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| Government Efficiency and Accountability |
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What else is the Governor doing to contribute to this principle?
Pooling State Purchasing Power
At the Governor’s direction, the state pooled its purchasing power to reduce state expenditures for items like office supplies, computers, etc. In July 2004, the Governor announced that the state successfully negotiated with Boise Office Solutions to cut the state’s costs even further, saving just under $3 million in this biennium. This was the first major contract under the state’s new successful Smart Buy program.
Other categories completed to date include Telecommunication Long Distance, Office Equipment- Copiers, Personal Computers, Computer Peripherals, Software, Office Supplies, Express Mail Services, and Cell Phones. As a result, the state is expected to save $9.5 million in the 2003-2005 biennium. Over the lives of the new contracts, savings of approximately $40 million is anticipated. Additional savings are expected to be achieved this biennium for remaining categories in progress. For more information, visit the Smart Buy website.
Improved Government Efficiency
The Governor has implemented multiple initiatives to improve government efficiencies in order to save time, money and improve the quality of services delivered to the people of Oregon, including:
Overpayment Audits
With the hundreds of millions of dollars of billings that occur in state government, there are opportunities to be over-charged and the Governor believes there are related opportunities to recover any overpayments. The Governor directed the Department of Administrative Services to conduct two overpayment audits- one in telecommunications and one for all other payments – to ensure the state’s billing history has been accurate and to collect any overpayments they identify. Last year, one audit identified one telecommunications vendor overcharged the state by more than $250,000. These efforts will continue to increase communications with vendors, better analyze vendor bills, and continue to reduce possible over payments in the future.
Renegotiated Toll Free Rates
The state recently renegotiated its toll free rates, which will result in a $1.4 million savings during the 2005-07 Biennium. During the long distance rate renegotiation, the state was able to adjust the rates charged to agencies for long distance and toll free services which is delivering a cost reduction of approximately $4 million.
Internal Audits
The Governor has developed an internal audit plan that calls for the immediate filling of all existing internal audit positions with staff qualified as certified internal auditors. The plan requires for the first time that agencies meeting the DAS requirements for an internal audit must budget for, fill and fully support at least one full time internal audit position. A statewide Internal Audit Policy Council is also being created, which will require all agencies to submit to DAS internal audit reports and recommendations within 30 days of completion so that the Governor has a statewide analysis of the business risks that exist. These actions also address all of the issues identified in the Secretary of State audit in March of 2003. The Governor is also working with DAS, the statewide Internal Audit Advisory and Joint Legislative Audit Committees on crafting legislation that will grant DAS rulemaking authority with respect to the internal audit function within state government.
E-Commerce
The state has implemented e-commerce technology to enable citizens and businesses to buy products and services from the state online with credit cards. In the past year, the state has more than tripled the number of online transactions that the citizens of Oregon are conducting. The Secretary of State, Oregon Department of Transportation, and the Marine Board have been joined by DMV, the Oregon State Board of Nursing, and the Landscape Contractors Board (to name a few), to more than triple the number of e-commerce transactions. This secure, online environment provides citizens a new level of convenience and accessibility to state government products and services.
E-Procurements
The approved 2003-05 budget for the Department of Administrative Services included an overhaul of the state’s e-procurement technology platform – called the Vendor Information Program (VIP). The new system, Oregon Procurement Information Network (ORPIN), is on schedule for pilot testing by the State Procurement Office staff and five agencies. Starting December 2004, remaining agencies will migrate to ORPIN and once migrated, VIP will be decommissioned. ORPIN enables the state and vendors to use web technology to bid and procure products and services, which will streamline and enhance accountability for contracting in state government by also giving access to public contracting information.
E-Government
An e-government project was launched in 2003 to enable all agencies to use the same Web platform, have a common look and feel (brand), and move the management of information from technology staff to business and communications staff. This results in cost-avoidance of new staff and the availability of real-time information. Agency content is being migrated from existing Web sites into the new framework for Oregon.gov and is scheduled to be complete by December 31, 2004. This project also provides a statewide Intranet and other electronic capabilities that will be invaluable tools for state employees.
Reforming State Government
Protecting Oregon’s economy and ensuring state government is accountable to the people of Oregon remain two of the Governor’s top priorities for Oregon’s future. When high standards of integrity and transparency are not met, the Governor has consistently put the interests of the people above politics by making changes in state agencies so that the confidence of the citizenry is strong. In his first two years in office, the Governor made sweeping changes at both the Lottery and the State Accident Insurance Fund, recognizing the important economic drivers they both provide for the state, as well as the need to make reforms to ensure those benefits continue to be realized in an efficient and open process that meet the highest ethical standards the people of Oregon expect and deserve from state government.
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