Comptroller Touts Her Open-Book Policy
Susan Combs holds up her agency as a model of state transparency
By Richard Whittaker, Fri., Dec. 12, 2008
That's how state Comptroller Susan Combs said she hopes she can cut down on accidental government waste and relieve some pressure on the state budget. With Gov. Rick Perry warning the Legislature against higher spending, on Dec. 3 Combs laid out the tools that she hopes will cut some costs, all under the banner of Open Book Texas. Combs said last year her agency identified $8.7 million in potential savings. "Four million eight hundred thousand dollars have already been realized," she said, "with an additional $3.8 million expected in the coming year." Her big plan is to extend her cost-saving initiatives to all local government, including independent school districts. Combs' office also plans to launch a report card, grading state agencies and local governments on their transparency.
The big announcement was the Dec. 1 launch of the Texas Transparency Check-Up, an online advisory giving local agencies guidance on how to become more transparent. This is helped by the Single Set of Books initiative: Intended to put everyone on the same accounting system, using standardized purchasing codes and account layout, it should allow better public oversight. Combs also announced the imminent launch of TxSmartBuy, a one-stop procurement shop run by her office (the 2007 Legislature transferred state procurement from the Texas Building and Procurement Commission to her office). Open to all state and local agencies, plus public universities, it's planned to allow side-by-side price comparison and bring bulk-buying discounts.
Combs' announcements were warmly received by Talmadge Heflin, director of the Center for Fiscal Policy, a division of arch free-marketers the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The former state rep (famous in his time on the House Appropriations Committee for never seeing a budget cut he didn't like) backed expanding these measures and said, "Taxpayers deserve to know how all levels of government are spending their money." But the question remains: Will this all help agencies or become a line-by-line anti-government cudgel for pressure groups to wield? More importantly, where will the saved money go? More services or property-tax cuts?
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