Gov. Josh Green’s picks to lead the Department of Taxation and the Budget and Finance Department received initial support from the Senate’s Ways and Means committee on Monday.
Both DOTAX director Gary Suganuma and Budget and Finance director Luis Salaveria received unanimous support.
Salaveria told lawmakers he sees his role as the insurer of public funds.
"Since assuming this role 17 weeks ago, I've been able to support the development of the executive's operation on capital requests, assist in the development of a proposal which could provide the largest tax reform package ever, analyze the financial situation of a state's largest one of the state's largest projects, assist in the release (grants-in-aid)," Salaveria said.
"We evaluate the state's contracts to upgrade its financial management, fix them, assist in the negotiation of public sector union, collective bargaining, and state employee health care benefits and personally review over hundreds of requests for expenditure releases and allotments," Salaveria continued.
Salaveria previously served as the deputy director of the Budget and Finance department from 2011 to 2014, and said he hopes to modernize systems for better public access.
Prior to his appointment, Suganuma was the supervising Deputy Attorney General for Tax and Charities.
Both Salaveria and Suganuma will still need full Senate approval.
