Did you know that unelected political appointees in Oklahoma have the ability to make new laws which may affect the lives of many people? You can only imagine how frustrating it is for those affected by these rules and who have little recourse since they cannot vote the unelected lawmakers out of office.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about rogue agencies. I defined rogue agencies as those agencies that have been co-opted by a group of industry insiders who can use the power of the government to protect their special interests. One way they can protect their special interests is to make rules and regulations that discourage their competitors.
This is the first year that I am serving on the Agency Review and Administrative Rule committee. The committee fulfills the role of providing legislative oversight of state agencies and is supposed to review any new rules.
The committee Chair, Rep. John Wright of Broken Arrow, is constantly encouraging committee members to perform due diligence in performing this review and he assigns each committee member different rules to study. I have observed that this work has created a sense of teamwork among members and breaks down partisan barriers.
The work has not been without results. Last week, Vice-Chairman Rep. George Faught of Muskogee filed a resolution to disapprove rules by one state agency that would greatly increase fees on schools and nonprofit organizations. It is shocking to me that a state agency can increase fees without a vote of the Legislature and I am grateful that Rep. Faught discovered these increases and is taking action to stop them.
That brings me to a very important point. I do not think any group should be able to make a law unless that law is first voted on by the Legislature. If the people do not like a law, they should have the ability to vote the person out of office who supported it. By delegating its lawmaking ability to unelected political appointees, the Legislature is sidestepping its elected responsibility of taking tough stands for or against new laws.
Rep. David Derby of Owasso presented a bill to the House that would have forced the Legislature to approve or disapprove all new laws that agencies are making, instead of the current system where committee members simply review the laws and determine if we should attempt to reject them.
Right, now, a bad law could easily be missed by our committee. If a committee member does not have time to review the new law or if the committee member supports a bad law, the odds of that law being stopped are infinitesimal. If Rep. Derby's idea were to be approved, it would mean that the whole Legislature would have to vote on the law instead of just one legislator.
Derby's proposal would return power to the people to hold those accountable who vote for bad laws.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Legislative Session 09: Round Two
This week marks the first week in which the House will be considering bills that have already been approved by the Senate. It is my responsibility to be the House Author for four Senate bills.
Senate Bill 794 is authored by Senator Clark Jolly and is a request bill from the Peppers Ranch located just west of Guthrie. Peppers Ranch serves as a foster care provider for DHS and requested the bill in order to provide transparency and openness to the analysis of the state adoption process. It would require that DHS report the number of unsuccessful adoptions that take place each year. This could be used as a tool to analyze and correct issues related to the adoption process. I will be presenting SB 794 before the House Human Services committee this week.
Senate Bill 980 is authored by Senator Glenn Coffee. It calls for the creation of a CIO to oversee the state's IT functions. Each year, state government has been spending $340,577,938 of your tax dollars on IT and telecommunications. This does not count the salaries of the hundreds of state employees who are assigned to IT departments. These IT functions are spread out on an agency-by-agency basis, with each agency capable of creating their own IT empire. Millions of taxpayer dollars could be saved each year if duplicated processes were eliminated and new technology was used to maximize speed and space. SB 980 seeks to put an end to this type of inefficiency. SB 980 has been assigned to the Government Modernization committee where it is set to receive a hearing next Monday.
Senate Bill 800 is authored by Senator Anthony Sykes and is an excellent strategy for preserving the integrity of the initiative and referendum process in Oklahoma. As you may be aware, the Oklahoma Constitution allows for the people to pass a petition in order to allow them to vote on issues that the Legislature refuses to take action on. This is how such important laws have been written as Oklahoma's term limit law and the Constitutional provision that makes it very hard for the Legislature to raise taxes without a vote of the people.
Unfortunately, the petition process can be thwarted by minor legal mistakes in the petition language that can sometimes cause it to be thrown out even after the petition organizers have gone to enormous effort to get the thousands of necessary signatures. As you might imagine, this serves as a disincentive for citizens to start a petition for fear that all their hard work would be wasted because of a minor mistake. SB 800 would require that a petition that does not have the necessary legal language can be thrown out before the petition is passed around for signatures. This way, everyone would be on the same page prior to the petition being considered.
Senate Joint Resolution 12 is authored by Senator Randy Brogden. It would allow the people to vote on placing term limits on statewide officials, limiting them to two terms in office. It is mirror legislation to my House version of statewide term limits which passed the House two weeks ago.
Both SB 800 and SJR 12 will be considered by the House Rules Committee where I have requested a hearing.
Senate Bill 794 is authored by Senator Clark Jolly and is a request bill from the Peppers Ranch located just west of Guthrie. Peppers Ranch serves as a foster care provider for DHS and requested the bill in order to provide transparency and openness to the analysis of the state adoption process. It would require that DHS report the number of unsuccessful adoptions that take place each year. This could be used as a tool to analyze and correct issues related to the adoption process. I will be presenting SB 794 before the House Human Services committee this week.
