Blitz on to make Cost-Benefit Analysis the law in New York
By SHERRY HALBROOK
Three times PEF has stepped up to the plate and hit a home run for greater
accountability and transparency in state government. All that it takes to win
this series is just one more big hit — passage and signing of the Cost-Benefit
Analysis Bill, A.1259/S.6575.
It’s taken the better part of two years of vigorous Go Public campaigning to get
the first three of PEF’s four accountability bills — Contract Disclosure, State
Authorities, Procurement Lobbying, and Cost-Benefit Analysis — passed.
Cost-Benefit Analysis made it to first base when it was passed by the state
Assembly
earlier this year. But, with the 2006 Legislative session scheduled to wrap up
in late June, time is rapidly running out for a sprint to second in the state
Senate.
Stop Taxpayer Abuse Pass Cost Benefit Analysis Bill
(TV commercial
QuickTime.mov)
That’s why PEF is putting on the pressure with a blitz of Go Public advertising
in newspapers and on TV, and letters and meetings with state senators explaining
why this last bill is so critical.
What is there to hide?
Pass Cost Benefit Analysis Bill
(Print ad)
“This piece of our accountability legislation will protect the public good by
requiring state agencies to stop and carefully and fairly analyze whether it’s
more cost-effective to do work in-house or hand it off to an outside
consultant,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “This is really getting down to
the bottom line.“
At a time when state leaders complain New York can’t afford to do many of the
things it needs to do for its citizens, those leaders need to see very clearly
where and how money is being wasted by poor government choices and policies
every day,” Benson said. “That’s why we are hitting them with the hard facts
about privatization.”
A year ago, the Fiscal Policy Institute found the state could save $500 million
annually if it used public employees to do a little more than half of the
professional services work now contracted out to consultants.
Yet,
despite spending billions of tax dollars annually, the state does no formal
analysis to determine if money spent on consultants is wisely spent.
Instead of using a cost-benefit analysis to force “competition” for work,
a state hiring freeze was enacted, which is often used as the rationale for
hiring more over-priced consultants, perpetuating the cycle of waste.
Contractors and consultants claim the bill would unfairly tilt the competition
against them. However, it doesn’t require the state to hire state employees,
even if the cost-benefit analysis shows they are less expensive. “It’s the same
method and law used
in Maine, and more favorable to consultants than laws in five other states,”
Benson said.
“Cost-benefit analysis is just good business. It’s the same tool those
contractors and consultants use to make the hard business decisions they face in
growing their companies. They should want their state government to be just as
hard-headed, efficient and practical in its decision making.”
Slam
a lid on state waste
Is your state agency wasting money on
private consultants/contractors?
If it is, get the facts and share them with PEF. Contact the PEF Department of
Civil Service Enforcement at (518) 785-1900 or (800) 342-4306, ext. 280
So far, PEF and the NYS Fiscal Policy Institute have identified more than $500
million wasted annually by the state on “deals” with private contractors for
work that could be done better and for substantially less by state employees.
The
Communicator June 2006
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Making Cost-Benefit Analysis law
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