For months the state’s Department of Management Services has been struggling to provide lawmakers with a complete list of state landholdings, rental agreements and buildings it owns.
But Wednesday, DMS’s political lease on life looked about to expire.
Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Boca Raton, unveiled legislation (SB 1238) that amounts to the most sweeping overhaul of a state agency since the early 1990s, when the state’s unwieldy social services department was fractured and divided among several others, with the largest being the new Department of Children and Families.
Ring’s plan would put DMS through a similar grinder – spinning off a new agency and sprinkling the department’s other duties across at least four existing units – including the governor’s office and Department of Financial Services. DMS, which currently answers only to the governor, would be transformed – in a diminished role – into the Department of Personnel Management, which would report to the governor and Cabinet.
Ring initially pushed the bill, anchored by a 400-page amendment detailing the alphabet soup of changes, for a vote Wednesday before the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee. But faced with opposition from Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee, whose district includes thousands of state workers, Ring agreed to hold-off a week, allowing lawmakers to review the measure.
“We’ve talked around this for a long time,” Ring said of the sweeping overhaul. “I recognize that this is a heavy lift. But I think we should get a discussion going.”
DMS has been in hot water with Senate Republicans for months – particularly budget chief J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales who has relentlessly pushed the agency to compile a full list of state property assets and commitments. Alexander has said the data would allow lawmakers to get a better handle on potential cost-savings -- including leases worth renegotiating and properties no longer worth retaining.
But DMS has failed to satisfy Alexander, who Wednesday endorsed the overhaul pushed by Ring – but also agreeing to let Lawson and others study the proposed changes for a week. Although Alexander plays a key role in determining how many of DMS’ 1,100 employees could be let go in an overhaul, he insisted that was not at the heart of the proposal.
“This is a reorganization of the structure,” Alexander said. “I don’t see a significant overall reduction coming out of this. But I wouldn’t want to prejudge any of the other committees as they begin their work” on the budget.
In a less controversial move, Alexander also got 8-0 approval from the committee for a proposed constitutional amendment requiring the chief financial officer to establish a uniform accounting system for all public agencies in Florida. Alexander said the legislation (SJR 2204) grew out of his frustration with getting data out of state and local governments that is useful in financial measuring and making comparisons between appropriations.
The amendment, if approved by voters, would require the uniform system to be phased in over three years, beginning in July 2011, that would affect state government, universities, school districts, water management districts and local governments.
But the DMS rewrite, is likely to prove more volatile. For his part, Ring said it was likely that 450-500 DMS employees could be “moved out” under the change, saying that he envisioned about 600 state workers remaining in “the new DPM.”
“But we’re not looking at separating anyone from payroll through this committee,” Ring said.
Under the legislation, the new Department of Personnel Management would retain such DMS duties as human resources management, retirement benefits management, and oversight of the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) and Agency for Workforce Innovation.
The governor’s office would be assigned the state’s aircraft operations – currently housed in DMS. The Department of Financial Services would assume state purchasing, fleet management, and private prison monitoring. The Department of Environmental Protection would take on facilities management and building construction, while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would be charged with the statewide law enforcement radio system.
Although pushed by Ring, a Democrat, the DMS overhaul looks almost certain to divide along party lines – with several Democrats Wednesday voicing concern about potentially eliminating state worker jobs. Senate Republicans cast the change as a drive toward efficiency and cost-savings in a brutal budget year.
Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, looked back to the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services break-up almost 20 years ago as a model for the latest move.
“Basically, there was a little concern then, but when you look in the mirror, I think we were right,” Jones said.
