Senate Passes Measure for E-Filing of Reports, Budget

A bill that could potentially save the state thousands of dollars in printing and postage costs annually passed by a 44-1 vote today in the Oklahoma State Senate.

Authored by Senator Jay Paul Gumm, Senate Bill 1507 would require the hundreds of reports submitted by state agencies to legislative leaders be transmitted electronically. In addition, the measure would require agency budget requests and the governor’s annual budget to be transmitted electronically rather than through hard copies in the mail.

“Today, we made a responsible, bipartisan statement to make government work smarter for Oklahoma taxpayers,” Gumm said.

Gumm said the transition from printed copies to electronic online copies of voluminous documents represents a philosophical shift in state government, making it more effective and less wasteful.

“This is a smart way to move forward into a new era of efficiency and productivity. This idea will save money, save our natural resources, and make state government more modern,” said Gumm, a Democrat from Durant.

“These types of state documents – budgets and annual reports -- are already available electronically. This measure is environmentally sound and more importantly, financially prudent. The dollars we spend on printing could be invested in education or other infrastructure needs in Oklahoma.”

As an example, he said it cost more than $5,700 to print the governor’s budget proposal to lawmakers this year; that much would have been saved had the budget been submitted electronically rather than with printed and bound copies.”

Shifting to paperless documents is a national trend. The White House did not print copies of the 2009 fiscal budget and interested parties could access the document through an online link. Anyone could review the budget electronically. The move is expected to save federal taxpayers $1 million in reduced printing costs over the next five years.