A commission examining ways to reorganize state government has set up a new website so the public can submit cost-cutting ideas.
“Hopefully, we’ll find a lot of great ideas,” says State Senator Staci Appel, a Democrat from Ackworth who is co-chair of the Legislature’s State Government Reorganization Commission. “The public needs to work together with us on this budget cut and reorganizing state government and a lot of individuals have a lot of great ideas, so we’re hoping to find some.”
The commission met for the first time earlier this summer and its next meeting is in December. Appel says they’re considering a wide range of proposals, including consolidation of state agencies.
“Looking at the organizational table of departments. Looking at technology and how the state is using that; consolidating technology — the servers and the email systems,” Appel says, “trying to go paperless.”
Earlier this year, Republicans and Democrats set up competing websites to solicit budget-cutting ideas from the public. Now, there’s a new website for the reorganization commission, seeking similar ideas.