Oklahoma lawmakers are keeping a watchful eye on the state agency that provides information technology services to everyone else.
Lawmakers routinely asked agencies presenting their budget requests for the upcoming year what the Office of Management and Enterprise Services was charging them.
Department of Environmental Quality Director Scott Thompson said their OMES fees are doubling from $1.2 million to $2.4 million, and he’s frustrated because he doesn’t know exactly why.
"We can’t raise fees without going through rules or through getting a statute passed. But the way OMES charges fees change each year, and it’s not clear what they’re based on," Thompson said.
Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn didn't pull any punches when asked about OMES.
"We have a website that’s horribly antiquated. You can pull it up and still get pictures of [past Commissioners] Mark Costello, Melissa Houston. It’s, it’s a nightmare," Osborn said. "We’ve been trying for four or five years to update it. They won’t let us. We can’t contract with anybody outside of the OMES. It’s a damn nightmare."
Sen. Darcy Jech said he wants to see some benchmarks put in place so lawmakers can know the increases are necessary.
"I hope we can monitor that. They’re going to ask for a considerable increase in their funding. So, that’s probably an investment that’s necessary, but also we need to see some results from that," Jech said.
Lawmakers put OMES in charge of the state’s IT services in 2011. The agency came to lawmakers for a $16 million emergency appropriation last year, saying it was behind on bills. That prompted Gov. Kevin Stitt to call for an audit of the agency.
