State government's "most significant overhaul" in 20 years begins today

This past session, legislators approved a plan to consolidate and reallocate the functions of five state agencies into three. That plan goes into effect today.

As described by the governor's press release, four agencies are going away - Department of General Administration, Department of Personnel, the State Printer and Department of Information Services. Their functions, ranging from managing the state's fleet of vehicles to providing IT support, will be merged into one of two new agencies - Department of Enterprise Services (DES) or Consolidated Technology Services.

Portions of Personnel and Information Services will be merged with the Office of Financial Management (OFM) while certain functions in OFM are transferred to the new DES.

A little confusing perhaps, but Governor Gregoire says this is the "most significant overhaul" in state government in 20 years. The transition is expected to be complete by October and save $18.3 million in 2011-13.

Read more about this and other cost-cutting reforms passed by the Legislature.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.