NCCBI News

Major Push Begins for Government Efficiency

NCCBI threw its weight behind the movement to make state government operate more like a business by announcing at its annual Legislative Conference last month that the association is making implementation of the recommendations of the Governor’s Commission to Promote Government Efficiency one of its top legislative priorities.

“It’s been 30 years since there was a comprehensive study of the structure of state government,” NCCBI Chair Jim Hyler, who led the government efficiency commission, said at the conference. “Years ago there was a Sunset Commission created to study which boards and commissions were no longer needed. The only thing that was closed down was the Sunset Commission. Over the last 25 years other similar efficiency commissions have also filed reports only to see a lot of their recommendations ignored. And each year the results of those bad decisions have become more deeply entrenched. Well it’s time to clear out the trenches!”

Hyler said it won’t be easy to change the way government agencies operate but he said the payoff will be tremendous if they model their procedures on widely-accepted business principles. “The changes will increase productivity, improve employee morale, eliminate duplication and redirect expenditures from waste to worthwhile core services. These are changes that can have huge benefits for the competitiveness of our state in economic development. These are changes that help reduce pressure for higher taxes and, hopefully, can lead to a reduction of our high marginal tax rates. And these are changes that will benefit everyone — families, seniors and business.”

Hyler said he isn’t blaming either political party or any one session of the General Assembly for the structural programs in state government, a point that NCCBI President Phil Kirk echoed in his remarks. “We need to remember in all we do and say in working to implement the Efficiency Study Commission report that no one party, no one administration, no lone legislature, is responsible for inefficiency,” Kirk said, adding: “However, we should all be held accountable if we do not seize the moment to help our legislators and governor make drastic changes.”

Hyler said the commission concluded that adopting tried-and-true procedures that businesses use every day would markedly improve the efficiency of state agencies. He recited a few examples of where reforms could begin: “There is not one person or agency proving oversight to the $700 million a year being spent on Information Technology in state government. There is not one agency in control of collecting accounts receivable. At the end of fiscal year ’01, there were some $567 million in account receivables due to the state. The Office of the State Controller believes that only a portion of this can be collected, but no one has overall responsibility. There is not one agency providing oversight to the state’s expenditure of nearly $1 billion for workforce development.”

Kirk said members should expect the association to work hard on these issues. “Today NCCBI is more committed than ever before to working with legislators in both parties and the governor to make sure these difficult decisions are made. But we will need your continued help at the grassroots level to get the job done.”

While the focus was on government efficiency at the Legislative Conference, many other issues were discussed. The chairs of NCCBI’s seven policy committees unveiled the position statements their groups have researched and endorsed.

Attendance at the Feb. 4 conference was larger than usual, which is understandable given the huge turnover in the legislature and the uncertainty over the state budget. More than 400 attended the conference and an even larger number came to the Legislative Reception that evening.

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