Hearings Focus On Government Modernization
House Speaker Lance Cargill and House leaders today kicked off a series of hearings focused on modernizing Oklahoma’s state government with testimony from the director of Iowa’s “charter agency” reform effort and others.
“Charter agencies are a simple concept: if they agree to be more accountable and measurable for results, then we give agency heads more authority and autonomy,” said Teresa Hay McMahon (pictured), Iowa’s Performance Results Director in the Department of Management.
McMahon said that Iowa went from 64 executive branch agencies in the 1980s to a current 24 as a result of its overall reform efforts. She expressed surprise that Oklahoma has 99 state agencies, with an additional 400 boards and commissions.
Cargill said the Iowa reforms speak to the need for Oklahoma to catch up to the 21st Century streamlining efforts happening elsewhere in the country.
“Oklahoma has been stuck in a horse-and-buggy era of state government since our state's founding,” said Cargill, R-Harrah. “With our centennial celebration underway this week, it’s high time that we moved into the second century of our government.”
“We want to make Oklahoma’s government more efficient,” said Rep. Ken Miller, who as Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee is spearheading the series of interim study hearings. “We want better state services at a lower cost to taxpayers, and this first set of hearings is a good step in the right direction.”
McMahon said the charter agency reform in Iowa focuses on results instead of rules. Charter agencies can waive administrative rules, retain funds and cut through red tape in purchasing. For example, she said, the Iowa Department of Corrections saved $200,000 simply by creating a new pharmaceutical bidding process, while other agencies saved money on airline ticket purchases.
“There is no one single silver bullet that will reform state government,” said McMahon. “Don't let best get in the way of better. The foundation is about managing for performance and results.”
Iowa has also implemented widespread performance reviews of state agencies, similar to the performance audit of Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections spearheaded by House Republicans this year. Iowa has implemented performance audits across state government, and the state requires agencies to release annual performance reports available for public review online at www.resultsiowa.org.
Cargill noted that State Treasurer Scott Meacham and Governor Brad Henry have consistently opposed performance audits, a concept that has met with bipartisan support in Iowa.
Also Tuesday, lawmakers heard from experts with the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
“Oklahoma has too many state employees,” said Brandon Dutcher, vice president for policy for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. “I think we have to ask if a relatively poor state like Oklahoma can afford this kind of overhead.”
Dutcher pointed to an analysis performed by OCPA that indicated Oklahoma ranks 5th in the nation for the ratio of public employees versus private sector employees. Oklahoma has 21.45 people employed by state and local government for every 100 employed by the private sector.
Oklahoma’s public employee ratio is 33 percent higher than the national average, according to the OCPA analysis. Regionally, Oklahoma’s rank is only exceeded by one neighboring state -- New Mexico, which has the highest employment ratio of public employees versus private sector employees in the nation.
Dutcher said that if Oklahoma’s employment ratio were at the national average, the state would have 66,000 fewer state and local government employees.
OCPA research fellow and accountant Steve Anderson also outlined several possible agency consolidations, such as the possible merger of some public safety entities, and other cost-saving measures.
Tuesday’s hearing is the first in a series of three that will focus on opportunities for consolidation of agencies, boards and commissions -- as well as possible cost savings through reforms of the state’s purchasing system and technology upgrades.
The hearings come on the heels of three years of fiscally conservative policies that lay the groundwork for the new effort. House Republican leaders have driven a state income tax cut three years in a row, an innovative “Google government” reform to give taxpayers information on the Internet about how their money is spent, and elimination of outdated boards and commissions.
In 2006, Oklahoma ranked first among six comparable states in the number of government entities. The closest any state came to Oklahoma’s whopping 515 agencies, boards and commissions was Kentucky, with 397. The remaining four comparable states – Arkansas, Iowa, Oregon and Kansas – each have less than 200 ABCs.
The hearings will continue on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
“Charter agencies are a simple concept: if they agree to be more accountable and measurable for results, then we give agency heads more authority and autonomy,” said Teresa Hay McMahon (pictured), Iowa’s Performance Results Director in the Department of Management.
McMahon said that Iowa went from 64 executive branch agencies in the 1980s to a current 24 as a result of its overall reform efforts. She expressed surprise that Oklahoma has 99 state agencies, with an additional 400 boards and commissions.
Cargill said the Iowa reforms speak to the need for Oklahoma to catch up to the 21st Century streamlining efforts happening elsewhere in the country.
“Oklahoma has been stuck in a horse-and-buggy era of state government since our state's founding,” said Cargill, R-Harrah. “With our centennial celebration underway this week, it’s high time that we moved into the second century of our government.”
“We want to make Oklahoma’s government more efficient,” said Rep. Ken Miller, who as Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee is spearheading the series of interim study hearings. “We want better state services at a lower cost to taxpayers, and this first set of hearings is a good step in the right direction.”
McMahon said the charter agency reform in Iowa focuses on results instead of rules. Charter agencies can waive administrative rules, retain funds and cut through red tape in purchasing. For example, she said, the Iowa Department of Corrections saved $200,000 simply by creating a new pharmaceutical bidding process, while other agencies saved money on airline ticket purchases.
“There is no one single silver bullet that will reform state government,” said McMahon. “Don't let best get in the way of better. The foundation is about managing for performance and results.”
Iowa has also implemented widespread performance reviews of state agencies, similar to the performance audit of Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections spearheaded by House Republicans this year. Iowa has implemented performance audits across state government, and the state requires agencies to release annual performance reports available for public review online at www.resultsiowa.org.
Cargill noted that State Treasurer Scott Meacham and Governor Brad Henry have consistently opposed performance audits, a concept that has met with bipartisan support in Iowa.
Also Tuesday, lawmakers heard from experts with the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
“Oklahoma has too many state employees,” said Brandon Dutcher, vice president for policy for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. “I think we have to ask if a relatively poor state like Oklahoma can afford this kind of overhead.”
Dutcher pointed to an analysis performed by OCPA that indicated Oklahoma ranks 5th in the nation for the ratio of public employees versus private sector employees. Oklahoma has 21.45 people employed by state and local government for every 100 employed by the private sector.
Oklahoma’s public employee ratio is 33 percent higher than the national average, according to the OCPA analysis. Regionally, Oklahoma’s rank is only exceeded by one neighboring state -- New Mexico, which has the highest employment ratio of public employees versus private sector employees in the nation.
Dutcher said that if Oklahoma’s employment ratio were at the national average, the state would have 66,000 fewer state and local government employees.
OCPA research fellow and accountant Steve Anderson also outlined several possible agency consolidations, such as the possible merger of some public safety entities, and other cost-saving measures.
Tuesday’s hearing is the first in a series of three that will focus on opportunities for consolidation of agencies, boards and commissions -- as well as possible cost savings through reforms of the state’s purchasing system and technology upgrades.
The hearings come on the heels of three years of fiscally conservative policies that lay the groundwork for the new effort. House Republican leaders have driven a state income tax cut three years in a row, an innovative “Google government” reform to give taxpayers information on the Internet about how their money is spent, and elimination of outdated boards and commissions.
In 2006, Oklahoma ranked first among six comparable states in the number of government entities. The closest any state came to Oklahoma’s whopping 515 agencies, boards and commissions was Kentucky, with 397. The remaining four comparable states – Arkansas, Iowa, Oregon and Kansas – each have less than 200 ABCs.
The hearings will continue on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
Labels: Brandon Dutcher, Ken Miller, Lance Cargill, Steve Anderson, Teresa Hay McMahon
posted by Mike McCarville @ 7:13 PM
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