23-02-2025
For third time since 2020, Stitt orders state fleet downsized. Have those efforts worked?
Long before DOGE-OK was a thing, Gov. Kevin Stitt tried to save Oklahoma money through one persistent quest.
Stitt announced the creation, via executive order, of the Division of Government Efficiency — modeled after a similar agency at the federal level — during his State of the State speech earlier this month. But two weeks earlier, he issued another, less-publicized executive order, saying he's 'dedicating state efforts to further reduce the number of state-owned vehicles in operation.'
It's at least his third effort, since taking office in January 2019, to reduce the number of state-owned vehicles. He issued similar executive orders in 2020 and 2023.
So, why the passion for that particular issue?
'I know the waste and I know the people that have vehicles,' Stitt said in January, a few days after issuing his latest executive order on the subject. 'I see the lots. Just trying to find out how many vehicles we have has been a challenge. … I think we're down 600, 700 vehicles. My goal is to get rid of 1,000 vehicles and just be able to share those vehicles more efficiently, just trying to get the agencies to work together. That's why I like consolidation a little bit, I like sharing some of the resources that we already have in state government.'
Stitt told the story of former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who governed the Hoosier State from 2005 to 2013. Indiana's state vehicle fleet had grown in size enough that a state agency wanted funding for a new parking garage. Daniels was skeptical that Indiana state government needed so many vehicles.
Daniels, Stitt said, had staffers place a penny on the right back tire of state-owned vehicles in Indianapolis, the state's capital. A few weeks later, they went back to see if the pennies were still on the tires. If they were, the governor ordered those vehicles to be sold. The garage didn't get built.
'I thought, man, that's a brilliant idea,' Stitt said.
Stitt's first order on the subject was issued Feb. 11, 2020. It noted 'it has been brought to my attention that the State of Oklahoma owns perhaps in excess of 9,000' vehicles, 'and it is probable that more than a few are under-utilized and not necessary in order for the State to perform its services to the citizens of the State.'
He ordered the head of every executive agency to report any agency vehicle that had less than 4,800 miles of usage that year. But a month later, the COVID-19 pandemic began raging and Stitt had more pressing issues with which to deal.
Stitt made a second attempt to get a handle on the size of the state fleet in May 2023 with another executive order. That order noted the state 'has reinitiated an aggressive push to downsize the state fleet' and that from Jan. 1 of that year until the order was issued, the state had downsized its fleet by more than 350 vehicles.
That order said for the state to be able to accurately track all of its vehicles, executive agency leaders needed to work with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to install automatic vehicle locators in all state vehicles.
Stitt's most recent order on the subject came down Jan. 23. It instructs executive agency heads that, by March 31, to provide to OMES information on any vehicle in control of the state agency with less than 15,000 miles of usage in 2023.
'The administrative head of every state agency shall work with the office of Fleet Management in OMES to return all state vehicles with less than 12,000 miles of usage in 2023 to OMES for proper disposition,' the order stated. Exceptions will be made for special-purpose vehicles, such as winter storm salt trucks.
How successful have the governor's efforts to reduce the fleet been? The results seem mixed.
Abegail Cave, a spokeswoman for Stitt, told The Oklahoman that during 2024, state agencies self-reported the use of 11,851 vehicles ― far more than the approximately 9,000 mentioned in his 2020 executive order — with a total accumulated mileage of 40,627,192 miles.
That said, 616 surplus vehicles were sold by the state during 2024, Cave said. So the size of the state fleet was reduced.
Stitt said Wednesday the state now has 1,000 fewer vehicles than when he took office, although a spokesperson for Stitt wasn't immediately able to say how many vehicles the state had when he became governor in 2019, so the governor's claim couldn't be verified.
Stitt criticized those who might think the push for fewer state government vehicles didn't matter in the context of efforts to reduce government spending.
'Don't say it's a small part of the budget,' Stitt said. 'If I can cut 1,000 vehicles, I think most Oklahomans would say, 'Great job, governor — let's cut that.' What may be small to you may not be small to others. I'm going to cut as much as I can.'
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. Stitt issues 3rd order on reducing state-owned vehicles
