Governor Kulongoski creates Cabinet to restructure state government
Cabinet will develop a list of options for restructuring government to ensure effective and sustainable delivery of vital services, including education, human services and public safety
(Salem) – Today Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Executive Order 09-13 creating the Governor’s Reset Cabinet, which will develop options for restructuring state government in order to preserve and improve critical services for Oregonians.
The Executive Order follows an announcement the Governor made last May in which he stated his intention to assemble a cabinet to examine the structure of state government in the context of limited state revenues, restrictive state mandates and diminishing resources from the federal government.
“The current economic crisis has exposed vulnerabilities in the state’s ability to provide the services that Oregonians rely upon everyday, from education to human services and public safety,” the Governor said. “Our world has changed. We can’t count on external forces to solve our problems. Even as our economy recovers, we will find ourselves in a tightening vise between mandated spending and limited revenues.”
The Cabinet consists of seven members, selected by the Governor, representing both the public and private sectors to reexamine and prioritize the core functions of state government in Oregon, to advise the Governor on opportunities to create efficiencies, improve outcomes and stabilize existing revenue streams and to provide the basis for a report from the Governor to the citizens of Oregon on options for resetting the priorities and functions of government to better serve the interests and needs of the public.
The options shall address:
- The prioritization of core functions, including the consolidation and elimination of boards and commissions; and
- Improving outcomes, controlling costs, and maximizing efficiencies by consolidating service delivery and providing greater flexibility, where needed.
The Governor’s executive order points to reform of the Public Employee Retirement System and establishment of a General Fund Rainy Day Fund as two important policies enacted over the last six years to create to create greater stability for state and local governments, but that it is time to take a comprehensive review of rigid state and federal mandates, including the sentencing and incarceration of prisoners, limitations on collecting local revenues and the escalating burden of federally-mandated responsibilities for human services.
“Under the current structure we will continue to face tough trade-offs between budgets of necessity and budgets of choice, between building new prisons or improving our classrooms,” the Governor continued. “If we don’t change how we deliver these vital services, education will be squeezed, and improvements in student outcomes will be harder to achieve. We must find a new and better ways to serve the citizens of Oregon.”
The Cabinet will oversee and coordinate the work of subcommittees, also selected by the Governor, focused on the policy areas of education, human services and public safety. Each subcommittee will be chaired by a member of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet will provide to the Governor preliminary findings and recommendations relevant to the 2010 special session of the Legislature by February 1, 2010.
The Cabinet will submit to the Governor a final written report of findings and recommendations by June 30, 2010, which will serve as the basis for a report from the Governor to the citizens of Oregon and also inform the Governor’s Recommended Budget for the 2011-2013 biennium.
The members of the Cabinet include:
Bruce Goldberg, Director of the Oregon Department of Human Services
Max Williams, Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections
Lane Shetterly, Attorney, Irick, Shetterly & Ozias
Dave Yaden, Member of the Higher Education Board
Cory Streisinger, Director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services
Doug Stamm, Executive Director of the Meyer Memorial Trust
Jim Sager, Assistant Superintendent, Northwest Regional Education Service District
For the text of the executive order, click here.
Contact:
Anna Richter Taylor, 503-378-6169
Rem Nivens, 503-378-6496
Jillian Schoene, 503-378-5040
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