Local lawmakers highlight proposals to merge state agencies
State House Republicans highlighted legislation they鈥檝e introduced that would merge several prominent state agencies at a press conference at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce Building Monday.
Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Uniontown, was joined at his district office by fellow House GOP members Rep. Justin Walsh of Rostraver Township and Rep. Seth Grove of York County to detail a package of bills aimed at cutting administrative costs and improving delivery of government services.
鈥淭his package is aimed at reinventing government,鈥� Dowling said.
The bills would merge eight existing state agencies into four new state agencies: the Commonwealth Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Business, Tourism and Workforce Development (DBTWD), the Department of Local Government and Community Affairs (DLGCA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Grove commended Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, for past proposals to consolidate the state Department of Health and Department of Human Services into one unified department.
In 2017, Wolf proposed merging those two departments as well as the Departments of Aging (PDA) and Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) into one unified Department of Health and Human Services. Wolf鈥檚 proposal last year left PDA and DDAP out of a unified Health and Human Services department after advocates raised concerns about including those departments in the merger.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been very excited by the governor鈥檚 movement in this direction, and that鈥檚 one of the reasons why we got together to formulate this package that would look at consolidation,鈥� Dowling said.
The package consists of House Bills 52 through 58, all of which were referred to the House State Government Committee in March.
Introduced by Dowling, House Bill 54 would create the DLGCA by merging the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Community and Economy Development (DCED). The new department would be overseen by a cabinet secretary who would act as Secretary of the Commonwealth, oversee and assist counties across the state with managing elections and handle local government grant and tax credit programs transferred from DCED.
Dowling said local municipal officials have noted to him how many different forms they have to fill out with separate state agencies.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e spending time and resources, sometimes very limited resources, in our very small townships and boroughs, to learn how to apply or fill out two completely different forms,鈥� Dowling said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e talking about simplicity of use for the end user and ultimately getting the greatest bang for our buck for our local municipalities.鈥�
House Bill 54 would divide the new DLGCA into the Center for Local Government, Bureau of Elections, State Athletic Commission, and Office of Local Government Consultants.
鈥淲e would be creating basically a one-stop shop for local government entities,鈥� Dowling said.
Walsh said House Bill 58 would consolidate workforce programs under the Department of Labor and Industry, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Department of Human Services under the direction of one state agency, something that Walsh said would bolster the local workforce.
鈥淚t would better enable our employers to connect with employees looking for work and employees with the employers who actually have open positions,鈥� Walsh said, adding that employer difficulty in finding people to fill open positions has been a common issue in his district.
Introduced by Grove, House Bill 52 would combine the Budget Office, the Department of General Services, the Office of Administration and the Governor鈥檚 Office of Policy and Planning into one agency 鈥� the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB would supervise all facets of state governance, including budget preparation.
House Bill 53 would create the DBTWD by grouping economic development, business and workforce development policy under a single agency, also forming the Office of Business Consultants to aid job creators with compliance and economic development.
House Bill 55 would combine the Department of Health and Department of Human Services, while House Bill 56 would consolidate state information technology under the Office of Information Technology and establish a committee including each branch of government and their IT staff to collaborate on how to handle future cybersecurity threats.
House Bill 57 would eliminate boards and commissions that a legislative memo in January from House GOP members sponsoring this package likened to 鈥渃leaning out the closet,鈥� saying that they had failed to meet for years and in most cases no longer issue reports for them to see progress in their work. The boards and commissions that would be axed include the Interstate Rail Passenger Advisory Council, Pennsylvania Public Television Network Commission, Industrial Resource Center Strategic Advisory Board, Legislative Representative for Collective Bargaining, and the Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Advisory Committee.
Each merger in the legislation would require the adoption of a strategic plan detailing how the agencies described in the legislation are to be combined. The legislation gives seven months following the effective date to develop the strategic plans.
鈥�(A)ll of these bills take on a different piece of our state government and how it鈥檚 organized,鈥� Dowling said.
Dowling said any elimination of commonwealth jobs would be minimal given that the proposals call for administrative cuts rather than eliminating any programs or services.
Each merger in the package would be required to cut administrative costs by 20%.
Dowling hopes the bills will be moved out of the State Government Committee sometime this fall or early spring and said that the 2020-21 budget process in June 2020 could be when the bills are passed if they gain traction.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e smarter, we can do more with less,鈥� Grove said.