The Government Modernization Committee will conduct a series of interim studies next month.These studies are designed to bring attention to the implementation of past modernization reforms and begin the process of developing the next round of modernization legislation.
On November 8, our committee will take up a request for a study from Republican Speaker-designate T.W. Shannon. Shannon will ask the committee to consider a system for returning excess state-owned property to the private sector. You may recall my past articles about the importance of inventorying and liquidating unneeded state assets. Shannon’s proposal would do this by documenting the assets that are not being used by state government, selling those assets, and placing the proceeds into an endowment fund that could be used to maintain existing state assets, such as the crumbling exterior of the Oklahoma Capitol, and other state buildings.
Also on November 8, the Government Modernization Committee will receive an update about the savings that taxpayers continue to realize from our purchasing system reforms. The committee will consider the implementation of additional purchasing best practices and analyze the ability of central purchasing officials to renegotiate contracts containing spend items that no longer offer a savings when compared to items commonly found at major retailers. The study will certainly
highlight the recent reforms implemented in this year’s House Bill 1086 that require state agency purchasing officials to report their observation of state mandatory contract commodities that are more expensive than traditional market prices.
Also on that same day, at the request of Representative Ann Coody, our committee will review the impact of state auditing procedures on local government.
On November 10, I will ask the committee to analyze the impact of recent legislative changes that required House conference committees to meet in public for the first time in many years. I believe the impact of these rules will be far reaching and that these reforms should be highlighted. I will also ask the committee to consider the proposal to apply Oklahoma’s open meetings and open records laws to the Legislature. This is an important reform that should have happened a long time ago and the time is right for the Legislature to follow the same laws that apply to Oklahoma’s other governing entities.
The committee will receive an update from state central services officials on ongoing agency and process consolidation efforts. We will receive an update about the consolidate of state agencies that is currently occurring because of this year’s legislation and the consolidation of the state’s technology information infrastructure. And per my earlier article, I will ask Oklahoma state Chief
Information Officer Alex Pettit to provide the committee with a list of state agencies that have refused to comply with the IT consolidation law.
Also on November 10, Representative Lewis Moore from Edmond will ask the committee to analyze the method by which state agencies must purchase workers compensation insurance coverage and explore opportunities for lowering the cost of the coverage.
Each of these studies will take place at the State Capitol in room 432A. The meetings will begin at 9 a.m.
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State Representative Jason Murphey
State Capitol Building – Room #437
2300 North Lincoln Blvd
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
1(405) 557-7350 (Office)
1(405) 315-5064 (Cell)
http://www.HouseDistrict31.com
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