During the time I have served as State Representative, my office has handled a number of constituent requests. One of the issues I am most often asked to check into is why a certain area does not have access to broadband Internet and when it might become available. Usually the constituent who has an interest in this issue lives in a rural part of the district and is understandably frustrated that they cannot get online quickly.
I am always happy to assist by serving as a go-between with the utility providers to make sure the company knows that there are prospective customers desiring service, and I support expansion as broadband providers work to boost their capacity and bring this service to new areas. This technology is usually a key factor in developers locating new neighborhoods and it has a direct impact on the ability of the area to support new growth. Most people are going to be very hesitant to re-locate to an area where there is limited high speed access.
However, I am not a supporter of some of the possible suggested approaches of having the government subsidize this service by raising phone taxes in order to pay for it. I feel that when government thwarts the free market process, there can be significantly negative ramifications.
No doubt by now you have noticed that all of the taxes placed on your phone or Internet bill under line items have complicated sounding names but give little way to tell what they are really used for (I hope to write in more detail about these charges in another update). There are already too many of these taxes and I do not feel that people should be asked to pay for any new ones.
I think that a recent development in Logan County demonstrates the mistaken nature of this type of government intervention. One of the largest telecom providers recently expanded their 3G wireless network into Logan County so that now their customers do not have to deal with high speed wireless that cuts off at the county line. These types of fast wireless networks are quickly evolving into a state where one day they may very well make traditional land line access completely unnecessary.
Not only will the next generation of 4G wireless networks allow for the bypassing of traditional phone regulatory roadblocks (which could lead to advancements such a free international calling), but they could be the backbone of an infrastructure that will support low cost solutions to issues such as emergency interoperable communications and possibly save taxpayers millions of dollars.
This expansion is just a simple reminder that while politicians consider such issues as the government subsidized expansion of broadband, the free market is providing options that will quickly provide the solutions to problems the government has just started to address.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Local Officials Standing Up to the Legislature
I believe the best form of government is one in which a citizen board sits in oversight of a government entity without having the direct authority to determine who receives money from the government by way of targeting funds directly to the recipient. When elected officials have the direct authority to determine who receives government largesse, the potential for corruption dramatically increases.
I feel that the designers of Oklahoma's government ingrained this important concept deep into the foundations of our government by setting up a system by which the Legislature can determine policy and budget matters but should have no control over where the money is spent. This important safeguard is supposed to help keep Oklahoma legislators from becoming powerful political bosses who can use their authority to reward the privileged few at the cost of the taxpayers.
Legislators should certainly have the ability to expend funds in order to secure the proper support for the responsibilities of the Legislature such as hiring staff etc. They should not however be able to direct appropriated funds once those funds have been appropriated to the various agencies.
Oklahoma legislators have historically been experts at getting around these restrictions. They have found ways to "pass-through" money to certain entities where it is subsequently directed to the recipients of the legislators' choice. This allows for the possibility of corruption. In a recent federal criminal case, it has been demonstrated how legislators have used this system for their own direct financial benefit.
Unfortunately, this system of inappropriate pass-thoroughs is still alive and well. However, the recent effort of some courageous local officials could send a strong message to the Legislature and win a big victory for the taxpayers.
This year, one of the agencies chosen to pass through funding was the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce was ordered to send money to a group known as ACOG (Association of Central Oklahoma Governments) who in turn was directed to pass through about $16 million to third-party entities. Membership of ACOG includes representatives from central Oklahoma local governments. When it came time for the ACOG board to approve the pass-through funding, some of these courageous local officials (including Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton) successfully managed to stave off a vote and delay action on approving the funding which means the funding will not be passed through until at least the next meeting of the board. This may be the first time (at least that I am aware of) that a local government entity has stood up to the Legislature and attempted to not play the same old game that has caused Oklahoma taxpayers so much grief.
It is unbelievable, that even during a down financial year, the Legislature would continue to try to spend money in this way. However, if more local officials would show this same courage, it would make the Legislature think twice about using these methods to direct funds.
I feel that the designers of Oklahoma's government ingrained this important concept deep into the foundations of our government by setting up a system by which the Legislature can determine policy and budget matters but should have no control over where the money is spent. This important safeguard is supposed to help keep Oklahoma legislators from becoming powerful political bosses who can use their authority to reward the privileged few at the cost of the taxpayers.
Legislators should certainly have the ability to expend funds in order to secure the proper support for the responsibilities of the Legislature such as hiring staff etc. They should not however be able to direct appropriated funds once those funds have been appropriated to the various agencies.
