Topeka ? A legislative committee began interviewing consulting firms Thursday in hopes of finding one that can find big savings opportunities in the state budget.

But Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director, Shawn Sullivan, said it will be hard to come up with new ideas that haven’t already been debated in Kansas, although he remains hopeful that the process will be productive.

“That’s what we’ll find out,” Sullivan said as the Legislative Budget Committee began interviewing firms that submitted proposals for the contract.

Lawmakers included a provision in this year’s budget authorizing up to $3 million to contract with a firm that will perform an efficiency study for the state and recommend ways the state can be more efficient with its money.

“A couple of these firms do this in a number of states, and they have a database of other recommendations they’ve made, so that would certainly be helpful,” Sullivan said. “My belief is that the low-hanging fruit is gone, so these vendors will need to take a deep dive into agencies and the structure of our budget. I’m always open to having other people come in and help us be more efficient and more effective.”

Four firms responded to the state’s request for proposals for the contract. The committee began interviewing the first three on Thursday: Boston Consulting Group; Deloitte Consulting; and McGladrey.

The fourth firm, Alvarez and Marsal Public Sector Services, will be interviewed Friday. After that, the panel is expected to vote on which, if any, of the firms to hire.

Sullivan said he hopes the firm eventually hired will come up with good recommendations, but he said the issue may come down to a question of which recommendations lawmakers have the political will to enact.

“As I’ve looked at other states, they have identified savings,” he said. “The question is, from those identified savings, what are we willing to implement; is there a political component to that or not.”

Although each of the firms made brief public presentations, the interviews are being conducted in closed-door executive session under an exception to the Kansas Open Meetings Act that allows closed-door meetings to protect confidential trade secrets of private businesses.

Boston Consulting Group describes itself as a global firm with 82 offices in 46 countries. One of the partners involved in its proposal for Kansas is former State Rep. Michael Slattery, a Johnson County Democrat, who now works in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He is the son of former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery, also a Democrat.

Deloitte Consulting, also a global company, is part of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a private company based in the United Kingdom. Officials from that firm said they have done similar projects in North Carolina and Minnesota that identified hundreds of millions of dollars worth of savings to those state governments.

McGladrey is a Chicago-based company that provides assurance, tax and consulting services in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Officials said they have done similar projects for clients such as the Illinois Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, the Missouri Department of Administration and the Indiana Family and Social Services Agency.

Alvarez and Marsal is a global firm founded in 1983. According to its website, the company provides, “hands-on support to organizations facing operational and financial hurdles — situations demanding action, objectivity and real results.”