Sacramento – Two bipartisan governmental reform measures authored by 3rd District Assemblymember and Amador County representative Alyson Huber were signed last week by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
AB 1659 and AB 2130 will “create a process to conduct comprehensive and regular reviews of the state’s many boards, commissions, agencies and departments,” said Jennifer Wonnacott, Huber’s spokeswoman, in a release. If entities cannot demonstrate they are being effective and efficient, they will be automatically eliminated.
The governor’s signature completes the final step in the legislative process. The bill previously passed the legislature with strong bipartisan support.
“The Legislature creates new boards and commissions to solve a problem. Far too often, there is no on-going oversight of the newly created bureaucracy to ensure it actually solved the problem it was created to solve. The lack of accountability has been studied and known for years yet no action had been taken, until now,” said Assemblymember Alyson Huber.
She said the review process, known as the sunset review process, “finally gives us the tools we need to really cut down on waste.”
Both bills were co-authored with bipartisan support from Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) and Assemblymember Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks). The bills will make California the latest state to implement a sunset review process.
Texas’ Sunset Advisory Commission created in 1978 saves $27 for each dollar spent on the Commission. Furthermore, total savings achieved by the Commission equals roughly 5 percent of the state's budget – in California 5 percent is $4 billion.
The Little Hoover Commission issued a report in 1989 which found that, “California's multi-level, complex governmental structure today includes more than 400 boards, commissions, authorities, associations, councils and committees. These plural bodies operate to a large degree autonomously and outside of the normal checks and balances of representative government.” The Commission concluded that “the state's boards, commissions and similar bodies are proliferating without adequate evaluation of need, effectiveness and efficiency.”
Huber said, “These bills show that when Democrats and Republicans works together we can take steps in the right direction to achieving the change our state desperately needs.”
In related news, Huber will visit Amador County on Tuesday (October 5th). She will be interviewed here on TSPN for the noon news. She will also be touring the Amador County Interfaith Food Bank at 8:30am and in the evening will be participating in the Amador Child Care Council's Candidate Forum at 6:30pm.
Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
