Governor Signs Student Privacy Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill signing ceremony for House Bill 1989, the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act (Student DATA Act), was held today at the State Capitol. This new law establishes Oklahoma as a leader in student privacy. The bill establishes new procedures and safeguards for the collection and use of student data by our public school system.

Supt. Janet Barresi, Rep. Jason Nelson, Sen. Greg Treat, Gov. Mary Fallin,
Rep. David Brumbaugh, Rep. Sally Kern, John Kraman

The Student DATA Act requires the State Board of Education to publicly set policies and establish safeguards for student data collected by the State Department of Education. Student data privacy has been handled largely at the staff level within the Department.

The law establishes new, strict limits on the transfer of student data, including de-identified data, to federal, state or local agencies or organizations outside Oklahoma. It further restricts the Department from requesting delinquency records, criminal records, medical and health records, social security numbers and biometric information as part of student data collected from districts.

Gov. Mary Fallin praised the successful effort to pass HB1989.

"The new law is a strong, conservative solution to a problem every state in the country is struggling to address,” said Gov. Fallin. “States play a vital role in protecting students’ privacy and Oklahoma takes that responsibility seriously. I applaud our legislators and Superintendent Barresi for working together on this legislation.”

Rep. David Brumbaugh, R-Broken Arrow, was the principle author of HB1989.

“Over time, I have been hearing more and more from parents about the data schools gathered about our children, what data was passed on to the state and federal governments and how that data could be used – and by whom," said Rep. Brumbaugh. "These concerns are what prompted me to author this bill. The Student DATA Act is the critical first step in developing a set of comprehensive and strict privacy controls on student data collected by Oklahoma's public school system."

Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, a House coauthor, helped draft the language of HB1989.

"As a parent of two children in public schools I know it's important for educators to keep records on students so they can do their jobs," said Rep. Nelson. "But, as a parent I also want the information handled appropriately. Now that the Student DATA Act opens the student data collection process to the public, everyone has the tools to help make sure there is an appropriate balance between having critical information about students but not collecting more data than is absolutely necessary while protecting such sensitive information."

Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, the Senate author, noted it is rare for a bill dealing with education to get such overwhelming support.

"I was pleased to work with these individuals who have diverse perspectives on education," said Sen. Treat. "Everyone came together to protect student data privacy."

The new law addresses the growing need to protect more fully our children’s privacy as the State Department of Education works with districts to expand teacher access and use of data for the purpose of improving instruction to increase student achievement.

Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, a House coauthor, highlighted the importance of transparency about data collection.

"The new law creates additional transparency," said Rep. Murphey. "For the first time, the process for protecting student data will be required to be open to the public. Being open with the public is the best way to avoid problems in the future."

Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, Senate coauthor, said the law protects student privacy while allowing essential data to be used for accountability purposes.

“It is paramount to protect student privacy by securing the data, but still allowing for funding decisions to be made from what is proven effective rather than what we hope or think will be effective,” said Sen. Jolley. "With state resources being so limited, every dollar counts.”

Superintendent Janet Barresi called the new law a well thought out approach to protect student information.

“The Oklahoma State Department of Education has been working with local administrators and teachers to determine what data they need from the state to improve student learning," said Supt. Barresi. "As more data are made available to classroom teachers, the state needs thoughtful and transparent rules about who can access the data and how it can be used."

It is anticipated this new level of transparency will lead to a healthy public debate about the proper role and scope of data collected on the State's public school students. With the level of detail now available to the public, concerned Oklahomans will have the information necessary to better guide policy makers in decisions regarding the sensitive issue of information collected on students. As lawmakers, we look forward to a public conversation on this issue and expect to run additional legislation in the future to build on this foundation.

“This was a combined effort to ensure that the new law would achieve desired outcomes without causing unintended consequences for teachers and students,” says Rep. Brumbaugh, adding that, “we will continue to work with the Department of Education as they implement the law.”

HB1989 received near unanimous support, passing the House 88-2 and the Senate 41-0. The bill was signed by Gov. Fallin on May 29th and becomes effective July 1.

