Governor M. Jodi Rell today submitted written testimony to the Legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee supporting her proposal for a 24-member commission that would conduct a top-to-bottom review of state government, identify potential savings and recommend ways to permanently reduce its size and cost.
Called PERFORM (Plan to Effectively Reorganize the Functions, Operations, Responsibilities and Mission of state agencies), the Commission would be modeled on the successful federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. At each step, the plan is designed to remove partisan politics from the process and ensure fairness.
“The BRAC process was used in the first place because Congress knew military bases had to be closed,” the Governor said. “They also knew that Congress – on its own – could never do the job itself. The BRAC process was created to identify bases no longer needed. That meant all recommendation had to be considered and were put up for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote – no horse-trading, no powerful members calling in favors. It worked.
“That is an ideal model for what we need at this moment in Connecticut. This PERFORM Commission represents a step forward into the twenty-first century for the Connecticut state government,” Governor Rell said. “The people of Connecticut cannot afford the cost of a bloated bureaucracy – not in this down economy, not ever. Paring down government judiciously and in ways that make sense is the goal of this PERFORM Commission.”
Under the Governor’s proposal, the PERFORM Commission would have seven months to conduct a complete analysis of every part of state government – every program, every agency, every bureau and board. The Commission will look for ways to reduce overhead, eliminate outdated or wasteful programs, make better use of technology and merge or consolidate agencies. It would make a final report of its recommendations by August 30 of this year.
Those recommendations would, in turn, be considered by a separate, four-person Review Board – a panel that would once again be structured to represent all three branches of government and both political parties. The Review Board would have 12 weeks to hold hearings on the PERFORM Commission recommendations all across Connecticut – in every Congressional district – and gather input from residents and taxpayers.
The PERFORM Commission’s recommendations would be deemed accepted by the Review Board unless three out of the four members vote to amend or reject it. The Review Board would have to complete its work by December 1 – a date deliberately selected to be after the November elections, to remove the risk of political influence.
Recommendations that could be implemented without legislative action would be acted on immediately. Those that require a vote by the General Assembly would have to be taken up within 45 days after the regular session starts next January. The Legislature could only accept or reject the Review Board’s final recommendations as a package – the recommendations could not be amended or considered one by one, eliminating the risk that “sacred cow” programs would be protected. Inaction by the Legislature within the 45-day time limit would be deemed approval of the final recommendations.
“All of this will be done in a non-partisan manner. The Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches will work together, each having a voice in the process,” Governor Rell said. “This is an equitable approach to the problems inherent in a government that has grown too large and too costly. After public scrutiny and comment, the result would an up-or-down vote on real spending reductions.”
Governor Rell would appoint six members to represent the Executive Branch on the PERFORM Commission. The state Supreme Court Chief Justice would also appoint six members, as would the Democratic and Republican leadership of the Legislature. There would be three panel chairs, one from each branch of government.
The Review Board would have one representative each from the Executive and Judicial branches and one each from the Republican and Democratic leaders of the General Assembly.
