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State Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard believes he may have found a way to cut the state budget deficit to the tune of about $500 million.
Richard introduced HB-73, which requires the state Office of Contractual Review to cut by 10 percent the amount spent on professional, personal and consulting service contracts for the coming fiscal year.
The proposed law would also require the OCR to submit status reports on cuts to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget on Oct. 1; Jan. 1, 2014; April 1, 2014; and July 1, 2014. The OCR director would also be mandated to report monthly to the House Appropriations Committee, providing a summary of the previous month’s contract cuts and the money saved.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Office, the state had 2,384 contracts that would fall under Richard’s proposed bill as of January, valued at approximately $5.28 billion.
For its part, the LFO has said the bill would produce an “indeterminable decrease” in overall state expenditures in Fiscal Year 2013-14.
“To the extent this bill would have been enacted during the 2010 regular session, the projected 10 percent reduction in the value of OCR-approved professional, personal and consulting services for FY-13 would have equated to approximately $528 million less,” the LFO’s fiscal notes read.
Richard’s bill does allow for exceptions, but only if certain conditions are met, namely:
• No capable state employees are available to perform the work.
• The required services are not available through a prior or existing contract.
• A written plan is in place to monitor and evaluate the performance of the contract.
• The Commissioner of Administration deems the contract a priority expenditure.
As of Friday, HB-73 was in the state Senate’s Committee on Finance. The House approved the bill early last week in a 86-0 vote.