The Student DATA Act:

• requires the State Board of Education to publish a public inventory of student data elements collected by the State Department of Education with definitions of each student data element,


• requires the Board to publish a public list of additional student data elements it is proposing for collection including a statement about the reason for the proposal,


• requires the Board to develop and make public policies and procedures to comply with all relevant privacy laws,


• requires the Board to develop and make public policies limiting who can access student data, what student data can be accessed and the circumstances under which the data may be accessed,


• requires that student data collected and maintained by the Department be kept confidential except where the Board has developed and made publicly available the criteria for exceptions,


• requires the Board to ensure compliance by the Department with privacy laws,


• requires the Board to ensure vendor contracts include express provision that safeguard privacy and include penalties for noncompliance, and


• requires the Board to make annual reports to the Governor and Legislature.


• establishes new strict limits on the transfer of student data, including de-identified data, to federal, state or local agencies or organizations outside Oklahoma, and


• further restricts the Department from requesting delinquency records, criminal records, medical and health records, social security numbers and biometric information as part of student data collected from districts.

Rep. Murphey Highlights Open Records Reform Legislation

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- State Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, posted a great update on his committee's work last week. Murphey, who chairs the House Government Modernization Committee, mentions an important reform to the state's open records law. 

Right now, if a government agency refuses to fulfill an open records request the only remedy is for the person requesting the records to hire an attorney, go to court and sue the agency. 

Last Thursday, the deadline for House bills to be heard in House committees, Murphey's committee passed legislation to address this problem.

Click here to read Rep. Murphey's post

House Committee to Examine Governor’s Plan for Education Savings

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

OKLAHOMA CITY – Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives members are set to learn the details of Governor Fallin’s “Open Range” plan.

Fallin’s open range proposal seeks to place more money in common education classrooms by allowing school districts to take advantage of the savings from the state’s recent consolidation of information technology resources. The IT consolidation is already set to save Oklahoma state agencies approximately 40 million each year.

The House Government Modernization committee will receive testimony about the proposal from state CIO Alex Pettit during its 10:30 a.m. Thursday committee meeting in Room 412C of the Oklahoma State Capitol. The public is invited to attend.

Lawmakers Study Reform of Legislative Process

OKLAHOMA CITY – Jared Saxton, Managing Partner of BlueLid Technologies, gave Oklahoma lawmakers a lesson in technical legislative processes today.

Saxton spoke to the Oklahoma House of Representatives Government Modernization committee about the work of BlueLid Technologies on an XML-based legislative content system to replace an outdated system used by the Iowa Legislative Services Agency.

Iowa’s old content system had multiple problems, Saxton said. It was difficult to train staff on its use, to publish content, to generate tables and indexes and to implement new content projects, he said.

The XML-based LINC system created to replace it created production efficiencies and flexibility to get content out to the general public faster and in more forms. It was also more user-friendly for staff members.

State Rep. Jason Murphey, who requested the study and serves as chair of the committee, said the presentation was informative.

“Our informative technology staff have done an excellent job of supporting the work of state lawmakers,” said Murphey, R-Guthrie. “We’ve been increasingly paperless and more transparent. I think an XML-based system might be an additional tool to create greater efficiencies and greater transparency.”

Saxton said Iowa has spent about $5 million on the new system.

House Director of Information Technology T.J. Robinson said he also enjoyed the presentation.

“There are definite improvements that an XML-based system would bring to the technical side of the legislative process, but lawmakers will have to decide if the cost of these improvements are acceptable,” said Robinson.

Murphey said he will be looking deeper at the potential cost-savings created by the improvements.

IT Consolidation to Save Taxpayers $40 Million Annually

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma taxpayers are set to save $40 million during the current state budget year and each year thereafter, according to a recent report.
            
The Information Services Division of the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services released its fiscal year-end report detailing the savings from the recently enacted plan to consolidate state government information technology processes. The report shows savings estimates continuing to climb and demonstrates that approximately $40 million in annual savings has already been achieved even though many state agencies still have not been incorporated into the consolidation process.
            
The savings can be attributed in part to lower software costs due to the combining of the state agencies’ purchasing power and a 17 percent reduction in the number of IT positions needed to maintain the consolidated IT infrastructure. The plan also details additional levels of cost avoidance in addition to the $40 million in savings, including $1.8 million of potential cost avoidance after the centralized IT operation rectified software licensing-related liabilities previously incurred by state agencies.
            
