Mar
8
A bill that passed unanimously in the Oklahoma House today could provide a much-needed review of a small section of Higher Education’s budget. House Bill 2610 by Rep. Guy Liebmann (R-Oklahoma City) would require that Higher Education vehicles fall under the supervision of Fleet Management in the Department of Central Services.
During the question and answer period on the House Floor, Rep. Paul Wesselhoft (R-Moore) pointed out that right now, lawmakers have no idea how many vehicles Higher Ed has or who is using them. With Fleet Management involved, there will be oversight and rules that higher education must follow.
It’s possible that Higher Ed is currently running its fleet as efficiently as possible and no changes will be needed. But the fact is we don’t know right now and HB 2610 will allow the legislature to see the details of how some of that money is being spent. More importantly, if efficiencies can be found, they will be enacted.
It was during last year’s legislative session that it was discovered that Higher Ed was spending $60-million on travel expenses, more than half of the entire state’s $100-million total. Providing some additional oversight of Higher Education spending is a good idea and can only serve to save state colleges and universities money that can reduce the need for tuition hikes.
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