Page 7
CALIFORNIA COMMENTARY (Column)
Blowing Up the Boxes and the Big Mo
By JON COUPAL
(The writer is an attorney and president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.)
As Governor Schwarzenegger fulfills the campaign promises he made during the recall campaign, he has made few mistakes. Some claim he has not opened government enough. Perhaps. Many of the monumental deals he has brokered have indeed been forged behind closed doors. Others complain that none of his reforms have yet borne fruit. Prop 57 did no more than buy time in solving the budget crisis and workers’ compensation reform has not yet lowered premiums.
But to deny that, both in substance and perception, California is better for his election would be factually wrong. The car tax repeal, the refinancing of state debt with the passage of Proposition 57 and now, worker’s comp reform, have all been significant.
Worker’s comp especially — since it involved overcoming the influence of major interest groups wielding great power in the legislature — has provided the administration with the Big Mo: momentum. We can only hope that Schwarzenegger capitalizes by aggressively pursuing another campaign promise: Blowing up the boxes in the Byzantine organization chart of state government.
To recap, in his state of the state address, Governor Schwarzenegger noted that “the Executive Branch of this government is a mastodon frozen in time and about as responsive. This is not the fault of our public servants but of the system. We have multiple departments with overlapping responsibilities. I say consolidate them. We have boards and commissions that serve no pressing public need. I say abolish them. We have a state purchasing program that is archaic and expensive. I say modernize it.”
His indictment is accurate. But can he make real progress in the reforms? Bureaucratic inertia will make this a difficult task, but he should use the victory on workers compensation to move aggressively on the plan.
Rumors suggest that his inner circle is split on the timing of his “reorg” project. An argument could be made that the focus should be on the state budget. (The “May Revision” of the Governor’s budget is due shortly and it is a widely anticipated document).
But the more persuasive argument is that there is no better time to pursue major government reorganization than during the budget process. Unlike short term fixes, a well-thought out reorganization of state government is a major first step in achieving long term gains for the California taxpayer. These major structural reforms will bear the most fruit over the long term.
It is important the taxpayers not overlook the significance of government reorganization, specifically, and the concept of performance review, generally. As an example, right now, California has a myriad of environmental programs in several agencies that are often competing over both dollars and turf. Often, they are trying to perform the same function! This makes no sense and would not be tolerated in the private sector.
A flattening out of the organization chart, fewer agencies, more direct accountability to the executive and elimination of worthless and obsolete boards and commissions are all parts of the governor’s reorganization plan.
The elimination of 200 state boards and commissions and 1,500 political appointments is an idea that gets taxpayer advocates very excited. But if taxpayers need another reason to support the reorganization it is this: The reorganization of state government is but the first step in the broader “California Performance Review” process.
The next step is a program performance assessment of each government program and service. This is a big deal because the waste, fraud and abuse that so chafe at taxpayers wallets will be identified and corrected during this process.
But to make this happen, step one must be the reorganization of state government. Sure, a lot of oxen are going to be gored, but for all Californians who desire greater efficiency and economy in government, the sooner the process starts the better.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company