When the Oklahoma Legislature passed the proposal, it required IT officials to realize a savings of at least 15 percent of the state’s IT spend. The report demonstrates that the consolidation has met this goal.
            
Last fall, Oklahoma Chief Information Officer Alex Pettit told the House Government Modernization Committee that the consolidation had allowed $30 million in annual savings. On the morning of Sept. 11, Pettit, will again testify before the committee and will inform members of the newest savings numbers. Pettit is expected to field questions on his department’s mitigation of legacy IT information security liabilities and the potential for additional savings as the consolidation continues.
            
“CIO Pettit is doing a fantastic job implementing this plan,” explained the consolidation’s legislative author, state Rep. David Derby, R-Owasso. “During the next legislative year, we are committed to continuing the passage of legislation that will enable these savings to continue.”
            

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

The IT consolidation provides a great example of a modernization reform that will save millions of dollars each year,” said House Modernization Committee Chair Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie. “The report demonstrates that the plan has been successful and it si now our job as policymakers to export the concept to other policy venues to ensure even more savings are realized.”
            
Pettit’s testimony is expected to take place at approximately 11 a.m. Sept. 11 in Committee Room 432A at the state Capitol building. The meeting is open and the public is encouraged to attend.

Government Modernization, Pension Reform Plans Announced

OKLAHOMA CITY – House Republican leaders last week unveiled another round of policy proposals designed to make government more efficient and fiscally stable.

Next session, Rep. Jason Murphey and other House Republicans will carry a series of government modernization proposals to continue consolidating and improving duplicative or ineffective state services, while Rep. Randy McDaniel will carry proposals to continue reforming the state’s fiscally unstable pension systems.

The proposals are part of the House Republican commitment to fiscal conservatism, saving taxpayer dollars and improving efficiency across state government.

“Government efficiency is now the rule rather than the exception,” said House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. “As we continue building a pro-growth Oklahoma, we must continue bringing fiscal order to state government. These proposals are all critical to that effort. We’ve promised the public a more effective, fiscally stable government, so we’re intent on delivering one.”
Government Modernization

Murphey, chairman of the House Government Modernization Committee, noted that legislators “cleared the deck” in 2011 by passing more than 20 pieces of government modernization legislation that were later signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin.

“We left nothing on the table,” said Murphey, R-Guthrie. “Last year was a tipping point, so this year we’re going to take that momentum and run with it.”

Murphey named several House Republicans who will carry government modernization legislation next session:

1. Rep. David Derby, R-Owasso, will carry legislation consolidating the state’s fiber network to include OneNet;
2. Rep. David Brumbaugh, R-Broken Arrow, will carry legislation on purchasing, education spending transparency and fleet reform;
3. Rep. Elise Hall, R-Oklahoma City, will carry legislation improving transparency into the state’s bond indebtedness;
4. Rep. Josh Cockroft, R-Tecumseh, will carry legislation creating a one-stop-shop for open records requests through the office of Chief Information Officer Alex Pettit;
5. Rep. Aaron Stiles, R-Norman, will carry legislation building on his business licensing one-stop-shop legislation from last year;
6. Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Arcadia will carry legislation to reform the way the state manages state agency workers’ compensation spending; and
7. state House Speaker-designate T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, will carry legislation requiring reforms to the management of state assets.

Murphey will carry two bills focusing on purchasing reforms and transparency.

“House Bill 2197 will focus on purchasing reform and will create options for higher education to take advantage of some of the savings we have been able to enact in past purchasing reforms,” Murphey said. “The intent of House Bill 2196 will be to create online information in a dashboard-type performance matrix to aid the public and press in getting agency data and gauging agency effectiveness.”

An example of a government agency performance matrix can be found at track.dc.gov.

Steele will carry a follow-up to House Bill 2140, last year’s government agency consolidation bill. The follow-up bill, HB 3053, would consolidate the Merit Protection Commission and State Bond Advisor into the Office of State Finance and rename OSF the Office of Enterprise and Management Services. HB 3053 would also consolidate the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board and Employment Benefits Council Board into the Oklahoma Health and Wellness Board.

Steele noted that as a package, the government modernization legislation of the two-year 53rd Legislative Session is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in savings.

