Nine workers at the Minneapolis Veterans Home "earned" more than $2 million in overtime a year by claiming they worked up to 70 extra hours a pay period for three years.

Another state investigator overbilled taxpayers for more than $10,000 in mileage in one year.

These are among a handful of examples highlighted in a Sunday Star Tribune report detailing how many state agencies have allowed their internal auditing efforts to lapse in recent years.

How bad are things?

The Office of the Legislative Auditor, which is nonpartisan and designed to evaluate all of state government, testified recently that auditing controls throughout state agencies are "significantly flawed," due in part to budget cuts beginning under Gov. Jesse Ventura and continuing today.

In fact, Legislative Auditor James Nobles told the Star Tribune this lack of internal controls and proper auditing oversight now means there is no way to determine how much state money has been misused, misplaced or stolen.

Nobles even sent a letter to legislators suggesting "that Finance Commissioner Tom Hanson explain what he has done to fulfill his legal obligation to coordinate internal auditing and to even say whether he personally reads the legislative audit reports of state agencies."

Those are serious words, yet they need to be answered.

Hanson oversees the state Office of Management and Budget. One of its key roles is basically to make sure all state agencies are monitoring their own books and being accountable for your tax dollars. His office's response to the Star Tribune hit more on a lack of resources, along with a plan to focus on better training for state agencies' internal auditors.

Considering the examples above, events such as the Bernie Madoff scheme and a national financial meltdown caused at least in part by lax government oversight, that approach is tepid at best.

We urge a bipartisan group of legislators examining this issue to demand more. Yes, it will take more resources. But clearly the public already is paying a high price for this lax approach. Fixing it not only saves public money, but will bolster public confidence.