Oklahoma legislators have historically been experts at getting around these restrictions. They have found ways to "pass-through" money to certain entities where it is subsequently directed to the recipients of the legislators' choice. This allows for the possibility of corruption. In a recent federal criminal case, it has been demonstrated how legislators have used this system for their own direct financial benefit.
Unfortunately, this system of inappropriate pass-thoroughs is still alive and well. However, the recent effort of some courageous local officials could send a strong message to the Legislature and win a big victory for the taxpayers.
This year, one of the agencies chosen to pass through funding was the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce was ordered to send money to a group known as ACOG (Association of Central Oklahoma Governments) who in turn was directed to pass through about $16 million to third-party entities. Membership of ACOG includes representatives from central Oklahoma local governments. When it came time for the ACOG board to approve the pass-through funding, some of these courageous local officials (including Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton) successfully managed to stave off a vote and delay action on approving the funding which means the funding will not be passed through until at least the next meeting of the board. This may be the first time (at least that I am aware of) that a local government entity has stood up to the Legislature and attempted to not play the same old game that has caused Oklahoma taxpayers so much grief.
It is unbelievable, that even during a down financial year, the Legislature would continue to try to spend money in this way. However, if more local officials would show this same courage, it would make the Legislature think twice about using these methods to direct funds.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Creating an Inventory of State Assets
It is my belief that Oklahomans expect their elected officials and government leaders to manage their resources in the same efficient manner that a privately owned business would manage its affairs.
Can you imagine a private business entity that went about its business in such a disorganized manner that it was unable to give you a centralized inventory of its real property assets? It would not take long before that business was out of business if they did not have a basic organization structure that could account for this most important of internal control tools.
This is exactly the state of affairs in which Oklahoma state government has found itself. While many state agencies keep their own separate inventories of properties owned, there has not been a centralized location in which state leaders could review the status of the state's assets.
Without this basic tool in place, it is almost impossible to know how much property is owned by state government that is no longer serving its needed purposes and should therefore be returned to the private marketplace. It is also much more difficult to have internal controls to ensure that state property is not susceptible to corruption.
In 2004, the newly appointed director of Oklahoma's Department of Central Services (DCS) commissioned an effort to begin the painstaking process of documenting the location of thousands of acres of state-owned land. This procedure involved DCS officials going to the individual agencies and sometimes county government officials such as assessors or county clerks to try and find out what exactly the state owned. Five years later the study has yet to be completed.
As this inventory has continued to accumulate, it provides an important tool that state leaders can now use to analyze what has happened over the years as state government has taken over this land.
The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Ken Miller, has asked House Staff to study this growing list in an attempt to explore how the state should be most accountable to the taxpayers now that we are starting to understand exactly what the state owns. You may also soon have an opportunity to help in this process. The Director of DCS has indicated that the list will be available in the future on the state's web portal for everyone to see.
It is my personal belief that state government should relinquish all state assets that are not necessary to perform its core functions. This would allow the private marketplace to use the assets for their intended purposes. And it is about time that the very basic step of providing a centralized inventory of state-owned properties was completed.
Can you imagine a private business entity that went about its business in such a disorganized manner that it was unable to give you a centralized inventory of its real property assets? It would not take long before that business was out of business if they did not have a basic organization structure that could account for this most important of internal control tools.
This is exactly the state of affairs in which Oklahoma state government has found itself. While many state agencies keep their own separate inventories of properties owned, there has not been a centralized location in which state leaders could review the status of the state's assets.
Without this basic tool in place, it is almost impossible to know how much property is owned by state government that is no longer serving its needed purposes and should therefore be returned to the private marketplace. It is also much more difficult to have internal controls to ensure that state property is not susceptible to corruption.
In 2004, the newly appointed director of Oklahoma's Department of Central Services (DCS) commissioned an effort to begin the painstaking process of documenting the location of thousands of acres of state-owned land. This procedure involved DCS officials going to the individual agencies and sometimes county government officials such as assessors or county clerks to try and find out what exactly the state owned. Five years later the study has yet to be completed.
As this inventory has continued to accumulate, it provides an important tool that state leaders can now use to analyze what has happened over the years as state government has taken over this land.
The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Ken Miller, has asked House Staff to study this growing list in an attempt to explore how the state should be most accountable to the taxpayers now that we are starting to understand exactly what the state owns. You may also soon have an opportunity to help in this process. The Director of DCS has indicated that the list will be available in the future on the state's web portal for everyone to see.
