
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 23, 1995                   TAG: 9509250049
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY PUT . . .

IN THE 22 years since it was whelped, the General Assembly's ``watch dog'' has stuck its nose into every nook and cranny of state government. It has sniffed out and studied the most obscure and abstruse manifestations of policy wonkism - barking loudly when state-agency operations failed to pass its smell test. That's what the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission was created to do.

Recently, JLARC issued its 1995 Report to the General Assembly, identifying more than $50 million in actual and potential savings of taxpayers' dollars derived from its studies since 1993. From its inception in 1973, its reports and recommendations have resulted in cumulative savings of more than $320 million, according to JLARC. That amounts to about $12 saved for every $1 spent on it. Even if the figures are a bit exaggerated, it's clear JLARC is earning its keep.

by CNB