President Joe Biden earlier this month vowed to support inspector generals in his State of the Union address.

He said over the past few years, inspector generals across the country have been sidelined and fired, but he hopes to reverse these changes. 

New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Wednesday to discuss her work.

New York’s state Office of the Inspector General is an independent watchdog of 100 state agencies, oversees major infrastructure projects, responds to complaints of the Department of Corrections and monitors fraud within the gaming industry.

Lang’s office is comprised of three offices that work together: the State Inspector General, the Office of the Welfare Fraud Inspector General, and the Office of the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General.

“We really have jurisdiction over the systems that protect the most vulnerable New Yorkers,” she said.

Lang ran for Manhattan District Attorney in 2021, and was then appointed her current position by Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

For the future, she said her office will continue to look into systems that affect vulnerable New Yorkers, such as misuse of unemployment insurance, bringing together a task force that will combat identity theft, continue to work with the Department of Corrections to address and asset improvements, and more. 

According to Lang, her job is to shine a light on state government, which means “the good, the bad and the ugly,” she said.