It is my personal belief that state government should relinquish all state assets that are not necessary to perform its core functions. This would allow the private marketplace to use the assets for their intended purposes. And it is about time that the very basic step of providing a centralized inventory of state-owned properties was completed.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Crescent and Guthrie School Districts Applying Best Practices
One of my recent tasks has been to participate in discussions with state agency officials and other groups who have an interest in upcoming government modernization efforts. These discussions focus on issues such as using technology to streamline and reduce the cost of government operations and in doing so to increase the opportunities for more aggressive government transparency. As part of the interview, I am very attuned to finding best-practice examples from government entities that can be expanded and applied universally. What may have saved money in one area can sometimes be implemented in others.
It is always an enjoyable turn of events when, as part of the search for these best-practice case-in-point examples, the discussion focuses on local government groups back home who are doing a good job.
Recently, in talking to the State Superintendent of Education about school districts who are using technology in an innovative manner, we discussed the example being put forth by the Crescent school system and their implementation of the server-based curriculum known as Acellus.
Acellus allows Crescent High School students to complete their math curriculum via the internet. Acellus provides high-quality video lectures to students, identifies specific areas of student difficulty, provides an alternative learning path which can be customized to each student’s learning experience and captures student data so that the overall effectiveness of the course can be assessed. The program frees up teachers to spend one-on-one time with students requiring special attention.
In essence, the program adds much needed flexibility to the public education experience. No longer are students forced to work at a generalized pace that either leaves them frustrated at being held back or too far behind to ever catch up. This removes the one-size-fits all approach which has been one of the more challenging flaws of the government-run education system that has played havoc with students' ability to learn. Can you imagine being a teacher who has to teach to a classroom of over 20 different students, each of which has his/her own unique strengths and weaknesses? Technology is allowing forward-thinking school districts such as Crescent to remove some of these barriers and allows us to point to their achievement as a best-practice that others can follow.
A second exciting revelation came about last week in a meeting with the group Oklahomans For Responsible Government (OFRG). OFRG has been working on a massive, state-wide study of each school district's transparency on the web policies and will be presenting that study at a meeting of the Government Modernization Committee later this year. They are checking for ten items that each school district should have available on their web site in order to better enable the people to hold the district accountable.
Their findings have not been encouraging. They have found that school districts are not using technology to allow for significantly greater transparency. However, OFRG informed me that out of the more than 530 school districts they are analyzing, that the highest ranking district to date, with 9 out of 10 benchmarks met, is the Guthrie school system.
I appreciate the commitment of these two organizations to using technology to provide a higher quality of service and to aid in the very important concept of transparency to the people.
It is always an enjoyable turn of events when, as part of the search for these best-practice case-in-point examples, the discussion focuses on local government groups back home who are doing a good job.
Recently, in talking to the State Superintendent of Education about school districts who are using technology in an innovative manner, we discussed the example being put forth by the Crescent school system and their implementation of the server-based curriculum known as Acellus.
Acellus allows Crescent High School students to complete their math curriculum via the internet. Acellus provides high-quality video lectures to students, identifies specific areas of student difficulty, provides an alternative learning path which can be customized to each student’s learning experience and captures student data so that the overall effectiveness of the course can be assessed. The program frees up teachers to spend one-on-one time with students requiring special attention.
In essence, the program adds much needed flexibility to the public education experience. No longer are students forced to work at a generalized pace that either leaves them frustrated at being held back or too far behind to ever catch up. This removes the one-size-fits all approach which has been one of the more challenging flaws of the government-run education system that has played havoc with students' ability to learn. Can you imagine being a teacher who has to teach to a classroom of over 20 different students, each of which has his/her own unique strengths and weaknesses? Technology is allowing forward-thinking school districts such as Crescent to remove some of these barriers and allows us to point to their achievement as a best-practice that others can follow.
A second exciting revelation came about last week in a meeting with the group Oklahomans For Responsible Government (OFRG). OFRG has been working on a massive, state-wide study of each school district's transparency on the web policies and will be presenting that study at a meeting of the Government Modernization Committee later this year. They are checking for ten items that each school district should have available on their web site in order to better enable the people to hold the district accountable.
Their findings have not been encouraging. They have found that school districts are not using technology to allow for significantly greater transparency. However, OFRG informed me that out of the more than 530 school districts they are analyzing, that the highest ranking district to date, with 9 out of 10 benchmarks met, is the Guthrie school system.