Senate Bill 980 is authored by Senator Glenn Coffee. It calls for the creation of a CIO to oversee the state's IT functions. Each year, state government has been spending $340,577,938 of your tax dollars on IT and telecommunications. This does not count the salaries of the hundreds of state employees who are assigned to IT departments. These IT functions are spread out on an agency-by-agency basis, with each agency capable of creating their own IT empire. Millions of taxpayer dollars could be saved each year if duplicated processes were eliminated and new technology was used to maximize speed and space. SB 980 seeks to put an end to this type of inefficiency. SB 980 has been assigned to the Government Modernization committee where it is set to receive a hearing next Monday.
Senate Bill 800 is authored by Senator Anthony Sykes and is an excellent strategy for preserving the integrity of the initiative and referendum process in Oklahoma. As you may be aware, the Oklahoma Constitution allows for the people to pass a petition in order to allow them to vote on issues that the Legislature refuses to take action on. This is how such important laws have been written as Oklahoma's term limit law and the Constitutional provision that makes it very hard for the Legislature to raise taxes without a vote of the people.
Unfortunately, the petition process can be thwarted by minor legal mistakes in the petition language that can sometimes cause it to be thrown out even after the petition organizers have gone to enormous effort to get the thousands of necessary signatures. As you might imagine, this serves as a disincentive for citizens to start a petition for fear that all their hard work would be wasted because of a minor mistake. SB 800 would require that a petition that does not have the necessary legal language can be thrown out before the petition is passed around for signatures. This way, everyone would be on the same page prior to the petition being considered.
Senate Joint Resolution 12 is authored by Senator Randy Brogden. It would allow the people to vote on placing term limits on statewide officials, limiting them to two terms in office. It is mirror legislation to my House version of statewide term limits which passed the House two weeks ago.
Both SB 800 and SJR 12 will be considered by the House Rules Committee where I have requested a hearing.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Paving Roads without Issuing Debt
Last week was the deadline week for bills originating in the House of Representatives to be heard on the House floor. House bills not considered by the House by the end of last week are probably not going to pass into law this year. Because of this deadline, Representatives worked late several times, sometimes staying as late as 11:00 p.m.
I was fortunate to have seven of my bills survive the deadline this year. One of these bills was House Bill 1294, a constituent request bill from Logan County.
Anyone in Logan County can tell you about the unimproved condition of many county roads. And, as you are aware if you have read my columns, I feel that government entities at all levels are incurring too much debt.
House bill 1294 would allow Logan County road districts to fund their capital projects without using bonded indebtedness. This is a fantastic concept. I believe that government entities at all levels incur debt too often and pay millions of dollars in unnecessary debt interest. The savings from implementing House Bill 1294 would stay in the people's pockets -- where it belongs.
Another neat aspect about this bill is that it also exposes the fact that state statutes tend to encourage public boards to issue bonded indebtedness. If the no-debt concept can be proven to work in a road district, it might be able to be expanded to cities, counties, public trusts and school boards that wish to fund capital improvements without forcing people to stay in debt for many years.
After serving in government and seeing how easy it is for politicians to rush into incurring indebtedness with our money, it has been very refreshing to work with individuals who share the conviction that incurring debt is unwise and should be avoided whenever possible.
House Bill 1294 was approved by a vote of 96-0 in the House and now goes to the Senate.
Another very important issue to area drivers is the condition of the Waterloo Road I-35 ramp. This crowded exit ramp has become a serious headache for Logan and Oklahoma county drivers on their way to and from work. The good news is that ODOT has been very receptive to requests for a solution and has awarded a $229,000 contract to Shell Construction to expand the northbound off ramp and the southbound on ramp. The contractor must start construction before June 1st and will have 60 days to complete the project.
As construction begins, please continue to provide me with your feedback on this and other road-related concerns in House District 31. It is your input that allows me to know where the most pressing needs are located.
I was fortunate to have seven of my bills survive the deadline this year. One of these bills was House Bill 1294, a constituent request bill from Logan County.
Anyone in Logan County can tell you about the unimproved condition of many county roads. And, as you are aware if you have read my columns, I feel that government entities at all levels are incurring too much debt.
House bill 1294 would allow Logan County road districts to fund their capital projects without using bonded indebtedness. This is a fantastic concept. I believe that government entities at all levels incur debt too often and pay millions of dollars in unnecessary debt interest. The savings from implementing House Bill 1294 would stay in the people's pockets -- where it belongs.
