Massachusetts has withdrawn $1.7-million in contracts with a disabled-services agency whose executives allegedly ran up taxpayer-funded bills on dining, alcohol, and Disney World, signaling a harder line on nonprofit groups that receive public money, writes the Boston Herald.
State Auditor Suzanne Bump said her office plans to review spending by a plethora of state vendors, both nonprofit and commercial, and that its moves against Boston group Life Focus Center should put other contractors on notice. “We will make an example of people who are not playing by the rules,” she said.
The state Department of Developmental Services said Wednesday that it would terminate contracts with Life Focus by mid-June. Auditors have accused its executive director of improperly charging $130,000 on the organization’s credit card in recent years.
David Tuerck of watchdog group the Beacon Hill Institute said the state’s action on Life Focus marks a tipping point in its oversight of contractors’ payrolls and spending.

