Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr testified this morning before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight in support of Senate Bill 1900, An Act to Improve the Administration of State Government and Finance. After the hearing, Senator Tarr released the following statement:“I was pleased to testify today in support of the legislation filed by the Senate President, which would implement the first steps in an effort to improve transparency and efficiency in the state’s finances, through tools such as debt affordability analysis and periodic performance management reviews to eliminate waste and duplication. These issues have been a priority for the Senate Republican Caucus for the past several years, and we are happy to partner with the Senate President to address them in this legislative session. We recognize that today’s proposal is an important interim step towards the ultimate goal of having an infrastructure for transparency and accountability permanently in place in state government. We firmly believe that, in the end, it is imperative that we implement a system of zero-based budgeting to ensure that the expenditure of every taxpayer dollar is justified and sustainable. Senate Bill 1619, which is a bipartisan measure that we have filed and is currently pending before the committee, will achieve that goal, and we will continue to aggressively pursue its passage.”
