Senator John A. DeFrancisco (R-I-C-WF, Syracuse) joined Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and members of the Senate Majority Conference today to launch the Senate's "Accountability in Government Spending" plan. The plan is designed to save taxpayer money, reduce government waste and unnecessary spending and ensure greater openness and accountability throughout State government.

The proposals, which would build on the Senate's recent approval of a Constitutional Spending Cap, include Senator DeFrancisco's Public Expenditure Reports plan, new performance-based budgeting requirements, and a new public website initiative for New Yorkers to track the performance of government programs.

Senator DeFrancisco's bill (S6358) would, for the first time ever, require all State agencies, public authorities and the Judiciary to compile and release biannual public expenditure reports. These reports would include information detailing personnel costs, equipment purchases, postage costs, travel costs and other expenditures.

"All New Yorkers have the right to evaluate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of government and we have an obligation to make doing so as easy as possible," said Senator DeFrancisco. "This would dramatically improve public access to information about government spending and would build on our ongoing efforts to open up New York State government."

"The Legislature has been compiling and publicly releasing expenditure reports since 1996," continued Senator DeFrancisco. "This process has allowed the Legislature to more effectively monitor and control its internal operations and budgeting practices to keep spending under control. My bill would ensure that other State agencies and the Judiciary do the same."

Constitutional Spending Cap

Under the Senate's spending cap plan (S7134) each year State spending increases would be limited to 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index or 4 percent, whichever is less. Furthermore, fifty percent of tax revenue that exceeded the cap would be placed in a reserve fund and fifty percent would be returned to taxpayers in the form of direct tax rebates. If such a cap had been in place for the last five years, State taxpayers would have saved $13.1 billion, half of which would have been returned to taxpayers and the other half would have been saved.

This comprehensive measure would require all state agencies to develop long-term strategic plans, follow performance budgeting principles, and enable the public, the Division of Budget and the Legislature to better evaluate the fiscal management and actual performance of virtually all State government programs.

New York State has not had a performance metric rating tool for agencies and programs since the abandonment of "key item" reporting in the 1980's. The REPAIR Act would help to provide New York citizens and taxpayers with government programs that achieve their goals.

The Senate will also advance legislation to create a new website that would allow the public to review the performance of government programs and see how agencies are spending tax dollars. People visiting the site could also submit their suggestions and recommendations on how to stop government waste and reduce State spending.

The website would provide detailed information on agency budgets and program expenditures, and would include a heavy emphasis on comparative data and statistics to show how the State is performing regionally and nationally in key areas such as the economy, education, public safety, energy, housing and the environment.

"This accountability plan would ensure that our government agencies are acting in a responsible manner," said Senator DeFrancisco. "Governor Paterson has directed State agencies to reduce their spending by 3.35 percent, and I believe that the measures that we have presented today would help us to overcome the fiscal challenges we face and make State government more accountable to New Yorkers."