audit Award: Left to right: Doug Ringler (MI), NSAA President Beth Wood and Laura Hirst (MI).		Large Performance Audit Award: NSAA President Wood and Kip Memmott (OR).
Small Performance Audit Award: Left to right: Rocky Cooper (NV), NSAA President Wood and Todd Peterson (NV)		Special Project: Left to right: Trey Standley (CO), NSAA President Wood and Dianne Ray (CO).
Special Project Award: Left to right: Justin Wilson (TN), NSAA President Beth Wood, Jimmy Stewat (TN) and Kevin Huffman (TN).

 

Business Meeting
On Thursday, members of NSAA held a business meeting where they heard reports from each standing committee and elected a new Executive Committee. The Executive Committee for 2019-20 will be:

• President: Suzanne Bump, Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• President-Elect: Daryl Purpera, Louisiana Legislative Auditor
• Secretary/Treasurer: Martha Mavredes, Auditor of Public Accounts of Virginia
• Immediate Past President: Beth Wood, State Auditor of North Carolina
• Greg Griffin, State Auditor of Georgia
• John Geragosian, State Auditor of Connecticut
• April Renfro, Division Manager, Legislative Services - Audit Division

2019-20 Executive Committee, left to right: Daryl Purpera, Martha Mavredes, Beth Wood, Suzanne Bump, April Renfro, Greg Griffin. Not pictured: John Geragosian.		Incoming NSAA President Suzanne Bump presented a plaque of appreciation to Beth Wood.

 
Several resolutions were approved by members at the annual June business meeting: 

• Thanking President Wood for her service and for hosting the conference.
• Wishing Tom Barnickel, former Maryland legislative auditor, well upon his retirement.
• Wishing Rebecca Otto, former Minnesota state auditor, well upon her retirement.
• Wishing Gary Jones, former Oklahoma state auditor, well upon his retirement.
• Wishing R. Thomas Wagner, Jr., former Delaware Auditor of Accounts, well upon his retirement.

Acknowledgments
NSAA wishes to thank all those who helped with the conference, including Beth Wood and staff from her office, especially Renee Gellerson from her office. Active involvement by the state audit community is the reason for that: thanks to all who participated and attended. 

Last but not least, thanks to this year’s conference sponsors:

• Bronner Group
• Becker Professional Education
• Cherry Bekaert
• CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)
• Galvanize
• Governing Magazine (media sponsor) 
• MKinsight
• Navigant
• RSM
• Wolters Kluwer
• 20/20 Services