Oregon Secretary of State Implements
"Open Checkbook" Policy
One of my key
commitments to Oregonians is accountability for how we spend your state tax
dollars. The people of Oregon who pay the bills have a right to know how their money
is being spent. To that end, effective today, the Secretary of State’s office
will post online
our agency’s “checkbook” ledger — a detailed list of all
expenditures. Everyone will be able to evaluate how our agency’s divisions
budget and spend every dollar, and our office is open to answer any questions
you might have. I believe this is another meaningful way citizens can engage their
representatives.
Going
forward, these expenditure ledgers will be updated in the middle of each month.
Hopefully, our leadership in transparency will encourage other state agencies
and local governments to do the same.
Several
other states, such as Ohio, already post all state expenditures
online with frequent updates. Oregon government spending data is currently
available to the public, but critical information is frequently obscured
through inadequate detail and unnecessary delays before disclosure. How public
dollars are spent should not be a secret, and it should not take a lengthy
public records request to obtain the information. Oregon can and should do
better! Lack of transparency has
contributed to the wasting of hundreds of millions of your tax dollars on
unnecessary and poorly run government projects.
The Oregon Transparency website already posts some financial
information, but the information is often incomplete and outdated. This lack of
completeness makes it difficult for Oregon citizens and members of the media to
piece together the puzzle of how Oregon’s government spends your tax dollars.
For example,
several months ago, a Forbes article reported that between 2012 and 2016,
former Oregon Secretaries of State were responsible for wasting millions of
dollars on “marketing and propaganda.”
However, when my financial team researched these allegations, they found
most of the spending referenced by the article was actually for critical
functions like printing and mailing voters’ pamphlets, supplying citizens with voter
registration cards, and printing and mailing business registration forms. Unfortunately,
the true purpose for the expenditures was hidden from the article’s author because
the Oregon Transparency website listed such necessary spending in the vague budget
category of “advertising, publicity, and publish/print srvs” without providing
specific details. In other agencies, however, the same general advertising budget
category concealed wasteful spending, such as millions misspent on marketing
for the failed Cover Oregon project.
Clearly,
Oregon needs more financial transparency, and the Secretary of State’s office
is going to lead the way. We’ve posted detailed spreadsheets online for all
Secretary of State external payments for past and current budgets. The most
recent file is for the 2015-2017 budget that ended on June 30, 2017. Please
note this is a preliminary accounting which will continue to be updated each
month. In some instances, vendors do not send bills for several months,
therefore, the 2015-17 numbers may not be finalized until December. Payroll information
is taking a bit longer to include in our programming and will be uploaded by
mid-August.
Since dates
listed in the spreadsheet are payment dates, not purchase dates, some 2017 payments
are actually for expenditures made by the prior Secretary of State. We don’t yet
have an easy way to include the purchase date, or we would have included that
as well.
I want to especially
acknowledge our excellent accountant, Kevin Herburger. In only a few hours,
Kevin sorted the data into a readable format and created a way to efficiently run
updated reports each month.
This new
policy of fiscal transparency will empower you, the taxpayer, your elected
representatives, and the media to hold us accountable. As part of our accountability
effort, the following are examples of expenditures made since I took office
that you will see in the 8,483 line items for the 2015-17 biennium.
-
Final Cost for printing
Administrative Rules:
We incurred $33,495 for printing annual books containing thousands of Oregon’s
Administrative Rules. This year we are transitioning to a searchable,
transparent online system for Administrative Rules that will save time and
money. We will never again have to spend this kind of money for AR printing.
-
Investment in technology that will
increase efficiency and save money long-term: We incurred $17,107 for conference room TVs, cameras,
and related equipment. With today’s technology, we need fewer face-to-face
meetings in Salem. Thousands of hours in traffic and thousands of dollars in
transportation costs will be saved by holding videoconference meetings,
particularly with Oregon’s 36 county elections clerks, many of whom live and
work in remote parts of the state. These savings to both citizens, local
officials, and Secretary of State (SOS) employees who telecommute are made
possible by one-time costs for technology and software. In short, the SOS is implementing
cost-saving ideas from the private sector that will increase the productivity
of our staff and benefit Oregonians across the state.
-
Investment in staff training to
improve performance:
We incurred $35,170 for an intensive two-day training program and materials for
every employee in our agency. In order to improve agency services to the public
and improve effectiveness throughout SOS programs, in addition to skills
training expenses, we are providing training from the Arbinger Institute to approximately
220 SOS team members. We’re in good company. Arbinger has been used by top
organizations worldwide, including Intel, Nike, HP, Microsoft, MIT, US Army
Corps of Engineers, Xerox, Chrysler, FedEx, Boeing, and many others. This
investment was approximately $160 per employee and we’re already seeing positive results.
Our goal is for each team member to have the right skills and mindset to help
us become the highest performing state agency in the country, thereby providing
excellent customer service to you, the Oregon taxpayer.
-
Learning from other states and
promoting Oregon: We
incurred $21,104 for out-of-state travel to attend national seminars, business meetings,
trainings, and association conferences. I’m a great believer in learning from
the successes and failures of other states. At a meeting of the National
Association of Secretaries of State, I learned how Ohio posted all financial information
online, which resulted in our agency implementing such a practice today. Last
month, I was invited by the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to inform high-level
Chinese investors about Oregon investment opportunities. I introduced “Pacific
Gales” a multi-million-dollar coastal development. My message was that while
investing in America is good, investing in Oregon is even better. Large foreign
investors are favorably impressed by state leaders who show them respect. When California’s
Governor failed to attend, as Oregon’s Secretary of State, I became the ranking
official at this important event. Flying to and from San Francisco, with
business meetings in between, made for a long but very productive day serving Oregon
business interests.
Since
assuming this office last January, we have upgraded systems, negotiated
discounts on long-term contracts, and replaced antiquated computer and software
systems. Computer and web security, particularly in the areas of voter privacy,
is a top priority!
Many of our
purchases use the SOS state-issued credit card, which you’ll see listed on the
ledgers as “US Bank Corporate Payment Systems.” Our accounting team is diligent
in making credit card payments every week so we minimize expenses for you, the
taxpayer.
In
conclusion, the office of the Secretary of State has approximately 220
employees, a $75 million budget, and responsibility for Oregon’s Elections,
Audits, Archives, and Corporations divisions. While it can be expensive to
administer world-class services, my SOS team is committed to ensuring Oregonians
get excellent value for the money we spend.
At home,
Cathy and I work hard at saving money and looking for good deals. I’m bringing
that same focus on savings and value to how Oregon buys the goods and services
needed to fulfill critical functions of state government.
If you have
any questions after you check out this new SOS accountability tool online,
please know that the Secretary of State’s door is open!
Sincerely,
Dennis
Richardson
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