Friday, October 3, 2008
State Senate candidate Dr. Mike Katz today endorsed a detailed plan to identify, create and sustain over $100 million dollars in savings for taxpayers, making him the only candidate in his race to back a substantial blueprint to reduce the cost of government.
Katz pledged to support as a State Senator the 5,000 word plan which leverages new technology, institutes aggressive new enforcements and takes both a top-down and bottoms-up approach to reviewing state spending drafted by Jack Markell. Katz is running in the 4th District, covering parts of Hockessin, Greenville, Centreville, and North Wilmington/Brandywine.
Fiscal responsibility in Dover will enable us to slash government spending, ensuring that our tax dollars are spent on critical programs, and not wasted on bureaucratic overhead. “It's time that state government learned to live within its means, just as Delaware's hardworking families do every day”, Katz said. Jack Markell's strong leadership will finally make fiscal responsibility in Dover a reality, making Delaware affordable again for our families.
Markell praised Katz for his business experience and leadership in the community.
“Mike Katz has a bold vision for Delaware’s future and the leadership to help trim government waste and ensure we get more for our money”, Markell said. “As a doctor, Mike understands that investing in programs promoting healthy behavior will save money in the long-run. As a successful small business person, he also understands the need for real accountability. He is committed to making sure our government runs as efficiently as possible, and I am thrilled at the chance to collaborate with him on this issue."
The plan is bold in direction and comprehensive in scope. It would:
Institute State-of-the-Art Budgeting Processes by limiting use of revenue from unpredictable sources, implement a ten-year Sunset Review system for all agencies, look at a five-year budget cycle and analyze long term economic and demographic trends and compare Delaware’s efficiencies against other state’s operations. For example, Delaware’s cost efficiency of child support collections is ranked 48th nationally, at $2.40 collected for every dollar of administrative expenses.
Make Sure Delaware Receives Its Fair Share of Federal Funding by working with the congressional delegation to ensure that the federal government is paying for all the services they can or should pay for. This means not cutting state funds that generate matching funds, maximizing our receipt of federal funds to which we are entitled by pursuing funds Delaware is eligible for and utilizing federal funds instead of state monies to pay for programs.
Crack Down on Waste and Fraud, especially in the Medicaid system. By investing in technologies designed to detect fraudulent patterns, such as billing, the state could recover millions of dollars. Even if Delaware reduced one tenth of Medicaid overpayments, the savings would range from just under $5 million to over $12 million.
Make Investments That Will Save Us Even More by making sound budget decisions to save the state money in the future. For example, investing in education and creating crime-fighting policies that reduce recidivism will save the state millions in prison costs while investing in healthier communities. A single prison bed costs over $24,000 a year in Delaware; long-term savings could be significant. If Delaware can reduce its incarceration rate to the national average, the state could reduce prison costs by $15 million.
Going Green Saves Green - Investing in green technology can reduce energy consumption, cut costs and reduce urban sprawl at the same time. In addition to the suggestions in his Blueprint for a Better Delaware book, Markell’s budget plan includes making new state buildings green buildings and retro-fitting and retro-commissioning state buildings. Following the lead of states like Colorado, Delaware’s pilot program to reduce utilities with new energy efficient technology and appliances reduced energy costs by 25% across four agencies. Applying conservative estimates statewide could save at least 5% on all utility costs across the remaining agencies.
Institute a Total State Government Performance Review to identify savings opportunities through improving customer services, eliminating unnecessary or redundant services or proposing new ways to perform essential services. States such as New Mexico and West Virginia, which are just double the size of Delaware are projecting that their performance reviews will save taxpayers more than $300 million over four years.
Improve State Government’s Purchase of Goods and Services by expanding Markell’s Strategic Sourcing Initiative to include other services, such as state agencies and school districts. As treasurer, Markell reduced Delaware’s procurement costs by 13.5% across a range of categories. Other cost effective strategies include investing in contract management and implementing performance based contracting, investing in preventative maintenance first (before new projects are started) and working with other states to pool buying power in order to obtain better prices on a wide range of purchases.
Being Fair About Who Pays Taxes and Smarter Enforcement of Existing Tax Laws: To achieve this, Markell proposes adopting the latest technology in tamper-proof cigarette tax stamps, using technology to detect tax deadbeats, crosschecking taxes owed the state against drivers’ license renewals and conducting a one-time tax amnesty to boost collections, something Delaware has not done in over 25 years.
Leverage Technology to Reduce Costs by implementing e-pay secure internet access for employees, encouraging broader use of combined telecommunications technology and conducting a review of state delivery, mail and fleet policies to identify cost saving and efficiency opportunities. Booking all employee travel online, and allowing Delawareans to renew their drivers licenses online will also save the state money.
