Oklahoma Senator Ron Sharp wants the Legislature to have more control over agency director salaries. He filed Senate Bill 247 to require proposed agency director pay raises to be approved by the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees which oversee the agency.
“It’s hard to believe but some of the commissions and boards charged with financial oversight of state agencies have given raises to their agency directors when their budgets were being cut. This bill would hold agency boards and commissions accountable to the legislature for their decisions concerning director pay,” said Sharp. “While revenues are increasing and it appears Oklahoma is on stable financial ground, we must continue working to ensure fiscal efficiency within our agencies.”
Current law requires that an agency director’s raise be submitted to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES). It shows more than $1.2 million in raises have been given to directors since July 1, 2013.
If an agency, board or commission doesn’t have a direct appropriations subcommittee, SB 247 tasks the governor to make recommendations to the appropriations subcommittees.
For Sharp, this is a matter of Legislative oversight of how state agencies spend taxpayer dollars.
“This isn’t saying that these directors don’t deserve their salaries but the legislature is responsible for ensuring efficient use of taxpayer dollars so the appropriations subcommittees should play a role in approving director raises,” said Sharp.
