Following is an excerpt from OCPA’s Proposed State Budget for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2013.

With Oklahoma government spending at an all-time high (see chart), the time has come to set priorities and to exercise spending discipline.

Policymakers should require audits of state telecommunications and data communications utilization. Independent IT efficiency firms, for a flat fee or on a contingency basis, can be employed as a negotiator and reviewer of charges from telecommunications and data communications companies used by state agencies. Highly successful Oklahoma companies have used these firms and seen significant savings. Some private-sector companies have reduced the amount spent annually on telecommunications and data communications from 25 to 50 percent.

The potential savings from implementing such reforms could be more than $3 million annually.

Submitted each year by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Inc. to the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma and their elected Officials, the OCPA “Budget Book” is carefully crafted by Fiscal Policy Director Jonathan Small to help lawmakers set priorities and exercise spending discipline while creating a state budget that respects your family budget. Offering unmatched fiscal policy analysis and recommendations, Small draws on his experiences as a former budget analyst for the Oklahoma Office of State Finance, former fiscal policy analyst and research analyst for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and former director of government affairs for the Oklahoma Insurance Department to provide perspective on the state budget that you cannot find anywhere else.