At a press conference in Albuquerque, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish this morning called for three budget-cutting steps she says could save the state millions.
They include overhauling the state's capital outlay process; ending double dipping by state employees and better using technology to make government more efficient.
"During these challenging economic times, we must act boldly to make our state government leaner and more fiscally responsible," she said in a statement.
"Before anyone considers further cuts to education or health care, we simply must do everything possible to make government more efficient. Taken together, these reforms will save the state millions of dollars, generate economic activity in both the short term and long term, and provide greater accountability to the public for how their tax dollars are spent. New Mexico families are tightening their belts and government must do the same."
We've heard ideas of fixing capital outlay and dumping double dippers in the past. But her idea on technology seems new. Denish says the state could save $1.9 million a year by switching from current systems to Google Apps. I'm no expert here, but I can say Google Apps might at least be easier to use than programs like SHARE. . .
Given the way the 2010 gubernatorial campaign is going, I'm going to predict that it's just a matter of minutes until Denish's GOP opponents put out statements on Denish's ideas. They are likely to ask why Denish hasn't pushed for these measures in the past and what she's going to do to accomplish them.
We are glad the Lt. Governor has chosen to follow the lead of the Attorney General's Office in utilizing current technologies, especially Google Apps, to save taxpayer dollars. We have already saved nearly $300-thousand and expect to save an additional $200-thousand in fiscal 2009. We stand ready to share what we have done with any state agency in order to help.
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