Comment on Oklahoma Corporation Commission considers how tight budget year might impact upgrade efforts

Oklahoma Corporation Commission considers how tight budget year might impact upgrade efforts

By Jack MoneyBusiness writer jmoney@oklahoman.comCurrent revenue projections for Oklahoma’s upcoming state budget and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s efforts to get state agencies that report to him to limit their requests for the coming fiscal year have caught the attention of elected members of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. During a regular business meeting commissioners held earlier this month with Tim Rhodes, the agency’s administration director, discussion turned to whether the agency will be able to obtain additional dollars in the coming fiscal year to continue a years-long project to create an online, one-click way to retrieve agencywide data and information about companies and operations it regulates. In Fiscal 2020, Oklahoma’s Legislature approved a budget that gave the agency an extra $5.3 million to help advance those efforts. The upgrades, involving both hardware and software, aim to both make it easier for regulated companies to conduct business with the commission and to make information about its regulatory activities more available to the public through its website. With the exception of the current fiscal year, the commission has been forced to use money from existing appropriations to support efforts to make past upgrades to its systems. During the meeting, commissioners asked whether they would have to turn to that strategy again, because Stitt has warned the chairman of elected commissioners and the agency’s administrative leader to expect a rigorous review of its fiscal 2021 budget request. Commissioner Dana Murphy said a quote Stitt made recently related to one-time appropriations the Legislature makes to state agencies for special projects caught her attention. Stitt, she told other commissioners, expects agencies to back those out of budget requests for the coming fiscal year to save the state money. Commission Chairman Todd Hiett noted that Stitt reiterated that position in comments he made at the start of a meeting his budget secretary and other staff held with agency department heads earlier this month on the budget planning process. “It comes as no surprise,” Hiett said.Read more on NewsOK.com

 

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