Latest / The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending
How One State Audit Found 6,000 Ghost Employees on the Payroll
When California's state auditor ran a computer match of employee IDs against payroll records in 2025, the result was stunning: over 6,000 people were receiving paychecks even though they hadn't logged into a state system in more than a year. Some hadn't worked a day in three years. This episode walks through how the audit worked, why the overpayments went undetected for so long, and what other governments can learn from the fix — including a new real-time cross-check system that saved $42 million in the first six months. Lucas and Luna also discuss the broader pattern…
The skinny
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