Good things are happening behind the scenes in state government. Operational review teams, chaired by members of the General Assembly and staffed by area experts in the Kaine administration, are focusing on ways to cut operational expenses of state government. These teams report to an Operational Review Oversight Committee comprised of Del. Christopher B. Saxman, R-Staunton, Sen. Emmett W. Hanger, Jr., R-Augusta, and Secretary of Finance Jody M. Wagner.
One of the committee’s latest initiatives is scrutinizing state travel expenses (including those of state colleges and universities), which amounted to nearly $1 billion over the past four and a half years. After extensive consultation to review the practices of industry leaders, the travel team issued the following recommendations:
- Automate the travel reimbursement process
- Expand the use of computer-based training modules for state employees
- Increase the use of teleconferencing for training
- Establish stricter limits on conference travel
- Implement a statewide travel contract to leverage state buying power
Read the full report here.
What’s encouraging about this approach is that it isn’t arbitrary and capricious — no 10-percent-across-the-board cuts, regardless of the consequences. The participants are looking for ways to do the business of government more efficiently. It’s also nice to know that there is a limit to partisan politics. When it comes to efficiency in government at least, some Democrats and Republicans are willing to put the public interest first.