Office of Policy and Management

 

 

 

At a Glance

 

MARC S. RYAN, Secretary

Anne D. Gnazzo, Deputy Secretary

Established - 1977

Statutory authority – CGS Sec. 4-65a

Central office - 450 Capitol Avenue,

              Hartford, CT  06106

Average number of full-time employees - 129

Recurring operating expenses –

             General Fund - $122,275,262 (Includes $104,394,758 Grants-In-Aid)

             Private/Federal Funds - $72,960,542;

             Capital Outlay - $­­­329,276

 

Mission

The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) reports directly to the Governor and provides information and analysis that the Governor uses to formulate public policy goals for the state.  OPM also assists state agencies and municipalities in implementing policy decisions on behalf of the people of Connecticut.  OPM prepares the Governor’s budget proposal and implements and monitors the execution of the budget as adopted by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor.

 

Improvements/Achievements 2003-04

·         Implemented Executive Order Number 29, which provided for the continued operation of state government in the absence of an approved appropriation act for fiscal year 2003-04.  Provided on-going support, evaluation and analysis to the Secretary and the Governor in relation to the passage of the budget for the biennium ending June 30, 2005 (Public Act 03-01).  Monitored fiscal year 2003-04 budget implementation, including the development of a $12.5 million rescission package, to ensure that the fiscal year ended with a surplus.

·         Continued successful implementation of the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care, the State’s public/private partnership with private insurers which educates Connecticut residents about long-term care planning and provides an innovative financing option.  This past year, significant numbers of Connecticut residents applied for and purchased Partnership-approved policies with the program surpassing the 34,000 mark for policies purchased.

·         Continued development and implementation of numerous initiatives to provide alternatives to nursing home care through a multi-agency effort.  Assisted living services have been made available in State-funded congregate housing, federally-funded HUD housing facilities, and private pay assisted living facilities with approximately 300 residents enrolled in the programs as of June 30, 2004 and over 580 residents served since the programs began.  In addition, construction has begun on new State-subsidized assisted living communities under the Assisted Living Demonstration project, with over 200 subsidized assisted living units to be developed in four cities and towns when the projects are fully completed.  In addition, provided leadership and staff support for the development of the Long-Term Care Planning Committee’s 2004 Long-Term Care Plan and helped oversee the implementation of several federal grants to help provide more home and community-based long-term care options.

·         Coordinated and funded implementation of Public Act 03-242 which requires the DNA testing of all convicted felons. Federal Byrne funds are being used by the Department of Correction, Department of Public Safety and the Judicial Branch to accomplish this significant undertaking which should have significant impact on solving crime via the expanded DNA database.

·         Saved the State an estimated $1.0 million through the use of a competitive natural gas purchasing pool.  The pool consists of State agencies whose natural gas consumption is aggregated and purchased from an independent supplier instead of using the local distribution companies.

·         Executed an agreement with the Town of Newtown for the sale of approximately 189 acres on the site of the former Fairfield Hills Hospital property.

·         Revised and submitted the Recommended Conservation and Development Policies Plan for Connecticut 2004 – 2009 to the standing legislative committee on State Planning and Development. Prepared and submitted the Connecticut Drought Preparedness and Response Plan to the Water Planning Council.

·         Paid claims for the following grant programs: Homeowner Tax Credit, the Freeze and Rental Rebate programs; the Additional Veterans, Distressed Municipalities, Drug Enforcement, Local Capital Improvement (LoCIP) programs; the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan, Electric Generation Facilities Restructuring and the Telecommunications grant programs; the College and Hospital, State-owned property, and Manufacturing Machinery and Equipment and Commercial Vehicles payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) programs.

·         As one of the four sponsoring agencies, continued implementation of the Core-CT project, which replaced the State’s existing financial and human resource systems.  Phase 1 of the Financials module went online July 8, 2003, which included the General Ledger, Purchasing, Accounts Receivable and eProcurement modules.  The Payroll, Time and Labor, and Human Resource modules went online November 14, 2003.

·         Successfully negotiated contracts with the following unions:  Clerical and Administrative Employees (NP-3), Correctional Employees (NP-4), Protective Services (NP-5) and arbitrated and submitted for legislative approval a contract for Social and Human Services (P-2).  

·         Negotiated and began interest arbitration with the State Police Union (NP-1) and Administrative and Residual Union (P-5).

·         Continued development and oversight of the Governor’s High Efficiency Licensing Program (HELP), which provides quick and easy access to state government licensing, permitting and registration information.  HELP provides full-service, personalized assistance to the business community via the Smart Start program hosted by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center as well as self-help, online information and resource services available through the Connecticut Licensing Information Center (CLIC) website.  During the year, an electronic newsletter was launched, which is distributed quarterly to 800 stakeholders, and the CLIC brochure was translated into Spanish to reach out to the Hispanic business start-up and entrepreneurial community.  Approximately 827,000 visitors accessed the website during the year, which represents a 21.6 percent increase over the previous year.

·         In order to fulfill the requirements of Section 207 of Public Act 03-6, June 30 Special Session, issued a Request for Proposals and retained Gobis and Company to evaluate billboard revenue maximization opportunities for the State of Connecticut.  The report was completed and submitted to the General Assembly.  The State of Connecticut currently owns or controls approximately 130 billboard structures, generating annual revenue of approximately $2.9 million.

·         Assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in conducting Federal civil rights training for sub grantees and staff members from OPM and the Judicial Branch who are recipients of federal funding.  Began the design of a “train the trainer” program that will be used to provide such training to OPM and Judicial sub grantees and staff members on an annual basis.

·         Continued lead role in the development of Adriaen’s Landing, a mixed-use economic development project in Hartford.  Construction of the Connecticut Convention Center is 75 percent complete as of June 30, 2004.  Final contracts and lease agreements were executed with the master developer, and the agency facilitated the start of construction for the convention center hotel.  The agency has overseen the opening of the football stadium at Rentschler Field, and oversees operations of the facility through a management agreement with Madison Square Garden.

·         The Waterbury Financial Planning and Assistance Board, which was created by the State Legislature in March 2001 in response to the City of Waterbury’s fiscal crisis and which is located, administratively, within OPM, continued its work to restore stability to the City’s finances.  Fiscal year 2002-03 marked the second consecutive year that the City had a budget surplus, with the current projection being that the City will have a small operating surplus for fiscal year 2003-04.   In addition, the Board and the City are taking the steps necessary to strengthen the City’s financial management practices and systems, including the continued implementation of a long-term plan to reduce the City’s unfunded pension liability and undertaking a major upgrade of the City’s outdated financial management system.  This system was scheduled to go into operation on July 1, 2004.  In regard to the Board’s collective bargaining responsibilities, union agreements reached or arbitrated to date have resulted in savings of more than $10 million.

Other Information: OPM is committed to complying with statutory requirements related to affirmative action and equal opportunity in employment and in the services it provides to the State of Connecticut.  During the year, OPM’s 2002-03 Affirmative Action Plan was approved by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.  During 2003-04, OPM met 50 percent of its short-term hiring goals.  Other hires, which did not meet hiring goals, further diversified OPM’s workforce.  In addition, OPM provided sexual harassment and diversity training to new employees and substantially exceeded its Small Business and Minority Business Enterprise purchasing/contracting goals.

                 For further information on OPM activities, visit the OPM website at http://www.opm.state.ct.us.*