Another neat aspect about this bill is that it also exposes the fact that state statutes tend to encourage public boards to issue bonded indebtedness. If the no-debt concept can be proven to work in a road district, it might be able to be expanded to cities, counties, public trusts and school boards that wish to fund capital improvements without forcing people to stay in debt for many years.
After serving in government and seeing how easy it is for politicians to rush into incurring indebtedness with our money, it has been very refreshing to work with individuals who share the conviction that incurring debt is unwise and should be avoided whenever possible.
House Bill 1294 was approved by a vote of 96-0 in the House and now goes to the Senate.
Another very important issue to area drivers is the condition of the Waterloo Road I-35 ramp. This crowded exit ramp has become a serious headache for Logan and Oklahoma county drivers on their way to and from work. The good news is that ODOT has been very receptive to requests for a solution and has awarded a $229,000 contract to Shell Construction to expand the northbound off ramp and the southbound on ramp. The contractor must start construction before June 1st and will have 60 days to complete the project.
As construction begins, please continue to provide me with your feedback on this and other road-related concerns in House District 31. It is your input that allows me to know where the most pressing needs are located.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
House Bill 1032 - The Modernization Bill
In previous weeks I have made the case that state government's massive budget shortfall presents an exciting opportunity to spend less money. To accomplish this, the government will be forced to make long needed changes. Instead of the downturn being a detriment to the people, I believe many of these changes will actually improve the quality of service provided to the people. The downturn is in fact a blessing, as it forces the government to do what it should have done a long time ago.
Some of these proposed changes are reflected in a bill I am authoring. House Bill 1032 has already been approved by the House Modernization Committee and is awaiting action on the House floor.
The primary focus of the bill is to make all license and permit operations accessible online. The Oklahoma web portal would be able to offer the same services as theTexasOnline.com web site. From that web site, you can participate in such tasks as renewing your occupational license or license plate.
The obvious benefit to this reform is cutting through cumbersome state bureaucracy and allowing direct access to these services without having to use government resources. This should put an end to the old practice of waiting in long lines to get a license or permit.
This benefit recently became very obvious in the California when part of the state government was forced on a furlough because of a massive money shortfall. Normally this would be a huge problem because people were unable to go to the tag office to renew their licenses. But since they could renew online, online registrations increased by about 20% during that time.
The Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure is already saving $20,964 per year because of an online professional license renewal system. Staff time was cut by fifty percent. It also appears that 99% of license renewals now occur online.
Another important reform contained in HB 1032 is transparency. The bill requires more state spending be made available for public review through the state's online portal. As the state institutes more reforms geared towards public accountability, there will be more and more opportunities for greater transparency. It is this transparency that will discourage abusive spending practices.
HB 1032 would also convert state payroll to a bi-weekly system. State government appears to be one of the few organizations that still issue monthly payroll. This leads to any number of problems: from hindering the recruitment of employees to what appears to be theunnecessary need for a supplemental payroll system. The conversion to the bi-weekly system could save the state millions, as man hours are freed up from recalculating and issuing supplemental payroll.
HB 1032 joins HB 1410, HB 1704 and SB 980 as part of the effort to modernize government this legislative session.
Some of these proposed changes are reflected in a bill I am authoring. House Bill 1032 has already been approved by the House Modernization Committee and is awaiting action on the House floor.
The primary focus of the bill is to make all license and permit operations accessible online. The Oklahoma web portal would be able to offer the same services as theTexasOnline.com web site. From that web site, you can participate in such tasks as renewing your occupational license or license plate.
The obvious benefit to this reform is cutting through cumbersome state bureaucracy and allowing direct access to these services without having to use government resources. This should put an end to the old practice of waiting in long lines to get a license or permit.
This benefit recently became very obvious in the California when part of the state government was forced on a furlough because of a massive money shortfall. Normally this would be a huge problem because people were unable to go to the tag office to renew their licenses. But since they could renew online, online registrations increased by about 20% during that time.
The Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure is already saving $20,964 per year because of an online professional license renewal system. Staff time was cut by fifty percent. It also appears that 99% of license renewals now occur online.
Another important reform contained in HB 1032 is transparency. The bill requires more state spending be made available for public review through the state's online portal. As the state institutes more reforms geared towards public accountability, there will be more and more opportunities for greater transparency. It is this transparency that will discourage abusive spending practices.
HB 1032 would also convert state payroll to a bi-weekly system. State government appears to be one of the few organizations that still issue monthly payroll. This leads to any number of problems: from hindering the recruitment of employees to what appears to be theunnecessary need for a supplemental payroll system. The conversion to the bi-weekly system could save the state millions, as man hours are freed up from recalculating and issuing supplemental payroll.
