Boards and commissions on the chopping block

The House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee will meet today at 1:30 to review plans for saving more public dollars. As alluded to in our earlier post, the committee is scheduled to discuss the potential elimination of additional state boards and commissions.

In the 2009 session earlier this year, the Legislature passed Engrossed Senate Bill 5995 to abolish 18 of these public bodies. Governor Gregoire announced yesterday that she’s eliminating 17 more boards and commissions by executive order and is asking the Legislature to axe another 78 when they convene for the 2010 session in January.

Gregoire's office is sending folks to today's committee meeting to discuss her proposal. Committee chair Rep. Sam Hunt wants the committee to hit the ground running with specific cost-saving proposals.

The committee will also hold a work session to talk about the Washington Management Service (WMS), which was set up in 1993 and “… is a decentralized personnel system established separately for civil service managers in state government. Agencies have delegated authority under the law to create management positions. [The WMS] recognizes the unique nature of management positions and the importance of strong management skills to effective state government.”

Regarding the Washington Management Service and other aspects of state government, the Legislature earlier this year approved and the governor signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2049. This legislation calls for yearly public reports from every state agency on the number of classified workers the agency employs, as well as the agency’s WMS employees and the agency’s exempt employees. The agencies must also report the number and cost of bonuses and performance-based incentives that have been awarded to agency staff.