E-mail from a friend-
I hope you will read this and understand that Gregoire's agenda isn't about saving money. There isn't a whacked out environmental proposal that Gregoire doesn't just salivate over. Remember the executive order that Gregoire issued last May that put in place an even more harmful version of the cap and trade bill that didn't pass the Washington Legislature? Evergreen Freedom Foundation recently filed a lawsuit concerning that executive order, at issue the enumerated powers of the executive branch of the Washington government, ie, that Gregoire exceeded her constitutional authority in issuing this executive order.
Like Idaho and Montana, Washington has a growing wolf problem. Wolves in Washington State will be managed by Fish and Game. Placing Fish and Game under Gregoire's direct purview not only violates the separation of powers under the State Constitution but would be a very bad idea given her rabid environmental views.
Lynn
Subject: ECON{WA}: Plan would cut number of state agencies by 12, fortify Gregoire's power
This is all to give the BAT GIRL and her successors MORE POWER - MORE CONTROL - and does NOTHING to reduce the size and scope of government. It is just more theatrics - more marketing to accomplish the END GOAL which is One World Government. It is one step or two at a time.
I doubt many have even read the Washington State Constitution so here is a link to it:http://www.leg.wa.gov/LAWSANDAGENCYRULES/Pages/constitution.aspx
SECTION 5 GENERAL DUTIES OF GOVERNOR. The governor may require information in writing from the officers of the state upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.
When people are not aware of their real RIGHTS they become SUBJECTS of those who simply bulldoze thru and ignore the LAW - as most in government are doing daily now. There are LIMITS as to what Government can do, lawfully, but if the people aren't aware of those limits and if the courts are corrupted then there is little chance of any JUSTICE in government or the courts.
Instead of merging agencies - ELIMINATE most of them other than those that are directly named in the State Constitution. Force those that remain to enforce and uphold the duties they are supposed to do - like investigating and prosecuting cases of fraud in L&I and Employment Security.
READ the Constitution and then make those calls 1-800-562-6000 (in state only)
Understand that the Bat Girl demands that OTHERS *FEEL THE PAIN* and she protects her comfy position and keeps it off limits to any opposition. Time to close the Bat Cave and focus a very BRIGHT light on her HIGHnAZZ. She will cut deep everywhere EXCEPT what she is sucking from. No mention in any of her statements about her participating in the pain that her actions have helped create. And just WHERE is LISA (Can't tax 'em enough" Brown?
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http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/14/1465381/plan-would-cut-number-of-state.htmlPlan would cut number of state agencies by 12, fortify Gregoire's power
Gov. Chris Gregoire would take on more authority over recreation and environmental preservation under a proposal she laid out today to consolidate state agencies.
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Gregoire plan merges agencies
Gregoire plan merges agencies
Gov. Chris Gregoire would take on more authority over recreation and environmental preservation under a proposal she laid out Tuesday to consolidate state agencies.
Two agencies run by independent commissions, the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission, would merge and move under the governor’s direct control if the Legislature signs off.
It’s part of a plan that would reduce the state bureaucracy by 12 agencies.
WA governor proposes consolidating state agencies
WA governor proposes consolidating state agencies
Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday announced a plan that would consolidate several state agencies and eliminate three dozen boards and commissions, a move she says will save the state nearly $30 million over the next two years.
Gregoire said her proposal would reduce the number of state agencies from 21 to nine, saving the state $22 million.
The announcement is part of a multi-day rollout of her two-year budget, set to be formally announced Wednesday. On Monday, Gregoire announced proposals to the state pension system and health care costs as part of her effort to address projected $5 billion deficit for the next two-year budget.
Gregoire proposes consolidating state agencies
Gregoire proposes consolidating state agencies
There soon could be fewer state workers managing the state's property, computer networks, printing, budgeting and personnel.
Gov. Chris Gregoire wants those "enterprise" functions combined in a single agency, the "Department of Enterprise Services."
That's one proposal Gregoire laid out today as part of a broader consolidation for state government. The enterprise agency would consolidate the departments of General Administration, Personnel and Information Services, along with the State Printer and the governor's budget office, as well as some of the back-office work being done by each agency.
State to cut 725 more jobs, boost furloughs
State to cut 725 more jobs, boost furloughs
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget office said Tuesday that state agencies plan 725 more job cuts to answer her call for 6.3 percent across-the-board spending reductions in the coming months.
The Democratic leader ordered the cuts last month, and they began taking effect Friday. But agencies still were sending their spending-reduction plans to Gregoire all last week, and some non-Cabinet agencies have until midmonth to finish their plans.
In addition to cutting jobs outright or eliminating vacant positions, five agencies plan additional furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Those furloughs are in addition to the 10 unpaid furlough days that roughly one-third of general government employees already are scheduled for over the year ending in June.
State to cut 725 jobs
State to cut 725 jobs
Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget office said Tuesday that state agencies plan 725 more job cuts to answer her call for 6.3 percent across-the-board spending reductions in the coming months.
