Consultant Spending Spree Continues in State Government

By John Kennedy, State Treasurer

The state Division of Administration just released its 2014 - 2015 Annual Report on Professional, Personal, Consulting and Social Services Contracts. A copy can be found here.

According to the report (page 4), "During the period 07/01/14 through 06/30/15, 4,017 contracts and amendments worth approximately $14.5 billion were approved by the OSP-PC [Office of State Procurement]." That's "b" as in billion, though the taxpayer money will be spent over several years.

The following are a few of those consulting contracts:

Louisiana families and Louisiana businesses are being asked to cut their budgets so Louisiana state government does not have to cut its budget. Before we enact the largest tax increase in the history of our state, we should review these 4,017 new consulting contracts and the other 19,000 that the state has with an eye towards saving money. Those contracts that are not as important as universities, public schools, roads, health care, coastal restoration and our other priorities should be eliminated. The remaining consultants should be asked for at least a 5% discount.

These simple actions could save millions of dollars for Louisiana taxpayers. We don't have a revenue problem nearly as much as we have a spending problem.

(C) THE DEAD PELICAN 2016