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Reform
a Priority at Last
House
Republicans are exploring a host of ideas for
reforming state government. Judging by Gov.
Warner's actions and Sen. Chichester's recent
statements, they may have allies.
Last
month, House Speaker William Howell convened a
weekend meeting of the House Republican Caucus to
discuss how this majority of state legislators can
put the “recent unpleasantness” of the
wrenching tax battle behind them and unite around
an agenda of government reform.
Among
the ideas brought to the table for further
research and discussion were bringing the private
sector into a more active role in confronting the
state’s increasing transportation needs; how
public-private partnerships can be expanded for
the more efficient delivery of government goods
and services; how innovative and market-driven
ideas in health care might lower the cost of
health insurance and Medicaid to our state; how
measuring the success of government programs is
critical to knowing which programs should be
continued and which ones dropped; why prioritizing
government’s responsibilities is critically
important just as it is in a business, a church, a
local community group or in our families.
There was widespread support for these
“reforms” by those attending this issues
conference.
Howell
may well have an ally in
Gov. Mark R. Warner. The Washington Times recently reported that
the Governor wanted to work with the Cost Cutting
Caucus to bring more business-like practices to
state government. This
bi-partisan caucus is headed by an ally of
Speaker, Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton.
Since
taking office Governor Warner has been using his
expertise to bring more business-like practices to
state government. Changing
the way a huge bureaucracy functions is not
something that can happen overnight.
And when the chief executive only occupies
the seat of power for four years, there are those
who will “wait him out” and frustrate any move
to reform. But
this governor has been moving steadily forward to
force state government to use business practices
that made him one of the most successful business
leaders in our state.
The
recent “tax holiday” brought the state almost
$100 million in overdue taxes. Consolidating information
technology into a central management base is
expected to save more than $8.5 million this year
and next while this more coordinated system is
projected to save an additional $23.5 million over
the next few years.
The governor is bringing procurement into a
better managed system and has begun to get a
handle on the state’s real estate portfolio
which could reduce the amount of rental space by
15 percent to 20 percent over the next several
years.
By
executive order the Governor has created a panel
to bring to his desk by this December a more
understandable and transparent state budget
document that will allow taxpayers and legislators
to better understand where and how well money is
being spent. This
could be a major step toward getting a real handle
on spending. He also created an inspector general
for the first time in Virginia history to ferret
out waste, fraud and corruption and report it to
the public.
Last
year Gov. Warner appointed former Gov. L. Douglas
Wilder to chair a commission that detailed well
over $1 billion that state government could save.
Some of these savings are one time and some
are long-term savings that increase over the
years. The governor
has implemented some of these recommendations and
the General Assembly has approved others.
Many recommendations still need to be put
into place.
While
the Governor was making these improvements, the
General Assembly was moving in government reform
as well. It
passed legislation this year to allow more private
sector involvement to improve the collection of
accounts receivable, which now exceed $2.9
billion; to require job retraining, drug and
alcohol treatment programs to clearly report how
well they are doing and what the true cost per
client is to the taxpayers; and to detail
government positions by agency that could be
handled in the private sector.
These bills move government toward a more
business-like culture.
And
recently, powerful state Sen. John Chichester,
chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has said
that innovative ideas must be brought to the table
in the area of transportation since general tax
increases and total reliance on past government
programs are not the way of the future.
He seems open to more private sector
involvement in transportation and more market
driven alternatives.
So
government reform seems to be a priority in all
the right places. The
major players are all moving in the right
direction.
The
stars may be aligned to bring the three most
powerful political leaders together – Gov.
Warner, Speaker Howell, and Sen. Chichester -- to
make government reform the central issue over the
next few years. If
this happens, the taxpayers could be substantial
winners.
--
July 12, 2004
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