Contact: Ron Roach (916) 441-0490
February 1, 1996
In an environment of reduced public funding and an increasingly popular directive to reduce government, how should such reductions go forward?
Consider the back-to-basics approach of Governor Pete Wilson. He has ordered agency and department directors to examine principal goals and delineate core responsibilities, as well as adjunct functions that could be eliminated or farmed out.
He is following up on 20 recommendations for a more cost-effective and accountable government that were produced in a report, "Getting Results," from the Governor's Council on Information Technology.
Key recommendations include increased efficiency of state government with efforts to remove barriers, permitting cost and quality competition among the public and private sector bidders. Quality and economy are best produced by competitive markets.
In his 1996 State-of-the-State address, Wilson cited his directive for top-to-bottom review of core activities, which will lead to competition within state agencies to improve service to customers -- California taxpayers.
An interagency task force, with private sector input, has been created to produce final recommendations to the governor by April 15.
An example of what is occurring so far can be found in the Department of Parks and Recreation, where Cal-Tax is represented on an advisory panel. Due this spring is a final report on department strategies to overcome limitations on funding, management and personnel practices inherent in government. This report will identify core functions for the state as well as activities that local governments could assume.
The Wilson administration also is setting up meetings with key labor groups, asking them to join in this project to re-think state government. The City of Indianapolis' chronicled success of competition between the public and private sectors is cited by the governor.
This may be the wave of the future. It was recently reported that, for the first time in Los Angeles history, a public employee union is bidding against a private firm for the job of maintaining a new police training academy.
Mayor Richard Riordan, an advocate of contracting out city services, has gone on record as saying he is willing to keep city employees on jobs when it is in the best interests of the city and taxpayers.
Cal-Tax applauds efforts at all levels of government to maximize taxpayer dollars in the delivery of government services.
Words of caution: a headlong rush to privatization will not save money unless reforms include appropriate oversight of business with the private sector. There must be safeguards against political favoritism, lack of oversight and monitoring of contracts.
There should be provisions for rebidding of contracts, with public employees empowered to bid for the work. Policy makers should explore activities that could be spun off to private-public partnerships.
The April 15 date has symbolic significance for the governor's project. It is, of course, the annual income tax deadline. It seems appropriate for government to show taxpayers, particularly at this time of year, how they will get maximum purchasing power for their tax dollars.