Consolidation of state agencies should be a priority for next year’s Legislature. Lawmakers should begin looking at the methods to reorganize state government, making it leaner and much more efficient.
There were attempts at beginning the process this past session. Probably because it is an election year, though, the efforts didn’t muster enough support.
Legislation aimed at bringing about 250 lawyers in various state agencies under the Attorney’s General’s office got squashed. One of the reasons is those attorneys can make a lot more money serving in their present capacities as opposed to the compensation level they would receive working for the AG.
State Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a proponent of that move who thought it made good sense, pointed that out recently during a meeting of the Oklahoma Press Association.
That effort should be revived and whoever is the new Attorney General after the Nov. 2 election should come on board. Edmondson, after having served 16 years in the office, is leaving as he makes a run to be governor.
There also was a measure that would have brought the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs under one agency. It might also have included the beleaguered state Medical Examiner’s Office, which has experienced its share of major problems in the past year or so.
According to the June issue of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs magazine, state government is growing faster than Oklahomans have the ability to pay. It points out that between Fiscal Year 1992 and 2000, state government expenditures were growing at the same pace as the population-plus-inflation benchmark.
That resulted in the burden of state government shrinking during the same time period because personal income growth was growing significantly faster.
However, beginning in FY 2000, that trend began to change, mainly due to Medicaid expansion, the article says, claiming expenditures jumped 51 percent to $11.3 billion in FY 2002 from $7.5 billion in FY 2000. During that same time, the growth index for state and local expenditures was 1.89 versus 1.69 for personal income.
Even though personal income tax rates have been cut in the past few years, state government has continued to grow. That’s because until the current fiscal year, which ends Wednesday, agencies weren’t required to curb spending. Lawmakers found ways to spend the surpluses, which were being enjoyed prior to the economic downtown.
The OCPA points out another interesting figure. In FY 2007, state government sent $3.9 billion to localities, mostly for education.
Much like the federal government did under the latter Bush years, state spending has continued while revenues have declined.
State Rep. Kris Steele is scheduled to be the next House Speaker, assuming the reins by no later than sometime in November. As a fiscal conservative, and a proponent for more efficiency and eliminating duplication of services, he had warned prior to this past session the state has to change its operating habits. He envisions state government looking much different in the next few years.
We endorse his efforts. There is no better time to start than this coming session and Steele and his team have the opportunity to step up and take the lead.
Even if revenues turn around and this coming year’s outlook improves, it’s time to change the way government operates. Beginning at the state level is a good start, because that can have an impact on how cities, towns and counties also operate. There is plenty of changing at those levels that needs to occur also.
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Consolidation of state agencies should be a priority for next year’s Legislature. Lawmakers should begin looking at the methods to reorganize state government, making it leaner and much more efficient.
There were attempts at beginning the process this past session. Probably because it is an election year, though, the efforts didn’t muster enough support.
Legislation aimed at bringing about 250 lawyers in various state agencies under the Attorney’s General’s office got squashed. One of the reasons is those attorneys can make a lot more money serving in their present capacities as opposed to the compensation level they would receive working for the AG.
State Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a proponent of that move who thought it made good sense, pointed that out recently during a meeting of the Oklahoma Press Association.
That effort should be revived and whoever is the new Attorney General after the Nov. 2 election should come on board. Edmondson, after having served 16 years in the office, is leaving as he makes a run to be governor.
There also was a measure that would have brought the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs under one agency. It might also have included the beleaguered state Medical Examiner’s Office, which has experienced its share of major problems in the past year or so.
According to the June issue of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs magazine, state government is growing faster than Oklahomans have the ability to pay. It points out that between Fiscal Year 1992 and 2000, state government expenditures were growing at the same pace as the population-plus-inflation benchmark.
That resulted in the burden of state government shrinking during the same time period because personal income growth was growing significantly faster.
However, beginning in FY 2000, that trend began to change, mainly due to Medicaid expansion, the article says, claiming expenditures jumped 51 percent to $11.3 billion in FY 2002 from $7.5 billion in FY 2000. During that same time, the growth index for state and local expenditures was 1.89 versus 1.69 for personal income.
Even though personal income tax rates have been cut in the past few years, state government has continued to grow. That’s because until the current fiscal year, which ends Wednesday, agencies weren’t required to curb spending. Lawmakers found ways to spend the surpluses, which were being enjoyed prior to the economic downtown.
The OCPA points out another interesting figure. In FY 2007, state government sent $3.9 billion to localities, mostly for education.
Much like the federal government did under the latter Bush years, state spending has continued while revenues have declined.
State Rep. Kris Steele is scheduled to be the next House Speaker, assuming the reins by no later than sometime in November. As a fiscal conservative, and a proponent for more efficiency and eliminating duplication of services, he had warned prior to this past session the state has to change its operating habits. He envisions state government looking much different in the next few years.
We endorse his efforts. There is no better time to start than this coming session and Steele and his team have the opportunity to step up and take the lead.
Even if revenues turn around and this coming year’s outlook improves, it’s time to change the way government operates. Beginning at the state level is a good start, because that can have an impact on how cities, towns and counties also operate. There is plenty of changing at those levels that needs to occur also.
