(a) There is established an Office of Finance which shall be within the Office of Policy and Management and shall report directly to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. The Office of Finance shall be administered by an executive financial officer.

(b) The executive financial officer of the Office of Finance shall, subject to the approval of the secretary: (1) Establish state agency financial policies, (2) review and approve, amend or reject all budget requests of state agencies for financial systems and operations and take actions to remedy any deficiencies in such systems and operations, (3) review and advise the executive heads of state agencies concerning agency financial staff needs, (4) in cooperation with the Department of Administrative Services, review the performance evaluations of state agency financial management personnel made by the executive heads of such agencies, recommend career development programs for higher level managers, coordinate interagency transfers of financial managers and advise state agencies concerning personnel policies and salary scales for financial managers, (5) monitor financial reports of all state agencies and (6) organize and implement programs for the exchange of information and technology concerning financial systems among state agencies and other state financial personnel.