State Eyes Cost Savings Plans

Oklahoma officials propose ways to save taxpayers money
by Rick Green

Oklahoma has seven pension plans for state employees, and six of them have their own boards, staff, offices, consultants and investment managers.

If they all were consolidated under a single administration, as is done in many other states, taxpayers would save about $15 million a year, state Treasurer Ken Miller said.

“It just makes sense,” he said. “It needs to happen. It’s politically tough, but the Legislature needs to make those tough calls, especially in tough budget years, and they did not do that.”

This is just one of a number of examples of governmental duplication in Oklahoma. It’s wasteful and expensive at a time when the state is hard-pressed to adequately fund core services like public safety, health, education and transportation, Miller and a senior state representative said in recent interviews. In many cases, intense pressure from lobbyists, special interest groups and an entrenched bureaucracy works against streamlining.

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