Overdue savings
The core principle of running a business is to make sure it”™s being run efficiently, effectively and with an eye toward profit.
The core principle of running a government is not to think like a business, but get businesslike results anyway.
That said, the General Assembly has tasked a panel with bringing the state into at least the 21st century.
With an opaque, fog-inducing, eye-glazing name like the Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes, we”™re not sure what the results could be.
According to the legislation, the commission “shall identify functional overlaps and other redundancies among state agencies and promote efficiency and accountability in state government by identifying ways to eliminate such overlaps and redundancies and by making such other recommendations as the commission deems appropriate, with the goal to reducing costs to the state and enhancing the quality and accessibility of state services.”
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They might want to “enhance” that sentence first.
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How about: cut costs and consolidate where possible? You could even call the commission Purge and Merge.
The panel has to submit an initial report “identifying subjects for further study” by Feb. 1. The final report isn”™t due until Dec. 31, 2010.
In its recently released Proposed Areas of Focus, the commission identified 33 such areas. Some are vague, such as: “consolidate data centers;” “modernize statewide communication platform;” “innovation and prevention, state corrections;” and the ultimate in vague, “controlling long-term health care costs.”
Some of the items are no-brainers as far as saving money and some we thought had already been implemented.
We nearly fell out of our chairs when we read No. 22: “Requiring ”˜direct deposit”™ of all state payroll checks, unemployment compensation checks and workers compensation checks to eliminate printing and mailing costs.”
At the very least, all state workers should be on direct deposit ”¦ immediately.
Another immediate cost saver would come from No. 30, which says do training via interactive video streaming rather than traveling to different locations. Gas, time and no need for state cars. Implement it now.
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No. 11 would afford the state”™s health care facilities some big savings for pharmaceuticals, hospital supplies and related products. The way to achieve that would be to join the Minnesota Multistate Contracting Alliance for Pharmacy. Forty-six states are members. Not on that list are Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and of course, Connecticut. Please join now.
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There are a lot of great points of savings identified in this preliminary list, including an estimated $10 million in savings by privatizing medical services for prison inmates.
Most of these changes are going to require legislation. Aye, and therein lies the rub.
Changes always come with a lot of meetings, discussions, debates, caucuses, lobbying and other time-consuming inanities.
Lawmakers need to forsake partisan politics and concentrate on actual cost savings for the state.
Legitimate money-saving ideas; something other than levying more fees or taxes on businesses and other taxpayers, needs to be the top priority for the legislature.
That is certainly one concept that should be embraced on both sides of the aisle.
Politics and politicking be damned. Remember who you were elected to represent.