In his FY2013 and FY2012 Budget Supplemental, Governor Chafee outlines several initiatives which could reduce expected deficits over the next few years by consolidating various offices and cutting certain expenditures.
At the top of his list, the Governor recommends creating an Office of Management and Budget (OMB), replacing the Budget Office and Bureau of Audits within the Department of Administration, and incorporating ARRA-funds tracking currently undertaken by the Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery and Reinvestment. In addition to the responsibilities formerly charged to the Budget Office, the OMB would be responsible for performance management and federal grants management, the report stated.
The Governor is also recommending merging the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority with the Office of Higher Education. He’s also proposing that all oversight and administration of state and federal energy programs be centralized within the Office of Energy Resources. This would affect programs within the Department of Environmental Management, Economic Development Council, and the Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council, the report noted.
In order to streamline operations, the Governor has also directed the new OMB to review all environmental management and protection programs in state government agencies and departments and identify potential consolidations and areas for savings.
Governor Chafee is also looking to shift all Medicaid programs to the Office of Health and Human Services, while transferring certain positions from the Department of Health and Department of Human Services into the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Elsewhere, the Governor has instructed the Department of Administration to undertake a complete analysis of the state’s personnel system and to recommend alternatives to the state’s current merit system. He recommends an expenditure of $300,000 to conduct the study in fiscal 2012, which would be offset by $819,438 in savings generated from the reduction of various positions within the Department of Administration’s Office of Classification and Examinations and certain positions in the Employee Services Unit in fiscal 2013.
In fiscal 2012, a statewide performance management initiative began which required that all agencies engage in an extensive review with the goal of eliminating or improving programs as well as determining the level of performance of each agency in order to identify areas in need of improvement. As a result of the initial review, the Governor is now recommending the elimination, reduction, or reorganization of various programs within departments and agencies in order to increase efficiencies and generate savings. The newly proposed Office of Management and Budget would be responsible for the future oversight of this program, according to the report.
Our Take:
Overall, we support the actions taken by Governor Chafee to consolidate various offices and programs to streamline operations to make the state more efficient. The Governor seems to understand the need to reduce costs in the wake of expected fiscal pressures, and has some solid strategies and recommendations in place to address some of the specific issues, while attempting to reduce the state’s spending footprint moving forward. While the Governor did not mention any specific information technology-related initiatives, Deltek expects quite a bit of IT refresh and integration opportunities to arise as part of these efforts.