I appreciate the commitment of these two organizations to using technology to provide a higher quality of service and to aid in the very important concept of transparency to the people.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Dealing With The Federal Bureaucracy
Last week, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn made a point of exposing the horrendous misuse of our gas tax dollars. Each time you buy gas, you pay about 18 cents per gallon which is remitted to the federal government. This money is supposed to be used to build and repair roads. Coburn explained that a third of this money is being used for items such as scenic beautification, bike paths, pedestrian walkways, transportation museums and environmental concerns.
Coburn's testimony matches with what our local officials experience on a regular basis. You can only imagine how frustrating it is for local leaders who are fighting a desperate battle to repair roads to see how money is siphoned off for these superfluous purposes -- while the roads go unfunded.
Not only are our federal tax dollars inappropriately spent, but the funds that are allowed to come back to state and local government for paving roads do so with horrible, bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all controls that handicap local leaders.
An example of this is the upcoming re-pavement of Broadway Road. Logan County received funding for the road in part because it experiences an extremely heavy traffic count (6000 per day) which is wearing away the road surface. However, federal red tape won't let the county use this money to pave the road where the heaviest traffic is located.
A federal rule requires that a road this busy cannot be paved with federal funds unless it is widened and shoulder space is added. The amount of funding does not come close to allowing these types of improvements to occur. This means the road will be repaved farther to the north where the widening is not necessary and the need for re-paving is not nearly as strong.
Because of this federal rule, well-meaning though it may be, the worst part of the road cannot be fixed while the part of the road that is not so needy will receive a very nice repaving job. This means the county must scramble to find a way to fix the heavily traveled part of the road with other funding sources.
Recently, county officials from the central Oklahoma region were called into a training session where they were coached on the rules they should abide by because they receive federal funds (money they took from us through the federal gas tax). An example of one of these rules is a Title VI rule requiring local governments to produce materials in multiple languages. You can only image how infuriating it is for county officials who want to make improvements such as paving roads to be told that instead of doing this, they have to spend money producing their documents in foreign languages.
Another point of contention between federal and county government is the fact that county government is required to produce an environmental impact study for events as simple as the placement of a road sign. What kind of world do we live in when taxpayers have to pay for an environmental study just to put up a sign?
In my view, Oklahoma would be far better off by refusing to participate in this ridiculous system and stop remitting gas tax money to the federal government. Those funds would be used much more efficiently if they were simply sent directly to ODOT and the local governments without the federal filter allowing the federal government to dictate their agenda.
Coburn's testimony matches with what our local officials experience on a regular basis. You can only imagine how frustrating it is for local leaders who are fighting a desperate battle to repair roads to see how money is siphoned off for these superfluous purposes -- while the roads go unfunded.
Not only are our federal tax dollars inappropriately spent, but the funds that are allowed to come back to state and local government for paving roads do so with horrible, bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all controls that handicap local leaders.
An example of this is the upcoming re-pavement of Broadway Road. Logan County received funding for the road in part because it experiences an extremely heavy traffic count (6000 per day) which is wearing away the road surface. However, federal red tape won't let the county use this money to pave the road where the heaviest traffic is located.
A federal rule requires that a road this busy cannot be paved with federal funds unless it is widened and shoulder space is added. The amount of funding does not come close to allowing these types of improvements to occur. This means the road will be repaved farther to the north where the widening is not necessary and the need for re-paving is not nearly as strong.
Because of this federal rule, well-meaning though it may be, the worst part of the road cannot be fixed while the part of the road that is not so needy will receive a very nice repaving job. This means the county must scramble to find a way to fix the heavily traveled part of the road with other funding sources.
Recently, county officials from the central Oklahoma region were called into a training session where they were coached on the rules they should abide by because they receive federal funds (money they took from us through the federal gas tax). An example of one of these rules is a Title VI rule requiring local governments to produce materials in multiple languages. You can only image how infuriating it is for county officials who want to make improvements such as paving roads to be told that instead of doing this, they have to spend money producing their documents in foreign languages.
Another point of contention between federal and county government is the fact that county government is required to produce an environmental impact study for events as simple as the placement of a road sign. What kind of world do we live in when taxpayers have to pay for an environmental study just to put up a sign?
In my view, Oklahoma would be far better off by refusing to participate in this ridiculous system and stop remitting gas tax money to the federal government. Those funds would be used much more efficiently if they were simply sent directly to ODOT and the local governments without the federal filter allowing the federal government to dictate their agenda.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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