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“These
steps will reduce duplicative and inefficient operations, while at
the same time offering better services and significant cost
savings,” Blagojevich said. “The people of this state have told us
they want a change in how state government functions, they want less
government, and they want more service. We listened. Business as
usual in Springfield is becoming a thing of the past.”
Through
executive orders signed Monday, Blagojevich will:
--Move
the functions of the
Department of the Lottery,
Liquor Control Commission and the
Racing Board to the
Department of Revenue. Boards that oversee these entities will
retain their regulatory responsibilities.
--Merge
the
Department of Nuclear Safety into the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
--Transfer internal auditing, legal services and facilities
management of all agencies under the governor to the
Department of Central Management Services.
--Consolidate job training programs, such as Prairie State 2000 and
the federal Workforce Investment Act, at the
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
In
addition, the governor will seek legislation to merge the operations
of the
Pollution Control Board and Environmental Protection Trust Fund
Commission with the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, consolidate fee
collections at the Department of Revenue, and merge the
Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan with the Department of
Insurance.
And,
Blagojevich will create shared service centers in Springfield and
Chicago to provide administrative services, space and equipment to
smaller agencies. These centers will allow agencies to share
administrative needs, such as offices, computers and copiers, and,
more importantly, the cost.
“Many of
these ideas borrow from management practices used by private
business to keep down costs, and others are simple, common-sense
approaches,” Blagojevich said. “For example, the state has already
saved $1 million by canceling Lottery's lease of premium Chicago
office space just off North Michigan Avenue and moving the operation
to surplus state office space.”
Highlights of the governor's actions:
Department of Revenue reorganization and fee collections
By
moving the Illinois Lottery, Liquor Control Commission and Racing
Board to the Department of Revenue, shared administrative costs
alone will save more than $2 million.
The
governor also intends to have fee collections handled by a highly
automated system that will reduce duplicative and inefficient
processing and make cash management, debt collection and pricing
more effective. Through head-count reduction, improved cash
management and collection of unpaid debt, costs savings are
initially estimated at $1.3 million in the first year and
significantly greater savings in later years when information
technology and debt collection procedures are fully implemented.
Additionally, the major improvements will be in the consistent
application, compliance and collection of fees, representing
increased revenues to the state. According to reports by the state
comptroller, Illinois' fees (other than those collected for motor
vehicles and by universities) are only 40 percent of the average in
the 50 states. Agencies under the governor's control collect 673
fees totaling $1.6 billion a year.
Legal
services, internal audits and facilities management
State
agency legal functions will be combined into a central law
department at CMS to improve the quality, consistency and efficiency
of the state's legal activities. While some agency-specific policy
and adjudicatory legal staff may remain with an agency, all legal
work related to personnel, procurement, bond financing and many
other issues will be moved. Initial cost savings of $5.4 million
will be realized by legal work common to all agencies being
accomplished by fewer attorneys. Legal work will be of better
quality since attorneys will be able to specialize and develop
expertise in critical areas such as personnel, procurement and real
estate.
Following the lead of many private and public sector organizations,
combining all state agency internal auditing functions within CMS
will initially save $5 million through reduction in head count,
administrative costs and duplicative software licenses.
Additionally, this will allow for the establishment of the necessary
independence required for auditor objectivity regarding the
department or function being audited. Recently, one state agency's
auditor was the son of the agency director. By moving the auditing
functions into a centralized system, these types of conflicts can be
avoided in the future.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
Agencies
under the governor's control occupy 43 million square feet of space
and involve maintenance, repair, security, utilities and other
facility management functions that cost an estimated $416 million a
year. Currently, CMS manages only 6 percent of these activities,
resulting in uncoordinated and fragmented facility management
practices.
Consolidating facilities management at CMS will initially save $14
million through head-count reduction, combining energy contracts,
better leasing strategies and economies of scale with outside
contractors. This step will eliminate the lack of planned and
coordinated physical plant management, which has resulted in
fragmented facilities management practices, particularly uneven
staffing, excessive and erratic overtime, and nonstandard energy
utilization management.
Nuclear Safety merged with IEMA
By
transferring the functions of the Department of Nuclear Safety to
IEMA, the state will be able to better coordinate emergency response
to a terrorist threat or other potential disasters involving nuclear
power facilities. Streamlining and consolidating the functions of
these agencies will enable the state to realize better
communications and shared informational resources and will provide
more efficient use of specialized expertise and facilities. Gary
Wright, the director of Nuclear Safety, will become an assistant
director at IEMA in the Division of Nuclear Safety and report to
IEMA Director Bill Burke. Costs savings through head-count
reductions and other efficiencies are estimated at $700,000. The
transfer is effective July 1.
Shared services centers
This
innovative business approach will initially save the state
administrative expenditures and will provide six smaller state
agencies with shared office space, equipment and administrative
staff, including accounting and payroll. Instead of agencies having
their own office, phone system, computers and copiers, accounting
and procurement services, they will share these items and, more
importantly, share the costs. These centers will be located in both
Chicago and Springfield. Some of the agencies initially affected
include the Human Rights Commission, Guardianship and Advocacy
Commission, Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Commission, the Property Tax Appeal Board, and the
Drycleaner Environmental Response Trust Fund Council.
Consolidate state and federally funded job training programs
Scarce
job training resources are fragmented and spread across multiple
state agencies and programs with similar missions, including Prairie
State 2000, the Industrial Training Program, the Current Workforce
Training Grant, and the Job Training and Economic Development Grant
Program. The programs will be consolidated and aligned within DCEO
along with related federal resources, including the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the federal Illinois Trade
Adjustment Assistance Program and the federal and state-funded
Welfare to Work program, to ensure job training resources are used
to support economic development and to ensure both program and
fiscal efficiency. Through the consolidation and realignment of
these existing state and federal programs, the state will save more
than $10 million through administrative costs savings and better use
of federal discretionary money to support statewide training
initiatives.
CHIP
and Department of Insurance
The
governor intends to merge the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan,
which currently is a small, stand-alone agency, into the Department
of Insurance to increase efficiency. CHIP is a state insurance
program for working families who are unable to obtain private health
insurance. It has provided coverage to about 34,000 residents since
1989 and is paid for by health insurers and health maintenance
organizations that do business in Illinois. The director of the
Department of Insurance currently serves as chair of the CHIP board.
Environmental
While
regulatory oversight will remain independent, merging the Pollution
Control Board into EPA will allow for the sharing of administrative
functions and save $500,000. EPA already administers the
Environmental Protection Trust Fund Commission, and the governor's
action simply moves the commission's budget operations to the agency
and affords greater efficiency.
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
