“It is clear that we have entered an age of great economic uncertainty,” Comptroller Susan Combs just told the press in her pre-legislative session briefing. She then went on to explain the new systems that her office has been field-testing and will present to lawmakers come January, all part of the cost-cutting through efficiency of which she’s so fond.
First in her three-pronged attack on profligacy was Texas Smart Buy, which allows for better bulk buying: she hopes to turn this into an online one-stop-shop for all state and local agencies, plus schools and ISDs, allowing them to leverage better discounts. Then there’s Texas Transparency Check-Up, which gives advice to local government on how best to make their records available, and ranks the best ones. Finally there’s the One Set of Books initiative, which would standardize record keeping methodology across all state agencies.
There’s some pretty sensible ideas in here. Adding in the cost of the first $100,000 miles on any new vehicle sounds like common sense, and could make less polluting options more viable cost-wise over time: Combs predicts that it could save $5.7 million in vehicle contracts.
So what can be the possible downside of this?
Well, watch for self-appointed watchdogs like Citizens Against Government Waste (also sometimes jokingly refered to as Citizens Against Government) nit-picking every line-item to beat state agencies up over. Similarly, the Texas Transparency Check-Up could be a new way for such groups to beat up on local government that doesn’t reach their measured standard.
But, seriously, wouldn’t it be great if a chunk of those savings went into better funding for all those state agencies that barely have two buttons to rub together, or used to fund SCHIP? Because, obviously, there’s no way it woud be used to dump even more cash into the Rainy Day fund, which could then be raided to sink into further property tax cuts.
This article appears in November 28 • 2008.
