OKLAHOMA CITY (June 2, 2009) - Governor Brad Henry has signed House Bill 1032, the Oklahoma State Government Modernization Act of 2009, a keystone in the House Republican effort to streamline government.

The bill was authored by Representative Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie and Senator Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso.

Murphey said the bill continues efforts to increase transparency of state government spending, puts a stop to certain inappropriate fee increases, requires agencies to provide online access to licensing and permitting processes, eliminates an unnecessary state board, and is expected to save millions of taxpayer dollars by providing a new focus on leveraging state purchasing processes through a dramatic redesign of the state's centralized purchasing processes.

The bill increases spending transparency by requiring that all purchases made by state employees with state purchasing cards (P-cards) to be posted online through the ok.gov internet portal for the public to review.

HB 1032 tightened up statutory language so that state agencies are no longer allowed to backdoor certain IT costs into online convenience fee increases.

The bill also seeks to make government more accessible by requiring state entities to provide the public with the option of renewing or applying for permits and licenses online. Murphey asserts that online permitting should save many man hours and greatly lessen the cost to taxpayers.

The changes in HB 1032 should also allow for major savings by shifting the focus of the Department of Central Services from an agency that primarily processes purchases to one that applies more strategy in managing the state’s purchasing.

A report conducted by IBM in 2007 showed that Oklahoma could realize as much as $70 million in savings if best purchasing practices were put in place. A second report conducted recently by a company on contract with DCS found similar savings potential. HB 1032 aggressively codifies some of the report findings and should provide central purchasing officials with the tools they need to incorporate the reports' recommendations.

HB 1032 also eliminated a state board function in conjunction with the Department of Labor. Murphey said that a past modernization study showed that Oklahoma had nearly twice as many agencies, boards and commissions as similar states and he believes it is important to consolidate and streamline government.

HB 1032 contained additional cleanup languague that supportes the reforms in last year's House Bill 3325 which allows state purchasing processes to be conducted online. Murphey explained that this reform standardizes formatting and prevents human calculation errors that may have proven costly in the past. The bill potentially could free up many tedious hours spent by state employees with mundane data entry duties that will be no longer required.

"HB 1032 is an important second step along the path of government modernization," Murphey said. "The bill will set the stage for a new round of modernization and money-saving initiatives next year."

HB 1032 will go into law later this year.