Limit Use of Private Consultants

New York State continues to use expensive private consultants that work at a higher cost than if the same work was done by private employees. Ironically, times of fiscal stress can even increase the use of private contractors, as poorly though out hiring freezes force state agencies to hire consultants to get essential work done, as they don't have the option of hiring new state employees. To cite only one example of the overuse of private consultants, last year, the Office of General Services, which manages state facilities, hired more than 309 full time equivalents as consultants; the companies these consultants work for billed the state an average annual salary of $142,405 per consultant, almost $50,000 more per employee than it would have cost state employees to do the same work.

While the state has taken steps to address private consultants in the area of highway design engineers by hiring additional state employees instead, the state could do the same for other areas. The Fiscal Policy Institute has estimated that curtailing consultants for computer programming and other professional services would save $500 million over the next 3 years, and $500 million per year thereafter.

In addition, the Public Employees Federation, relying on Spitzer administration data, has estimated that taking a number of other steps, such as requiring the state Division of the Budget to examine each consultant contract to determine whether state employees could do the work at a lower cost, would save at least $250 million over the next two years, eventually increasing the savings up to $750 million annually.

Learn about these other options for raising revenue (Click an item for more information):

• Bigger Better Bottle Bill
• Bulk Purchasing of Prescription Drugs
• Closing Certain Juvenile Detention Centers
• Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes
• Eliminate Private College and University Aid (aka, Bundy Aid)
• Eliminate Unnecessary State Employee Overtime
• Reforming the Empire Zones Program
• Rockfeller Drug Law Reform

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