You asked for information on the state's Office of Policy and Management (OPM); including when it was established and its recent budget growth compared with other state agencies. You also asked whether other states have an agency with fiscal responsibility and functions similar to OPM's.

SUMMARY

The Office of Policy and Management is the governor's staff agency. It provides information and analysis used to develop public policy, assist state agencies and municipalities in implementing policy decisions, prepare the governor's budget, and monitor its implementation after the General Assembly adopts it. Established in 1977, the role of the office and its head, the OPM secretary, has broadened over time. In addition to its budget responsibilities, as a centralized agency, it analyzes and coordinates interagency policies and programs. It facilitates state activities involving multiple agencies in areas like personnel and labor relations, energy policy development, intergovernmental relations, and information technology.

OPM's budget has increased by 7. 93% in the five years from FY 99 through FY 03. Compared with the budgets for personal services, other expenses, and equipment accounts of agencies of similar size with a general government function, OPM's increase was a bit more than that of the Division of Special Revenue, less than half of the Department of Administrative Services', and almost a quarter of the increase in the state comptroller office's budget for the same period.

State budget offices, whether called the budget, management, or finance department, are responsible for providing guidance to state agencies on policy and spending targets, analyzing state agency budget submissions, consolidating requests into a single budget proposal, submitting it to the governor, and implementing the budget after legislative approval. For a state-to-state comparison, we used the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO)'s categorization of budget agency functions. State budget offices have some or all of the following responsibilities: estimate revenues, provide fiscal notes, review legislation, accounting, pre-auditing, management analysis, and contract approval. Connecticut's OPM does revenue estimates, fiscal notes, legislation reviews, management analysis, and contract approval. Six other states, including Maine and New York, have offices with exactly the same duties.

OFFICE OF POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

History and Functions

OPM was established in 1977 pursuant to the Committee on the Structure of State Government's (the Filer Commission) study and recommendations (as enacted in "An Act Concerning the Reorganization of the Executive Branch of State Government," PA 77-614). It was created to provide staff assistance to the governor bringing together the functions of budgeting, management, program evaluation, personnel policy, and planning. OPM currently has seven divisions that report to the secretary: Budget and Financial Management, Finance, Intergovernmental Policy, Labor Relations, Policy Development and Planning, Strategic Management, and Administration. The Management Division was created in 1991 in response to the Thomas Commission's recommendations and the Office of Finance (recommended by the Hull-Harper Commission) was created in 1992. In 1997, labor relations functions were transferred from the Department of Administrative Services to OPM's Office of Labor Relations.

Section 4-65a of the General Statutes makes OPM "responsible for all aspects of state staff planning and analysis in the areas of budgeting, management, planning, energy policy determination and evaluation, intergovernmental policy, criminal and juvenile justice planning, and program evaluation. "

The agency's current description of its role and functions and an organizational chart is on OPM's website at About OPM (copy attached). OPM's role has expanded over the years. The agency has become the coordinator of interagency activities and performs duties that only a centralized staff office can do. A 1994 OLR report (94-R-0340), though dated, shows the growth of the agency's responsibility over the years and the trend has continued. Since 1994, for example, the General Assembly has added to the office's and the secretary's duties by:

1. making him the state's representative for collective bargaining purposes (PA 00-77);


2. giving control over the Adriaen's Landing project to OPM (PA 00-140 and PA 99-241);


3. requiring OPM to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the state's unmet long-term care needs and project future demands (SA 02-7);


4. requiring OPM to report on planning and activities for children as part of homeland preparedness and emergency response planning to terrorism (SA 02-8).


OPM Budget Compared to Other State Agencies

The Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) analyzed the OPM position count and expenditures for certain accounts with similarly sized general government agencies for a five-year period. The agencies selected for comparison are: the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), Office of the State Comptroller, and Division of Special Revenue. For purposes of comparability, OFA analyzed the personal services, other expenses and equipment accounts, which are common to all agencies, and excluded other current expenses and grant payment accounts. It selected general government agencies, which share similar general government functions and do not provide direct services or have a regulatory or adjudicatory function.

During the analysis period, OPM experienced a 7. 93% increase in expenditures for the selected accounts, whereas the other agencies in the comparison group experienced increases ranging from 7. 34% to 28. 90%. Table 1 provides more details.

Table 1: Budget Comparison for OPM, DAS, the State Comptroller, and DSR

OTHER STATES

The budget office in each state analyzes agency budget submissions and consolidates the requests into a statewide budget proposal for the governor's approval. For comparative purposes, we used the National Association of State Budget Officers' (NASBO) publication Budget Processes in the States (January 2002), which indicates the functions each state's budget office performs. Generally, the budget agency functions that NASBO identifies are:

· revenue estimating

· fiscal notes

· review legislation

· accounting

· pre-audit

· management analysis

· contract approval.

NASBO shows that Connecticut's Office of Policy and Management does revenue estimates, fiscal notes, legislation reviews, management analysis, and contract approval. The following states' budget offices have the same functions: Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, New York, and North Carolina.

The budget offices in nine states have the same functions except the authority for approving contracts. Those states are Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Rhode Island, and Utah.

Louisiana's and Nevada's budget offices have the same responsibilities as OPM but also have a pre-audit duty. The budget office in the State of Washington has OPM's functions, plus accounting.

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