CAGW Releases its First Ever State Budget Analysis 

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) this week released its Oregon Piglet Book, in conjunction with the Taxpayers Association of Oregon (TAO), at the State Capitol in Salem.

The Oregon Piglet Book combines elements of two perennial CAGW publications, the Congressional Pig Book and Prime Cuts, both published annually and dealing with federal government pork and waste.  As part of its on-going examination of waste at every level of government, CAGW has chosen Oregon as the first state to launch CAGW’s state piglet books series. 

“As Oregon’s budget crisis continues and the state legislature debates increasing taxes, it is the perfect place for CAGW to launch its first ever Piglet Book,” CAGW Vice President for Policy David Williams said.  “There are plenty of places in the state budget where wasteful spending can be eliminated without hurting services.  Furthermore, there are several management issues that could be addressed to save the state even more money.”

Spending practices questioned by CAGW include: state Rep. Jim Hill resigning to take a $100,000 annual salary as an Internet program manager with the state­—a position he helped create; the purchase of a fleet of seven Ford Excursions equipped with CD players totaling $208,000 by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services; and spending $212,000 for Public Utility Commissioners to travel throughout Europe and South America educating countries on Oregon’s utility system.

The Oregon report is available in PDF format from the CAGW website at:

http://www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/Oregon_Pig_Book_-_Finalpdf.pdf?docID=161

For a hard copy, please call CAGW at 202-467-5300.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.