For Immediate Release
November 23, 2005
Contact: Ryan Burson
Telephone: (573) 751-9318

Government Review Commission Completes Work, Submits Recommendations to Governor

JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri State Government Review Commission today submitted its final report and recommendations to Gov. Matt Blunt.

The Commission was established in January of 2005 to examine the executive departments from top-to-bottom and to make recommendations on how state government can address inefficiencies, achieve cost savings and provide better service. The last major government reorganization effort was in 1974.

"The Commission was very deliberate in its consideration of proposals to improve state government," said Warren Erdman, Commission co-chair. "In an effort to provide transparency in our proceedings and substantial opportunity for public participation, the Commission convened 59 public meetings, took testimony from hundreds of citizens around the state, and considered over 500 specific proposals."

The final report contains 84 recommendations. Many of the recommendations will require legislative action by the General Assembly to implement, while others may be implemented by executive order. Some would require constitutional change. The recommendations range in scope from the formation of several interdepartmental coordination councils giving focus to various missions of state government that require interdepartmental cooperation; to the consolidation of banking, securities and insurance regulation within one department; to the streamlining of state budgeting and taxation; to the strengthening of education accountability in higher education and elementary and secondary education.

"The Commission gave its best efforts to find improvements in the way our state serves its citizens," Stephen Bradford, Commission co-chair said. "We hope our recommendations will provide a useful roadmap for the governor and General Assembly."

Report and Recommendations of the 2005 Missouri State Government Review Commission [PDF - 8.5 Mb] is available on web site http://review.mo.gov.

The members of the 2005 Missouri State Government Review Commission are: John Fox Arnold of St. Louis, Stephen Bradford of Cape Girardeau, Cynthia Brinkley of St. Louis, Cathy Dean of Kansas City, Ron Dittemore of St. Joseph, Warren Erdman of Kansas City, Jerry Hunter of St. Louis, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Charles Kruse of Dexter, Charles McClain of Columbia, Dick Moore of Jefferson City, Rob O'Brian of Joplin, Kathy Osborn of St. Louis, Sharon Rohrbach of St. Louis, CiCi Rojas of Kansas City, Gary Rust of Cape Girardeau, Paul Steele of Chillicothe, Ray Wagner of Clayton, Joyce Wood of Bonne Terre and Dalton Wright of Lebanon.

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