“These reforms are huge parts of our larger effort to find savings across government so we can lower the tax burden on all Oklahomans,” Steele said.
Pension Reform

McDaniel, chairman of the House Pension Oversight Committee, noted that while last year’s pension reforms shaved more than $5 billion off the state’s unfunded liability, more needs to be done to further stabilize the state’s pension systems.

“The goal is to put all our systems on a sustainable path, which would be a notable accomplishment for public workers and taxpayers alike,” McDaniel said.

Much of last year’s pension reform legislation focused on the pension systems for teachers, state employees and judges, so McDaniel will carry legislation this year to improve the fiscal stability of the firefighter and law enforcement pension systems.

“We have negotiated with representatives from both the firefighter and law enforcement organizations. I think we have come to an agreement that is fair to our public safety employees and fair to taxpayers,” McDaniel, R-Oklahoma City, said. “Employees and employers will both pay a little more into the system in order to ensure the pension plans are financially strong over the long run.”

McDaniel will also file a resolution seeking a constitutional amendment that would require more accountability in future pension system decisions.

“The constitutional amendment contains the fundamental principles of proper pension oversight. We need a higher law that takes into consideration the future generations of Oklahomans,” McDaniel said.

The amendment would:

(1) Protect plan assets by prohibiting diversion of pension funds to other uses;
(2) Institute a prudent investor rule to ensure wise investments of pension funds;
(3) Reduce future debts by directing adequate funding to pension systems;
(4) Require funding standards and practices to be established before additional benefits are authorized.

NOTE: For accompanying video, go to http://www.okhouse.tv/iViewVideo.aspx?VideoID=400

Rep. Murphey: State Government Needs A Performance Audit

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

Oklahoma City - Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, discusses on his blog the need to establish regular performance audits by the State Auditor. Below are excerpts from his post this morning.

"One of the most important components of this year’s House government modernization effort will involve acting on a request from State Auditor Gary Jones.

"Jones has requested the Legislature to take action and allow his office to establish a performance audits division that could conduct a series of performance audits of state government entities during each year.

"The proposal would allow the people of Oklahoma to vote next November to place this proposal into the Oklahoma Constitution.

"Currently, the Auditor can conduct these audits at the request of the Governor, the Legislature, or the head of an agency. As you might image, it is highly unlikely agency officials from a poorly performing agency would ever request the Auditor to audit their agency.

"Earlier this year, Governor Fallin authorized a performance audit of the state-owned Grand River Dam Authority. That audit was released last week and brought to light a number of concerning details questioning the method by which millions of dollars were being spent."

Click here to read Rep. Murphey's complete post

Lawmakers Examine Possible Higher Education Savings

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 11, 2011) – If Oklahoma’s institutions of higher education and state government simply streamlined processes it could result in significant savings on behalf of the taxpayers, presenters told members of the House Higher Education Committee today.

The legislative study on Oklahoma’s colleges was requested by state Reps. Corey Holland and Jason Murphey after higher education institutions were successful in winning exemptions from several government modernization reform initiatives.

Of particular interest to the legislators is higher education’s ongoing exemption from the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act. A 2006 consultant report from IBM found that the state could save millions of dollars by reforming its central purchasing system and by working with state colleges to leverage spending power.

While the Legislature acted on this report and enacted purchasing system reforms that are saving millions of dollars, the state’s centralized purchasing system has yet to include higher education institutions. It appears that millions more could be saved if state purchasing officials collaborated with Oklahoma’s universities and colleges.

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

Committee members were also told that another important savings opportunity could be realized if higher education’s OneNet fiber network would be consolidated under the state’s centralized technology infrastructure. This network could be used to lower to cost of bandwidth to state agencies and provide a solution to the state’s public safety interoperability challenges.

“As the government modernization effort continues to demonstrate tangible savings on behalf of the taxpayers, it becomes very important for Oklahoma’s policy makers to provide institutions of higher education with access to these money saving processes,” said Murphey R-Guthrie.

Rep. Corey Holland
R-Marlow

“At a time when Oklahoma families struggle to pay the ever-increasing cost of tuition and fees, it makes no sense for our state not to consider real cost savings,” said Holland, R-Marlow. “If by the colleges making some modernization reforms the cost of government for the taxpayers can be reduced, then I believe these reforms should be seriously considered.”

