BATON ROUGE - Efforts to increase financial transparency among East Baton Rouge Parish agencies have prompted debate as lawmakers question how organizations such as CATS and BREC manage public funds.

Busloads of people showed up for the debate Thursday on legislation that would require the Capital Area Transit System and BREC parks system to increase financial transparency.

House Bill 204, introduced by State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-District 68, would mandate that CATS and BREC submit monthly bank statements to the legislative auditor's office.

Recently, CATS has been the subject of scrutiny after its former Chief Administrator Pearlina Thomas and East Baton Rouge Metro Councilmember Cleve Dunn were indicted by a grand jury on theft charges.

The reports legislators want include income statements and balance sheets, but the agencies say they already provide financial information to the state government annually, and the public has access to much of it on their website and through public records requests.

"Going back and redundantly, repeatedly doing what we've already done, it adds on to our already limited staff," CATS CEO Theo Richard said.

But McMakin pushed back, saying that legislative audits don't show specific spending and that it would be easy for the agencies to log in to their bank accounts and send the requested information, income statements, and balance sheets.

"I find it hilarious for someone to say that this is laborious or would cause them so much work to do," McMakin said.

The East Baton Rouge Council on Aging was originally in the bill, but was taken out because it already provides the financial information to the state and federal governments.

"We have oversight," Tasha Clark-Amar with the Council on Aging said. "I have a policy and procedure manual from the governor's office, which oversees us. I have over 500 things that we have to do as it relates to oversight. We have that, but they don't know that."

McMakin chose to defer the bill on Thursday, but it is expected to come up again in this legislative session.