Immediate, 4/20/10

   STACHOWSKI: NYS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASTED $200M IN
                         TAXPAYER DOLLARS
 Senator Stachowski And Task Force On Government Efficiency Unveil
                Millions in Potential State Savings

 Senator William T. Stachowski (D-C, Lake View) and members of the
 Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency released an
 investigative report citing $60 million dollars in potential
 cost-savings at the NYS Department of Transportation (DOT), and
 more than $200 million in funds the Department has already wasted,
 at a press conference in Albany on Tuesday. The report is the third
 in a series of investigations into state agency spending by the
 Task Force. The Task Force also announced on Tuesday that it will
 hold a hearing to probe DOT on its wasteful spending practices on
 Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

 “We have a responsibility to every taxpaying New Yorker to ensure
 that their tax dollars are being used in the absolute most
 efficient way possible,” said Senator Stachowski, Chairman of the
 Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small
 Business.  “When we find the kind of waste in state agency services
 that we are uncovering now in the Department of Transportation, it
 is imperative that we address this problem immediately.  Every New
 Yorker should have the confidence that their tax dollars are
 serving a real purpose for the good of our state and of our local
 communities.  This task force will take swift action and use every
 tool at our disposal to reverse these wasteful practices at DOT.”

 In its latest report, the Task Force uncovered close to $60 million
 in potential cost-saving measures at DOT, ranging from moving some
 of its contracted services in-house ($46.5 million) to speeding up
 its typical contract close-out time frame ($10 million) to
 decreasing overtime spending ($3.5 million) or cutting back on
 night work ($360,000).

            The Task Force report also outlined more than $210
 million in wasted funds that have already been spent, including
 $150 million on contract management and further rising contract
 costs associated with changes in DOT specifications. In 2006, DOT
 revised its specifications for the type of reflective sheeting used
 on orange construction signs, requiring full compliance by January
 2009. Although DOT claimed this change would come at no cost to the
 state, contractors statewide had to pay nearly $27 million to
 replace the 2.7 million existing signs, a cost they are now passing
 onto the state in the form of higher contract prices.

 The report found that DOT has implemented the same wasteful
 practice by recently revising specifications for temporary concrete
 barriers used at construction sites. In February 2007, DOT released
 revised specifications for the manufacturing of these commonplace
 barriers, requiring that they be replaced with barriers meeting a
 new set of standards by 2015. At an average cost of $36 per foot,
 per barrier, it is going to cost the construction industry
 statewide an estimated $33.5 million to meet this benchmark, a cost
 that once again contractors are passing onto the state in higher
 contract prices.

 In an effort to stem further wasteful spending and mismanagement of
 taxpayer dollars at state agencies, the Senate Task Force announced
 the launch of a new webpage on Monday where state employees and
 other interested New Yorkers can anonymously submit their ideas,
 suggestions and feedback on how the state can conserve resources in
 this tough fiscal time, as well as to report any suspected wasteful
 government spending or abuse of tax dollars. This page is
 accessible via the Task Force’s Senate website:
 http://www.nysenate.gov/committee/task-force-government-efficiency.

            The Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency was
 created with the goal of uncovering inefficient government spending
 and developing productive solutions to put taxpayer dollars to
 better use. Chaired by State Senator and Deputy Majority Leader
 Jeff Klein, this bipartisan Task Force was formally announced in
 March of 2010. It is comprised of Senators William Stachowski,
 Darrel Aubertine, Brian X. Foley, Craig Johnson, Betty Little,
 George Maziarz, Tom Morahan, Jose Peralta, Diane Savino, Jose
 Serrano, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and David Valesky.
                               -30-