State Must List Payroll Cost Of 'Contract' Staff

State Must List Payroll Cost Of 'Contract' Staff

By REUVEN BLAU

After years of lobbying by the Public Employees' Federation, Governor Pataki March 22 signed legislation that will require the state Department of Civil Service to list how much money the state spends on contract employees.

ROGER E. BENSON: 'Sunlight' may save money. The measure, which was part of PEF's broad $1.5 million "Go Public" government accountability and anti-privatization campaign, passed the Legislature earlier this year by a combined vote of 197 to 1.

Claims Millions Wasted

PEF has been arguing for years that the state is wasting millions of public funds by hiring expensive private consultants to perform work that civil servants perform just as well for less.

"In many cases, state agencies are hiring consultants for long periods of time and are paying them fees far greater than the amount that it would cost to hire state employees to do the same work," said PEF President Roger E. Benson in a statement. "This new law will enable PEF and all New Yorkers to ask important questions about why this wasteful spending is occurring."

Last October, Mr. Pataki vetoed a similar bill, arguing that contractors would be discouraged from doing business with the state if their own salaries were disclosed. The modified measure, how ever, redacts the names of private workers and their salaries.

PEF spokeswoman Darcy Wells noted that the public will not be able to see if a private company or individual is working for multiple state agencies. "That would be interesting information, but this law still creates transparency in state government," she said.

PEF is the state's second-largest public-employee union, representing 54,000 professional, scientific, and technical employees.

'Helps Shape Policy'

The bill was sponsored by State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and State Senator Joe Robach. "The bottom-line is we need good information to make sound public policy, and that's what this legislation provides," Ms. Lupardo remarked in a statement. "This is simply good government."

Senator Robach echoed that sentiment. The measure "will provide the public with full disclosure on how its money is being spent on projects in the community." The law will take effect in June, and the report will be included in next year's executive budget. The information will likely not be released until after Mr. Pataki, who has announced he will not seek another term, has left office.

Blair Horner, the legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, a government watchdog organization, noted that reform has become one of the main issues in Albany. "The fact that it is a reform fits into a larger effort by the Governor and legislative leaders to change the way Albany operates," he said, referring to the PEF bill.