Ohio will be showcased today by a national organization for slashing government red tape in a wide variety of programs. Officials from 15 states will gather in Columbus for a conference sponsored by the National Association of State Chief Administrators. The organization selected Ohio and the state of Washington for to highlight programs aimed at reducing taxpayer costs.

Ohio will be showcased today by a national organization for slashing government red tape in a wide variety of programs.

Officials from 15 states will gather in Columbus for a conference sponsored by the National Association of State Chief Administrators. The organization selected Ohio and the state of Washington for to highlight programs aimed at reducing taxpayer costs.

"Both are state government leaders in lean management as a means to reduce costs, eliminate waste and improve processes to better serve state agencies and their citizens,� said Shawn Vaughn, director of the association.

Shortly after Gov. John Kasich took office in 2011, his administration created the "LeanOhio" program to make state government work more efficiently.

"He asked state agencies to employ tools used by the private sector to streamline their processes to cut unnecessary red tape and remove inefficiencies," said Robert Blair, director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, the business arm of state government.

Since that time, LeanOhio has done 172 projects at 35 state agencies, boards and commissions, with projected savings of $156 million. The improvements slashed processing time by two-thirds and freed up 1 million hours in staff time, DAS reported.

Some examples:

�Attorney general � Reduced steps in background checks from 355 to 52, saving $311,250 and 34,500 staff hours.

�Ohio Veterans Home � Cut steps in new resident admissions by 71 percent, reduced admission time to 1 to 3 months from 3 to 6 months.

�Department of Rehabilitation and Correction � Slimmed down reception process for new inmates, saving $115,804 in overtime cost.

�Ohio Board of Nursing � Trimmed 68 percent from the licensing process, saving $84,000.

ajohnson@dispatch.com

@ohioaj