Blunt pursues restructuring of government

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- By executive order, Gov. Matt Blunt on Monday created a special commission that will spearhead the first complete structural overhaul of state government in three decades.

Stephen Bradford, a Cape Girardeau Democrat, and Warren Erdman, a Kansas City Republican, will co-chair the 2005 State Government Review Commission. Blunt will appoint 18 additional members at a later date.

In ordering a comprehensive review of government operations, Blunt, a Republican, is carrying out a key campaign pledge.

"In many ways we do have a typewriter government in an Internet age," Blunt said. "Much has changed since the early 1970s. Very few people run businesses the way they did 30 years ago. Very few efficient organizations in our state are structured the way they were 30 years ago, but state government is."

The last major government reorganization was undertaken during the administration of Republican Gov. Kit Bond in the 1970s. Bradford, who has served in various state posts under five governors of both parties, was part of the Bond reorganization staff. Bradford said state government is long overdue for another round of restructuring.

"I think this is probably the most significant effort that has been done in a number of years," Bradford said.

Bradford is president and chief executive officer of The Pyramid Group Inc., which provides nursing services for the elderly. He is also a member of the Missouri Conservation Commission, the independent board that runs the state Department of Conservation. Bradford will continue to hold that post.

The State Government Review Commission is to make recommendations to Blunt within one year. Blunt said no idea is too controversial for consideration.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find sacred cows in this discussion," Blunt said. "Virtually every element of our state government structure is on the table for the commission to look at and evaluate."

One change Blunt said he is willing to consider is vesting more authority with the Coordinating Board for Higher Education. That board currently has limited power to set higher education policy. Most decisions are made by the governing boards of individual universities, which often put parochial interests ahead of statewide needs.

Blunt also would look at shifting additional duties, such as responsibility for the state parks system, to the Department of Conservation. Detractors of the agency, which has a dedicated funding source lawmakers can't touch, have long maintained it is among the most wasteful in state government and that more responsibilities might force it to spend taxpayer money more wisely. Bradford declined to offer a position on the subject.

"I think it would be premature at this point to comment on something like that," Bradford said.

Blunt said he expects to implement some of the review commission's recommendations through executive order. Others will require legislative action, and the most significant changes will take voter-approved constitutional amendments.

Public input first

Erdman, the vice president of corporate affairs for Kansas City Southern Railway, said the commission will gather public input before developing its recommendations.

"We want to be inclusive in terms of understanding how different people and different segments of our state look at their state government, what services they demand and how we can make it as responsive as possible," Erdman said.

Erdman is a veteran of both the Bond and John Ashcroft administrations and served as the chief of Bond's U.S. Senate staff from 1987 to 1997.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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