HB 1032 joins HB 1410, HB 1704 and SB 980 as part of the effort to modernize government this legislative session.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Stopping your Vital Information from being at Risk
Knowing what you know about the ineffectiveness of the government, do you really trust the government to protect your most vital information?
This year, state government must cut state spending by about 600 million dollars (closer to 900 million, if you count spend that will be offset by previously mandated increases). This forces state leaders to enact needed reforms that should have occurred many years ago.
One of these reforms is the centralization of the state's massive and (up until now) rather chaotically managed information technology (IT) functions.
Each year, state government has been spending $340,577,938 of your hard-earned tax dollars on IT and telecommunications. This does not count the salaries of the hundreds of state employees who are assigned to IT departments. These IT functions are spread out on an agency-by-agency basis, with each agency capable of creating their own IT empire.
Can you imagine what would happen to a private business that did not efficiently coordinate the actions of a department that spent in excess of 340 million dollars?
This year I am working with Senate Pro Tem Glenn Coffee as the House author of his Senate Bill 980, and State Representative David Derby as the co-author of House Bill 1704 to craft a plan that will break down these barriers and allow for the direct coordination of state government IT functions.
The obvious reason for this reform is savings. Let's consider how much the state spends on energy costs associated with duplicative server capacity. While private businesses are taking advantage of cloud computing and blade servers with shared power sources, too many antiquated government servers are using too much energy. How much sense does it make for Agency A to use a different server system than Agency B when they easily use the same storage device? Millions of taxpayers dollars could probably be saved each year if duplicated servers were eliminated and new technology was used to maximize speed and space.
A second very important reason for reform is that of security. Today, government computers contain everything from your tax returns to your biometric description. State computer systems are constantly under attack from those who would like to steal this information. State officials must constantly guard against these attacks. One of the most frequent originators of these attacks is from Communist China, where there is no way for our law enforcement officials to bring those responsible to justice. The fact that the Chinese are working so hard to steal our information is very concerning. One of the more disturbing incidents includes the successful compromise about two years ago of a local law enforcement database known as OLETS, which Oklahoma law enforcement agencies use to access information pertinent to the security of our communities.
Under current state law, as is all too often the case in government, potential security issues must be mitigated through a long, complicated, multi-step bureaucratic process. In today's rapidly changing technology, we no longer have the luxury of letting a bureaucratic, slow-moving government put our vital information at risk.
Senate Bill 980 and House Bill 1704 are part of the agenda of both the House and Senate leadership and I have been honored to work with Senator Coffee and Representative Derby in advancing this important reform.
This year, state government must cut state spending by about 600 million dollars (closer to 900 million, if you count spend that will be offset by previously mandated increases). This forces state leaders to enact needed reforms that should have occurred many years ago.
One of these reforms is the centralization of the state's massive and (up until now) rather chaotically managed information technology (IT) functions.
Each year, state government has been spending $340,577,938 of your hard-earned tax dollars on IT and telecommunications. This does not count the salaries of the hundreds of state employees who are assigned to IT departments. These IT functions are spread out on an agency-by-agency basis, with each agency capable of creating their own IT empire.
Can you imagine what would happen to a private business that did not efficiently coordinate the actions of a department that spent in excess of 340 million dollars?
This year I am working with Senate Pro Tem Glenn Coffee as the House author of his Senate Bill 980, and State Representative David Derby as the co-author of House Bill 1704 to craft a plan that will break down these barriers and allow for the direct coordination of state government IT functions.
The obvious reason for this reform is savings. Let's consider how much the state spends on energy costs associated with duplicative server capacity. While private businesses are taking advantage of cloud computing and blade servers with shared power sources, too many antiquated government servers are using too much energy. How much sense does it make for Agency A to use a different server system than Agency B when they easily use the same storage device? Millions of taxpayers dollars could probably be saved each year if duplicated servers were eliminated and new technology was used to maximize speed and space.
A second very important reason for reform is that of security. Today, government computers contain everything from your tax returns to your biometric description. State computer systems are constantly under attack from those who would like to steal this information. State officials must constantly guard against these attacks. One of the most frequent originators of these attacks is from Communist China, where there is no way for our law enforcement officials to bring those responsible to justice. The fact that the Chinese are working so hard to steal our information is very concerning. One of the more disturbing incidents includes the successful compromise about two years ago of a local law enforcement database known as OLETS, which Oklahoma law enforcement agencies use to access information pertinent to the security of our communities.
Under current state law, as is all too often the case in government, potential security issues must be mitigated through a long, complicated, multi-step bureaucratic process. In today's rapidly changing technology, we no longer have the luxury of letting a bureaucratic, slow-moving government put our vital information at risk.
Senate Bill 980 and House Bill 1704 are part of the agenda of both the House and Senate leadership and I have been honored to work with Senator Coffee and Representative Derby in advancing this important reform.
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