The Democratic leader ordered the cuts last month, and they began taking effect Friday. But agencies still were sending their spending-reduction plans to Gregoire all last week, and some non-Cabinet agencies have until midmonth to finish their plans.
In addition to cutting jobs outright or eliminating vacant positions, five agencies plan additional furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Those furloughs are in addition to the 10 unpaid furlough days that roughly one-third of general government employees already are scheduled for over the year ending in June.
JORDAN SCHRADER; Staff writer
Published: 12/14/10 8:14 pm | Updated: 12/14/10 8:22 pm
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Gov. Chris Gregoire would take on more authority over recreation and environmental preservation under a proposal she laid out today to consolidate state agencies.
Two agencies run by independent commissions, the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission, will merge and move under the governor’s direct control if the Legislature signs off.
It’s part of a plan that would reduce the state bureaucracy by 12 agencies.
Gregoire said the consolidation would streamline government while making a modest, $30 million dent in a two-year budget shortfall of more than $4 billion.
“It simply can’t be about cutting,” Gregoire told reporters. “It’s got to be about changing; just like the private sector is changing, personal families are changing to come out of this recession.”
Recreation is the target of the most significant changes, and more could come today when Gregoire unveils her 2009-2011 budget proposal to the Legislature. Parks officials and advocates are waiting to see if and how Gregoire proposes moving parks away from general taxpayer funding toward user fees on recreationalists.
The governor now wields only indirect authority over the parks and wildlife agencies by appointing their boards, which hire and fire the agencies’ directors.
Under the reorganization Gregoire outlined Tuesday, the governor would appoint the directors. The commissions would survive but would be stripped of their regulatory authority, becoming citizen advisory boards that would continue to provide a voice for academics, fishermen, hunters, hikers and the like.
Any reorganization of the state’s organizational chart is bound to be contentious, and mergers of natural resource agencies have been tried before without success.
But this one has new allies, starting with Gregoire, who opposed some previous ideas for mergers. It was developed with input from the interest groups and policymakers represented on her Transforming Washington’s Budget committee. One member, Republican Rep. Gary Alexander, called the consolidation plan “a positive step in the right direction.”
Her budget process has been inclusive, said Mo McBroom, policy director for the Washington Environmental Council.
“I think she has gone about this in a very smart way that is probably defusing some of the concern that might otherwise arise from some quarters,” McBroom said.
Parks Commission Chairman Fred Olson, who also served on the budget panel, spoke favorably of the recreation-agencies merger, saying it deserved a serious look.
“I think there’s a lot to be said for the current structure, but you know what? It’s not the only way to do business,” said Olson, of Olympia. “Having more direct control over these agencies by a governor also makes a lot of sense.”
Olson noted he was speaking only for himself, not the commission, and indeed, at least one other member had a cooler initial reception.
Pat Lantz said she’s not taking any position yet, and she likes Gregoire’s pitch better than legislation proposed unsuccessfully last winter to merge natural resource agencies under the commissioner of public lands. But she said the commission form of governance works.
“Parks has a very long and proud history of being an independent agency,” said Lantz, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Gig Harbor. It’s “100 percent geared to provide a service to the public. It isn’t a mixed-up message at all: It’s parks and recreation.”
Under Gregoire’s plan, a new Department of Conservation and Recreation would merge Fish and Wildlife, Parks and the small Recreation and Conservation Office, along with the even smaller law enforcement unit in the Department of Natural Resources.
DNR’s elected head, Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark, hasn’t taken a position on the proposed reorganization, which would also move the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation into his agency. Other agencies would move under the departments of Ecology or Agriculture.
“He’d applaud the governor for putting a big, bold proposal on the table,” said Aaron Toso, Goldmark’s spokesman.
BACK-OFFICE MERGER
The proposed consolidation would cut 125 state jobs, most of them from the agencies that manage the state’s property, computer networks, printing, budgeting and personnel.
Gregoire wants many of those back-office, or “enterprise,” functions combined in a Department of Enterprise Services. The new agency would consolidate the departments of General Administration and Personnel and the State Printer, along with portions of the Department of Information Services and the governor’s budget office.
The idea is for the new agency to take over some of the back-office work being done by agencies around state government. Some lawmakers see services such as printing as better off privatized. Gregoire promised the new enterprise agency would operate on a “private sector model.”
The agency would be told: “You’ve got to compete. You’ve got to deliver the services. You can’t just bill us,” she said. The enterprise merger would provide the most savings, followed by proposed elimination of 36 boards and commissions.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Some of the smallest agencies, the ones that deal with civil rights of minorities, would be among those to disappear.
Gregoire said the agencies can’t handle more cuts and that to survive, they must be combined into one Office of Civil Rights. The Human Rights Commission, Commission on African American Affairs, Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise would be eliminated.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826 jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