64 Legislators Sign Letter in Support of U.S. Balanced Budget Amendment

Majority of State Representatives Pledge to Push for Ratification

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 29, 2011) – A majority of the members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives have declared their intent to make Oklahoma one of the first states to ratify a federal Balanced Budget Amendment.

Last week, 42 Oklahoma legislators signed a letter in support of a proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. The letter expresses the legislators’ support of the amendment and declares the legislators’ intent to work for ratification of the proposal in Oklahoma.

This week, an additional 22 legislators signed the letter, bringing the total number of signers to 64. On Thursday, the letter containing additional signatures was sent to Oklahoma’s congressional delegation and the congressional sponsors of the amendment.

“If the Balanced Budget Amendment is approved by Congress, we are committed to supporting and working for ratification in Oklahoma,” the letter states. “We are confident that if given the opportunity, Oklahoma will be one of the first states to ratify the Balanced Budget Amendment.”

Signers of the letter include much of House leadership, including House Speaker Kris Steele, Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Hickman, Majority Floor Leader Dan Sullivan, Appropriations and Budget Chairman Earl Sears and Majority Caucus Chairman Weldon Watson. House Rules Committee Chairman Gary Banz also signed the letter. Banz’s committee would likely oversee the development and advancement of the ratification resolution.

Other signers include state Reps. Don Armes, John Bennett, Gus Blackwell, David Brumbaugh, Dennis Casey, Josh Cockroft, Ann Coody, Marian Cooksey, David Dank, Lee Denney, David Derby, George Faught, Elise Hall, Tommy Hardin, Corey Holland, Randy Grau, Dennis Johnson, Charlie Joyner, Dan Kirby, Sally Kern, Charles Key, Guy Liebmann, James Lockhart, Scott Martin, Steve Martin, Mark McCullough, Randy McDaniel, Lewis Moore, Glen Mulready, Jason Murphey, Jason Nelson, Tom Newell, Jadine Nollan, Leslie Osborn, Pat Ownbey, Ron Peters, Pam Peterson, Phil Richardson, R.C. Pruett, Sean Roberts, Mike Sanders, Colby Schwartz, Seneca Scott, T.W. Shannon, Randy Terrill, Todd Thomsen, Steve Vaughn, Paul Wesselhoft and Harold Wright.

The letter was also signed by state Sens. Mark Allen, Josh Brecheen, Bill Brown, Greg Treat, Jim Halligan, David Holt, Clark Jolley, Steve Russell and Gary Stanislawski.

A Refreshing Change of Pace

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

State Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, posted on his website today: 

"In addition to getting the word out about the Governor’s hard work for reform, I feel it is also important to mention the work of other newly elected and appointed statewide officials." 

A Refreshing Change of Pace, a column by Murphey reflects on his work with "several new officials on various modernization proposals" and how he "enjoyed observing and (when possible) assisting them in their efforts to institute reforms."


In this first in a series, Murphey highlights new Secretary of State Glenn Coffee. 

Auditor & Inspector Gary Jones: “rapid progress” in closing audit backlog

By Patrick B. McGuigan at www.CapitolBeatOK.com (Published: 22-Jun-2011

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones
was surprised, he says, at how far behind the office was on required audits of county governments when he took the helm on January 10.

“As policy, those audits are supposed to be done every year, and must, by statute, be done every other year. When I took office and worked with the staff to identify challenges, it became clear that some counties had not been audited since 2005,” he said in an interview Wednesday (June 22).

It was a challenge, he admits, “to figure out how to approach the backlog, do the audits right, yet get caught up. There are 77 counties, and the simplest way to put it is that we have to do at least two years of work in one year.”

The pace of work is summarized, he said, by comparing three months of productivity this year with that of 2010. The agency completed 78 audit reports in the first three months of 2010; it had finished 112 audits the same time period this year.

Jones is most concerned about special investigative audits -- which come at the request of the attorney general and local District Attorneys -- must be given priority. The long-anticipated investigatory look at the Broken Arrow public school system was finished this month. That audit was first requested in April 2009.

“I thought that kind of time gap was the exception, but learned it was the norm,” Jones told CapitolBeatOK.

