Grove presses for answers on $650k missing from state reading program | News | bakersfield.com

State Sen. Shannon Grove tore into the state librarian this week about what she said was $650,000 in “really, truly misappropriated” taxpayer money that was supposed to advance the work of a literacy nonprofit set up by country music star Dolly Parton. The Bakersfield Republican accused State Librarian Greg Lucas of ignoring the will of lawmakers by setting up a nonprofit that spent $1.2 million in state money — then failed to account for about half of it — under a children’s reading initiative established by a state law Grove authored in 2022. Thursday’s clash at a meeting of the California Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee is making headlines in news organizations including Politico. It has drawn scrutiny of a normally quiet state agency while bringing attention to Grove as she runs for a seat on the state Board of Equalization before terming out of the Senate this year. “Where’s the money?” Grove asked Lucas bluntly toward the end of the meeting, following similar questions asked of him by a fellow subcommittee member. Lucas responded that he has been working to get an answer from the nonprofit, called the Strong Reader Partnership, and that he expects to receive a
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