Posted on 02/17/2005 6:42:46 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped a plan to eliminate or consolidate 88 state boards and commissions - a major setback to his reorganization of a bureaucracy that he's called a "mastodon frozen in time."
The plan "will benefit from further review" and more consultation with state lawmakers, Schwarzenegger said Thursday in a letter to an agency that reviews state operations. The nonpartisan Little Hoover Commission was scheduled to review the plan next week.
Last year, after comparing the state's executive branch to a huge, extinct animal, Schwarzenegger launched the California Performance Review, which resulted in more than a thousand recommendations for improving services and saving money.
Among the first ideas embraced by the governor was one to eliminate or consolidate nearly a third of the state's 300 boards and commissions.
Targeted for elimination were such groups as the Medical Board, the Student Aid Commission, the Integrated Waste Management Board and the Unemployment Appeals Board.
Unions and consumer groups feared the loss of regulatory oversight while some Democratic critics feared a power grab.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger started out talking about billions of dollars in savings from eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, but that turned out to be more rhetoric than reality," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation.
Even some nonpartisan observers - including the Little Hoover Commission - questioned the plan's wisdom.
A study released by the commission in December gave a skeptical analysis of the California Performance Review, whose authors said their suggestions would save the state $32 billion over five years.
Arnold must've never heard the saying that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government commission.
Odd. That particular proposal seemed to make a lot of sense and yet cause limited displacement of employees.
CPR ? hype, hype, hype .. not even the Gubinator can slew the HydraHeaded bureaucracy.
Should have blow'd the boxer up instead and let the boxes slide.
The 'mastodon frozen in time' remark was very descriptive of John Burton, who will now grace the Tahoe Conservancy Board. saw your reaction on that thread. lol
There ought to be a law.
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