State House buries effort to weaken government transparency provisions

By Patrick B. McGuigan, www.capitolbeatok.com

Legislative allies of advocates for openness government operations turned back an attempt to weaken Oklahoma’s transparency provisions.

House Bill 1559, by Republican state Rep. Fred Jordan of Jenks, was buried this week when the state House rejected the conference committee report (CCR) 64-35. (Two members did not vote.)

Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association (OPA) said Jordan told him he was “through with the bill and would not be bringing it back up this session.” The bill would have expanded attorney-client privilege provisions for public bodies and, Thomas told CapitolBeatOK, would have devolved decisions over privilege decisions to attorneys rather than judges.

Thomas and other observers credited state Rep. Harold Wright, a Weatherford Republican, for passionate debate against the measure as “bad public policy.” Thomas was unstinting in his praise of Rep. Wright, telling members of the OPA, “As a former mayor, member of the news media [radio station owner] and as an elected representative, Rep. Wright clearly understood the impact of this legislation.”

When debate on the proposal began, state Rep. Don Armes of Faxon was presiding officer in the chair at the front of the House chamber – and thereby addressed throughout the joust as “Mr. Speaker.”

Just before questions and debate on the bill commenced, Rep. Armes said to Jordan, the sponsor, “A lot of people want to whack this piñata.”

As more than a dozen legislators lined up to pose questions, most of them clearly indicating opposition, Rep. Jordan good naturedly played along with the dynamic, saying to some questioners, “OK, representative, now you’ve got the stick.”

Many points against the bill were made seriously, including the comments of state Rep. Jason Nelson, an Oklahoma City Republican, that he was not inclined to give the Tulsa Public School administration more ability to claim attorney-client privilege. Nelson noted he had been seeking information from the district for months and was still not satisfied with the system’s responsiveness.

State Rep. Mike Reynolds, in floor discussion with Jordan, said that when debate began he was 95% against the proposal, but as it progressed, he was more inclined to be 95% in favor. As Reynolds finished that comment, an unknown speaker, his voice amplified on the House floor was overheard to mutter, “It’s going down.”

Others participating in debate and questioning included Republican Reps. Mike Ritze of Broken Arrow, John Bennett of Sallisaw, Randy Grau of Edmond, Pat Owenby of Ardmore, Aaron Stiles of Norman, and Mark McCullough of Sapulpa; and House Democratic Leader Scott Inman of Del City.

Most of the group that spoke up on the floor broke against the bill, voting may, but Reps. Stiles and Grau backed it. Despite his “95 percent” comments, Rep. Reynolds voted with the majority against the bill.

Thomas told CapitolBeatOK, “This legislation caused much confusion because the entire section of that statute is poorly worded. Supporters of the legislation have promised to try and simplify and clarify the entire section of law in future legislative sessions.”

He continued, “This vote makes it clear the House of Representatives does not want to expand attorney-client privilege for public bodies unless there is clear and convincing reasons to do so, and they do not want to pass a law where the practical application and implications of this bill are not clearly understood. We commend the House for taking this stand on behalf of the taxpayers.”

The bill was favored by the Oklahoma Municipal League and the Tulsa Public Schools, an alliance that presented a daunting challenge to prevent erosion of access to public records.

In a discussion with CapitolBeatOK, Thomas had previously explained, “Current law limits their privilege to pending litigation and investigations when the court has ruled they can keep those communications confidential.”

In the end, that legal status quo remained in place as a result of the House vote on Tuesday (May 17). Because the vote was actually on the conference report and not “fourth reading” (final passage), Rep. Jordan could bring the measure back in the 2012 legislative session, but he indicated to Thomas and others that is unlikely.

House Approves Government Financial Service Reforms

The Oklahoma House of Representatives has approved legislation designed to transform inefficient state agency financial services systems.

Senate Bill 541, by state Rep. Jason Murphey, (R-Guthrie) and state Sen. Anthony Sykes (R- Moore), was proposed following a report by the Hackett Group, which demonstrated massive inefficiencies in the way state agencies conducts financial services.

The report compared Oklahoma agencies’ financial services processes to those of other public and private sector peer organizations of like complexity. The report demonstrated the inefficiencies by stating that it costs Oklahoma taxpayers $20.05 to process one accounts payable invoice while comparable peer groups pay $3.58 for each similar service.

