By Brian Slodysko
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire has unveiled her plan to streamline government programs, hoping to cut more expenses as the state faces an estimated $6 billion budget shortfall through 2011.
The plan disclosed Monday would close 25 Department of Licensing offices, eliminate more than 150 state boards and commissions and increase online services — including more online courses at community and technical colleges.
“Our government was built layer by layer over the past century and it will take more than one year to make the reforms we need,” Gregoire said.
She called her plan “a first step.”
The governor was vague about how much money the streamlining measures would save taxpayers overall, but estimated that closing the licensing offices alone would save about $2.6 million over the next two years.
There was a bit of irony in Monday’s announcement: Gregoire wants to create a new board of advisers to oversee her plans for streamlining government.
She defended that step as necessary.
The governor’s moneysaving plans also call for merging some state agencies, including putting Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers under the State Patrol.
Gregoire also plans to move the Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation into the state parks agency, and merge the eastern and western Washington historical societies.
Some state workers could lose their jobs in the proposed reorganization, but it was not immediately clear how many.
Gregoire said licensing workers whose offices are being closed will be offered other jobs at the agency.
Among other things, licensing offices are where people go to get driver’s licenses.
Gregoire’s plan has the backing of the largest state employees union, as well as the Association of Washington Business — a group that has criticized the governor’s proposed tapping of the state’s unemployment insurance fund.
Gregoire has said all parts of government will feel the statewide “belt tightening” in these hard economic times. Education, social services and other high-profile programs are already slated for cuts in Gregoire’s proposed state budget.
Minority Republicans have been critical of Gregoire’s and legislative Democrats’ government downsizing plans.
Last month, Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, had said the proposals are merely distractions from the state’s budget woes, which are the worst in many years.
On Monday, Hewitt repeated the governor’s words, calling her plan “a good first step.”
He added, however, that the plan, while promising, is only a preliminary measure.
He called on Democrats to make more cuts.
Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced government streamlining measures of their own, and the governor’s seems to be a bit of a compromise between the two.
Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, proposed a plan that would suspend 158 boards and commissions until 2011; a bill proposed by House Finance Committee Chairman Ross Hunter, D-Medina, would eliminate all boards and commissions, requiring them to appear before the Legislature to justify their existence.
Gregoire said she likes the spirit of Hunter’s proposal, but added that she thinks it would not work because some boards and commissions perform important government roles.
Gregoire told a news conference Monday that she was frustrated with the slow pace her fellow Democrats in the Legislature have taken on her moneysaving proposals, including a two-year budget that would cut entitlement programs.
“It’s no secret I’m frustrated. And I’ve had my conversations with leadership in the House and the Senate,” Gregoire said. “I think we need to move and we need to move consistent with the fact that we’re in a crisis.”
