One of the toughest and most independent people in California state government is retiring after 21 years. Elaine Howle has uncovered massive cases of fraud, mismanagement and even abuse of power in her role as state auditor. Her work has led to major state reforms. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on Howle when they suspect that state agencies are misusing money or they have concerns about the way agencies are run. Howle also has what's called "high-risk authority," which allows her department to audit issues, including the way federal COVID-19 relief money is being spent. "If we have evidence to say something, I'm going to say it, and I will be the one to take the heat," Howle said, when asked about some of her more contentious audit results. Howle has taken a lot of heat during her career, especially from people who've felt threatened as she's exposed billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse in state government. She has also earned widespread, bipartisan respect. Republican Assm. Jim Patterson joked, "Nothing moves state bureaucracies faster than having Elaine Howell down their back!" Democratic State Sen. John Laird said during a recent hearing, "She has really led the way on major issues and really helped the legislature address them during her tenure." For Howle, it's always been about the work. "It's been an honor and a privilege to serve as the auditor for this state and to work with the people that I've had the opportunity to work with. They're amazing people — passionate. I love it," Howle said as she talked to KCRA 3 about her upcoming retirement at the end of the year. Howle leaves a deep legacy through independent audits that have made state agencies stronger and more efficient. She started with the state's 2001 energy crisis that was triggered by Enron and other out-of-state energy companies. "That was one of the first audits we had to work on. So talk about scary, I'm just new in the position going and auditing the P.U.C. (California Public Utilities Commission), looking at water resources, a huge issue." She didn't let fear stop her from taking on massive state programs and agencies. High-profile audits exposed problems that put millions of Californians at risk of identity theft and uncovered billions of dollars in fraud at the Employment Development Department. Audits also uncovered issues at the University of California, from questionable admissions of students from well-connected families, to a hidden account with millions of dollars. "Anytime somebody resists an auditor asking for information, it's a red flag for an auditor, probably a red flag for anybody, but for an auditor it's like, 'Oh, they don't want to give us that, then they have something to hide,'" Howle said. She said there have been times that she's been nervous to release a report that she knew would be explosive. For instance, the case of UC interference. "I had been state auditor for 17 years and I had never run into a situation like that," Howle explained. Howle said she always got through those nerves with a belief in the importance of her work, and deep preparation. "I spend hours preparing for 15 minutes of testimony because I want to know walking in there I am the expert in the room with respect to the results of this audit," Howle said. "Preparation is huge." One of the audits that's meant the most to her didn't make a lot of headlines. Her department looked into the spending for a small program called Every Woman Counts, which provides low-income women in California access to mammography and cervical cancer screening. After the audit showed a huge amount of money was spent on contractors that focused on outreach, the health department shifted that money to cover tens of thousands more screenings. "If we help somebody and save somebody's life, wow," Howle said. "There's got to be somebody out there that benefited from this audit and they don't know it. And I don't know who they are, but that is tremendously rewarding." When you ask Howle about all her awards, and there have been many on local, state and national levels, she talks instead about her work. In fact, she told us she had to take some of the plaques out of their boxes when we asked to shoot video of them. But she said after two decades of an all-consuming job, it's time to retire. She has worked nights and weekends for more than two decades. In that time, she said she's taken four vacations, so she's now looking forward to doing some traveling. It's not yet clear who will succeed Howle, but her advice is simple. "Protect the mission, integrity and the independence of this place," Howle said. And then the woman who has dedicated her entire professional life to improving the state of California finished saying this while laughing, "I'll be watching."