Changing the way state government does business in New Mexico is fast approaching us. The Legislature, as well as Lt. Governor Diane Denish, have outlined competing proposals to restructure state government as we know it.

Agencies with similar functions will be consolidated into one agency under both plans. With the trials of this recession, state employees must find errors and correct them to better serve the residents of this great state. As a union, resisting change makes no sense because we will be left without a voice. State employees have great ideas and initiatives that could potentially save millions for the taxpayers. We must articulate to our elected officials the changes that can be made in the short-term to save money immediately, and work on the long-range plans as well.

We must partner with our elected officials to find cost-cutting measures. We have a lot of new technology that enables us to do our work faster and more precisely, but it seems we are stuck between the new and the old ways of conducting business. We need our attorney general to work with our Legislature in order to start eliminating or changing laws and statutes that are outdated, and still be in compliance while using our new technologies.

In most agencies, we are doing electronic files as well as paper files in order to be in compliance. I would never advocate for eliminating any jobs, but we need to start retraining our employees to be more efficient and to be able to use the new technologies. In reality, the taxpayer does not want to cut state employees — what the public wants is accountability, efficiency and integrity. As individual employees and union members, we must stay focused and deliver to the taxpayers the services they are paying us to deliver.

I have been seeing where the tax burden is being shifted, and in reality the taxpayer is paying twice as much. We have state-run Motor Vehicle Division offices being closed, and new bids are being requested to establish privately run MVD offices. The private MVD offices charge double what the state offices do for the same services rendered. Where is the savings to the New Mexico taxpayer?

We have call centers being operated by private companies for various state agencies for a profit. Private prisons are perfect examples where state employees have proven that state-run prisons are safer and cost less to operate. Private companies do not have the restrictions state-owned operations have on them. It is foolish to even think a private company that is in the business of making a profit is more efficient and will cut costs to the taxpayers.

In the previous administration, we went from state-owned buildings to privately owned buildings then leased by the state. That has proven to be more costly to the taxpayers. A vivid illustration of a bad decision is the old St. Vincent Hospital site downtown. The state sold it for $10 million and then leased it for 10 years at a million a year. Where was the savings?

The classified-employee numbers in state government have stayed the same in the last eight years, other than the migration that occurs at the end of every administration from exempt to classified status in the higher-end positions. Where we have seen an increase is in two areas: The first is in the number of exempt employees. The second big jump, which started in the previous administration, is in the number of private contractors doing work previously done by state employees.

The will to raise taxes is not there, and revenues from other sources are just not coming in. So let's work together to find the savings needed to keep government working efficiently. We have to take a look at all the contracts or leases out there and determine if we saving any money. Can state employees provide a quality service for the same price? Are we being efficient in our functions or redundant? Are we training our employees in the new technologies? We owe it to the taxpayers to provide quality service at the best price.

Claudette Montoya is an AFSCME bargaining unit member with the state of New Mexico, and a member of the union local 477 executive board. She lives in Santa Fe.