OpEd: Oklahoma Could Stand to Trim Number of Boards, Agencies
Oklahoma could stand to trim number of boards, agencies
by The Oklahoman Editorial Board
GOV. Mary Fallin made as part of her first special session call a request that legislators look for consolidation and other efficiencies throughout government. In that vein, Fallin recently issued two executive orders aimed at finding savings in education. One ordered officials in higher ed to develop a plan for consolidating administrative functions. The other urges the same for public school districts that don’t spend at least 60 percent of their budgets in the classroom.
Those will be considerable undertakings. Lawmakers interested in potentially saving the state a few dollars, without a ton of heavy lifting, should consider reducing the number of agencies, boards and commissions now on the books.
By our count, there are more than 200 such entities in the latest version of The ABC Book. It includes information on agencies as large as the Department of Human Services and the Department of Transportation, and as small as the Board of Trustees for the College Savings Plan.