Regina Birchum
Media Specialist
Oklahoma House of Representatives
State Capitol, Suite B-25
405.557.7499 office
405.557.7498 fax
birchumre@lsb.state.ok.us

Contact: State Rep. Joe Dorman
Capitol: (405) 557-7305
Rush Springs: (580) 476-0000

House to Consider Legislation Setting New Policy for State Vehicle
Management

 OKLAHOMA CITY (March 9) -- The House will consider legislation that would reform management of the state's fleet of vehicles,
potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars over the next decade.
State Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said he was alarmed to discover
the state cannot account for many of its vehicles.  A report issued
after an 11-month performance audit by State Auditor and Inspector Jeff
McMahan revealed a lack of monitoring procedures, inefficiency, and
potential misuse of state-owned vehicles.
 The audit also revealed that the number of vehicles owned by the
state was unclear. "We've got a problem, and it needs to be stopped,"
McMahan said. House Bill 1927, the "Fleet Management Reform Act," would
implement recommendations made by McMahan in the audit report, changing
the way Oklahoma purchases, manages and disposes of state-owned vehicles.

The House Committee on Appropriations and Budget approved the bill on
Wednesday; it will next be put to a vote of the entire state House of
Representatives.
 "The audit really opened our eyes to just how lax the state has
been in managing millions of dollars worth of vehicles," said Dorman.
"But it also presented the opportunity to correct that and establish new
procedures to prevent this from reoccurring."
 One of the problems highlighted in the report is that policy
regarding use of state vehicles varies from one agency to the next.
According to state Department of Central Services Fleet Manager David
Murdock, 22 state agencies have statutory authority to operate their own
fleet of vehicles. "The problem has always been that we are responsible
for fleet management but we've never had the authority to enforce
policy," he said. "If an agency wanted to abide by it they could, but if
they didn't, then they didn't."
 HB 1927 would centralize management of all the state's vehicles
under the Fleet Management Division, which would control and regulate
the "acquisition, lease, operation, maintenance, repair, and disposal"
of all state-owned passenger vehicles.
 Under the legislation, the Director of Central Services would
establish "uniform rules" for the purchase, operation, maintenance, and
repair of all vehicles. The measure also would require the agency to
conduct a study of fleet management practices in the private and public
sector to help with creation of a new centralized fleet management
program for Oklahoma.
 The agency would be given the authority to refuse or approve
vehicle purchases for any state agency that fails to comply with the new
rules, with offenders being reported to all the legislative branches.
 Additionally, the Fleet Manager could conduct on-site
inspections to insure compliance. HB 1927 also restricts the use of
state-owned vehicles for transportation between work and home. The audit
report revealed that nearly 700 civilian state workers routinely took
state-owned vehicles home at night.
 HB 1927 would replace all existing policy regarding fleet
management.
 Murdock said Central Services is in the process of setting up a
motor vehicle advisory council, to include legislative leaders and the
state's 10 largest fleets, to help formulate new policy. "If we can get
all the agencies involved, I think we can come up with some really good
policy," he said.

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