Members of the Senate Finance Committee bristled Friday at some suggestions from consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, like plans to close 18 Office of Motor Vehicles locations around the state, limit ferry hours and consolidate transportation maintenance units.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State senators are questioning whether Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration can deliver the $74 million in savings it is promising from the ideas of an outside consultant.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee bristled Friday at some suggestions from consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, like plans to close 18 Office of Motor Vehicles locations around the state, limit ferry hours and consolidate transportation maintenance units.
Committee members also asked why Jindal needed to hire a $5 million contractor to find ways to make government more efficient when state employees are experts in their agencies' operations.
The savings expectations are included in the House-approved version of next year's nearly $25 billion budget.
Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols defended the consultant's hiring, saying the firm brought ideas from other states and national expertise.