OPEGA is a real value to taxpayers and the Legislature

We find it almost inconceivable that the honest and rational members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee would consider destroying the only program that consistently provides a stream of suggestions for efficiency and fiscal responsibility in government spending.

The Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) was established in 2004 and began operations in January of 2005. The goal was to provide unbiased support for the Legislature by providing independent, professional and concise reporting and recommendations regarding waste and inefficiencies in Maine state government.

OPEGA is an invaluable tool for the Legislature, offering the benefits of logical and reasoned decision-making on behalf of the taxpayers. It also directly serves the people in its role as an additional interface for public participation in government oversight – and with a protective shield of confidentiality when needed.

Among other findings, OPEGA has revealed that more than half a billion dollars have been spent on 46 “economic development” programs between 2003 and 2005. These were scattered throughout the sea of bureaucracies, overseen by, and accountable to, no one in particular. The auditors found 94 percent of the programs “do not collect or maintain sufficient data to allow analysis of overlap or gaps between programs.”

In other words, the state has spent some $600 million on an unorganized assortment of programs, scattered throughout the bureaucracy, but has no idea if any of them have produced value for the tax dollars they have spent.

OPEGA’s suggestion was the Department of Economic and Community Development establish oversight provisions and create reporting and measurement mechanisms to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the various programs in order to justify their continued existence.

Currently, OPEGA is working on a review of the contracting relationship between the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and non-Medicaid providers. We have learned there are 341 providers involved, for a total outlay of around $240 million. We also know this is only scratching the surface.

We now know that DHHS is deficient in properly accredited accountants and that there is not one actuary on the agency staff, much to the dismay of the commissioner. This is hardly a desirable situation, considering the $1.3 billion which annually passes through this mega-department of around 4,000 employees.

OPEGA does not currently generate bills that force legislative action; rather, it submits recommendations to the Government Oversight Committee, which distributes them to the various policy committees. They, in turn, are free to act on them. However, individual legislators also are free to submit bills that take up OPEGA’s suggestions.

So far, in its short existence, OPEGA has sifted through $630,892,590 of annual expenditures and shown a potential for cost avoidance of $20,321,040, plus another $2 million in reduction of current expenses.

The total of this “found money” is more than 20 times the amount of OPEGA’s annual budget. Considering the current state budget is in the realm of $6.3 billion, even if the percentage was to stay the same (and I would anticipate its increase) by the time it was all reviewed, the savings could be around $200 million.

It should be noted that OPEGA doesn’t just talk the talk on fiscal responsibility, it walks the walk.

The 7-person OPEGA operation has never even spent its entire budget. Reflecting its commitment to financial austerity, the agency has routinely returned large sums of unspent money to the General Fund. Since its inception through the 2007 fiscal year, OPEGA has been appropriated $2.4 million but has spent just $1.5 million, for a savings of about $898,000. Its savings in 2008 are expected to be dramatic.

We consider this watchdog agency to be a real value to the taxpayers out there paying the freight for all government programs. We’re not saying there’s a fox lurking in the shadows, but without OPEGA, who’s going to be guarding the henhouse?

Rep. Mike Vaughan (R-Durham) and Rep. Andrea Boland (D-Sanford) are members of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee.