In This Together CT

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/02/23/news/a3-rellexecorder24.txt

Monday, February 23, 2009 6:04 AM EST
By Register Staff

HARTFORD – Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Sunday she has signed Executive Order 24, which reduces the number of state task forces and commissions, saying the move would shrink bureaucracy and reduce costs.

“These task forces and commissions have served many useful purposes, but they were created in better fiscal times and, now more than ever, Connecticut needs a smaller and less intrusive government,” Rell said in a statement. “By eliminating these agencies, we take the first steps toward my comprehensive goal of downsizing and streamlining state government.”

The order takes effect Sunday.

In her budget proposal for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Rell is recommending the elimination of 70 state boards, commissions and committees and the merger or consolidation of an additional 20.

Cost savings would be achieved by eliminating mileage reimbursements and expenses for members, by eliminating Connecticut’s participation on particular boards and by reducing the number of members on other boards or commissions, the governor’s statement said.

“Many of these entities have functions that are already being addressed by other state agencies or they have completed the tasks they were established to address,” she said.

State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, said Sunday if the governor wants to eliminate commissions she no longer feels are useful, it’s obviously her prerogative. But Slossberg added Rell’s move amounts to “tinkering around the edges” of a massive budget deficit.

“(Rell) has to deal with the major agencies and that’s what we’re focusing on right now. And we’ll work with her to see the state through this deficit,” Slossberg said.

The order eliminates the Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness, the Advisory Commission on American and Francophone Cultural Affairs, the Governor’s Competitiveness Council, the Small Business Advisory Council, the Identity Theft Advisory Board and the Early Childhood Research and Policy Council.

Projections for this year’s budget deficit range between $1.3 billion to $922 million, according to the Office of Fiscal Analysis and Office of Policy Management, respectively.

For 2010 and 2011, OFA forecasts the deficit at $8.6 billion.

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