“It is incredible and unacceptable that Oklahoma taxpayers are paying nearly six times the cost of what comparable groups are spending for that same process,” Murphey declared. “This legislation is designed to fix that.”

The study also stated that Oklahoma state government has a significantly higher number of full time employees employed to conduct these operations than peer organizations. Oklahoma processes 2,039 accounts payable occurrences for each employee while peer groups are able to account for 15,693 of these same processes with each employee.

The House approved Senate Bill 541 by a vote of 61-34. The legislation now returns to the Senate for additional consideration.

Location:Oklahoma State Capitol

Governor's Plan to Save $3.6 Million Approved by Committee

Governor Mary Fallin

Governor Mary Fallin’s proposal to modernize the state’s vendor payment system and save $3.6 million per year has been approved by the House of Representatives’ Government Modernization Committee.

House Bill 1086 proposes to utilize electronic payments methods such as direct deposit to pay the state’s thousands of vendor invoices. The bill is sponsored by state Reps. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie), Josh Cockroft (R-McLoud), and state Sen. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond).

Fallin called on legislators to approve the reform during her State of the State address. Fallin proposed the change after the Office of State Finance indicated that the state could be spending up to $13.50 per vendor payment for each payment made using traditional paper conveyances such as payment warrants. This compares to electronic payments which cost the state approximately 5 cents per transfer.

Currently, approximately 230,000 checks are made with traditional paper payment conveyances. If House Bill 1086 is approved, it will require nearly all vendor payments to be made by electronic payment with an estimated savings of $3.6 million each year.

“This is an important reform,” Murphey explained. “This should have occurred several years ago and I appreciate the leadership of Governor Fallin and Treasurer Miller in introducing and supporting this innovative reform.”

In addition to the electronic payment proposal, House Bill 1086 represents an omnibus approach to using technology to enable taxpayer savings through efficiencies and spending transparencies. It includes Governor Fallin’s proposal for a shared state payroll system, which is also estimated to save at least $2 million each year, the placement of common education spending transactions on the data.ok.gov website, and a one-stop shop for many state documents and annual reports to be located in a searchable format for easy purview by the taxpayers at the website documents.ok.gov.

House Bill 1086 was approved by a vote of 11-1 in the last committee vote to take place before the 2011 House committee House Bill consideration deadline and now goes to the full House for approval.

State Agency Consolidation Approved in Committee

Rep. Jason Murphey

A significant consolidation of state government administrative overhead could be set to take place following today’s approval of House Bill 2140 by the House of Representatives Government Modernization Committee.

House Bill 2140 proposes to consolidate seven of Oklahoma’s central service state agencies into one agency.

“We are committed to right sizing state government,” stated House Speaker Kris Steele who serves as the author of the legislation. “Consolidating central services agencies is a great first step toward the goal of making state government more efficient and responsive to the needs of Oklahoma taxpayers.”

Steele authored the legislation after an interim study found that Oklahoma could realize millions of dollars of savings if Oklahoma followed best practices that are occurring in other states.

The legislation is patterned after the central services governance structures used in Montana, Indiana and Utah.

“This vote represents the first time in recent history that a significant consolidation of state agencies has been approved by a standing House committee,” said state Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie and chair of the Government Modernization Committee. “The consolidation of these seven state agencies will save the taxpayers millions of dollars every year.”

Murphey said the bill will also set the stage for future significant consolidations.

“This bill makes the case for consolidating state agencies based on similar mission and subject matter,” he said.

House Bill 2140 was approved by a vote of 11-2 and now heads to the full House for additional consideration.

Details:

The State Government Administrative Process Consolidation and Reorganization Reform Act of 2011 consolidates the following agencies into the Office of State Finance (OSF):

-Department of Central Services
-Office of Personnel Management
-Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission
-Oklahoma Department of Libraries
-Oklahoma State Employees Benefits Council
-Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board

The bill directs the Director of OSF to consolidate all of the agencies’ administrative functions by December 31, 2011, and to demonstrate a 15% overall cost reduction as a result.

A 15% cost savings from consolidation of the above agencies based on their total operating budget figure would be $22,173,934.

Where the specific cost savings will come from in the consolidation is left to the discretion of the Director of OSF who shall provide recommendations to the Legislature.