There’s no reason why we shouldn’t hold state agencies accountable when they hire consultants.  The public demands accountability and they absolutely deserve it.  After all, their hard-earned tax dollars ultimately pay for these contracts.

The legislation would:

·        require an annual report by the Department of Civil Service to reveal the number of employees hired contractually to perform services for state agencies;

·        expand the types of contracts for consulting services that are required to be reported and to include information about the number of employees hired under those contracts; and

·        call for more reporting and public disclosure of information for other contract services.

State agencies often contract out consulting services involving millions of dollars of public funds each year – with little public disclosure or oversight. Since the governor took office, the state has awarded over 10,000 separate consultant contracts, totaling at least $6 billion between 1995 and 2004, according to the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

While the state’s workforce has been reduced by more than 20,000 positions during the course of his tenure, the governor has increasingly sought to outsource those jobs previously held by the state’s professional civil service staff to expensive private contractors. In fact, it would be less expensive to hire state workers to do the same work in-house and New York taxpayers could save up to $500 million a year by stopping the practice of hiring certain consultants, according to a 2005 study by the Fiscal Policy Institute.

Once again, I have introduced and the Assembly has passed measures that reform state government and safeguard taxpayers’ money.  I invite the Senate to join the Assembly and pass this important legislation and I call on the governor to protect the taxpayers of this state by signing it into law. New Yorkers rightfully deserve accountability in state government.

Adam T. Bradley