Neb. bill would hide internal audit documents from public

The University of Nebraska is pushing a bill that would keep some documents generated during university internal audits from the public eye, the Associated Press reported. The university says the measure is needed to protect the identity of whistleblowers, but the the state auditor and government watchdog groups are concerned about the secrecy.

Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley and government watchdog group Common Cause are among those concerned that a bill being pushed by the University of Nebraska would keep residents in the dark.

Under the measure (LB674) from Sen. Danielle Nantkes of Lincoln, some documents generated during internal audits conducted by the university would not be considered public.

University officials said the bill is primarily needed to ensure the names of whistleblowers are kept secret to encourage them to come forward. Under an amendment to the bill, they said that public documents would not be made private once they became part of an audit.

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