Walker's taxpayer handouts to private contractors costs more than if we gave the work to state workers.

The Department of Administration recommended the state do its own work, which could save lots of money, and cut back on private more expensive contractors. But that doesn't mesh with Mr. "small government" Scott Walker. Actually, it's not about small government really, it's just a redistribution of taxpayer money to the open pockets of big business:

WPR: Private Contracting Rises 7.5 Percent In State Government: State Agencies Spend Nearly $500M On Private Contracting In Last Fiscal Year

The Department of Administration delivered a report to the Legislature's chief clerks and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Friday that found overall contracting increased from $565 million to $607 million. University of Wisconsin System contracting increased by 8.6 percent, from $114 million to $123 million. State agencies spent $483 million on contracting. The Department of Health Services spent the most of any agency, at $191 million.

The report recommends agencies continue to examine using state workers before contracting for information technology services and consider using a common contractor across agencies for similar tasks, which could result in significant cost savings.