Wilson Plan Calls for Dismantling Bureaucracy

Taking up the cause of angry taxpayers, Gov. Pete Wilson on Thursday attacked the state government he has headed for five years by vowing to dismantle huge chunks of public bureaucracy in order to rejuvenate a coagulated system and improve performance.

“You work hard for your paycheck,” Wilson said in a statement. “When the state taxes it to finance government programs, you deserve the best possible value for your dollar. . . . That is not the government we have today.”

Wilson timed his release of a plan to overhaul the state machinery for the week when taxes are on the minds of many Californians racing to beat the upcoming filing deadline. The unveiling was also orchestrated throughout the executive branch as state officials convened a meeting to brief reporters on the governor’s three-year plan.

Their summary of a 67-page internal review that was initiated last September cited dozens of ideas for eliminating or consolidating state offices, transferring operations to private control and dropping at least 4,000 of the 38,000 regulations in state rule books.

But even with the announcement, officials still described their review as a work in progress that will take the remaining three years of Wilson’s term to complete. With many key details left to be decided, the governor described even his largest proposal--privatizing the state’s $7.3-billion workers’ compensation insurance fund--as an idea that is still being explored.

Throughout Sacramento, officials and interest groups were scrambling to learn details of the targets Wilson had identified for change. Many are certain to generate questions. Others have already sparked strong opposition.

Local officials and state engineers said Thursday, for example, that they have questions about the governor’s plan to transfer authority for billions of dollars in transportation planning to local governments.

Other ideas listed by the governor have been considered or proposed before, such as a plan to have private companies build and operate state prisons.

Overall, Wilson officials said they have not estimated how many of the state’s 276,000 workers would be affected by their plan or how much money it might save taxpayers.

“We are able to quantify it in some areas, not in others,” Wilson told reporters after outlining his plan in a luncheon speech to the Sacramento Rotary Club.

Wilson officials were also unclear about how much of their plan requires legislative change.

They expect to initiate some changes immediately--without legislative approval--such as a contract with private driving schools to administer the state’s motor vehicle test for first-time drivers. Other imminent changes involve the hiring of private companies to collect fines for the Department of Consumer Affairs, service loans for the Department of Housing and Community Development and store microfiche files for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Still, Wilson is seeking substantial new legislation to change laws that prohibit many of the changes he has proposed. Most important, Wilson hopes voters will eventually approve a constitutional amendment to roll back Civil Service laws that were adopted to protect state employees from political influence.

In his speech Thursday, the governor acknowledged that “the battle lines are already being drawn” over the legislation he needs.

Unions have staged informational pickets at state offices throughout California. Thursday, the California State Employees Assn. also said it hopes to join other labor groups to finance a $1-million public education campaign to combat the governor’s message over the next few years.

In the Legislature, the prospects for Wilson’s success are unclear. So far, Democrats have responded to the governor’s ideas cautiously--unwilling to dismiss the popular notion of shrinking state government but at the same time warning that privatization is not a cure-all.

Thursday, Democratic leaders seasoned their comments with charges that Wilson is on a personal mission to improve his sagging public image.

“There seems to be somewhat of an effort underway to re-create the governor as a more right-wing governor than his record would indicate,” said Assembly Democratic Leader Richard Katz (D-Sylmar). “It’s illegal immigration, affirmative action and the buzz words like ‘privatization’ that all fit into that.”

Katz said he has not seen details of the plan Wilson released Thursday. But he questioned the idea of privatizing the state’s workers’ compensation insurance fund because it appears to be performing well. And he opposes other suggestions, like the idea of privatizing driver testing.

Senate Democratic Leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) also refrained from a final judgment until he sees details of the governor’s plan. “But based on my initial impressions and past experience, my . . . reaction is one of skepticism,” he said in a statement.

“The question I want answered is, specifically, where are the savings in privatizing?” Lockyer said. “The private sector, unlike the government, requires a built-in profit margin. I don’t see how you do that and still save money unless you cut people’s wages or eliminate their health care, which are things I won’t support.”

The chances for Wilson’s success may depend largely on the results of the November election, in which the governor’s Republican Party is seeking to retain its narrow control of the state Assembly and to take over the Senate from Democrats. Most political observers believe the Assembly is up for grabs in the election and Democrats are favored to keep control of the Senate.

In upcoming months, Wilson will be campaigning for his plan at public events throughout the state.

The governor also plans to make his case that government should be limited to four primary functions: safety, education, welfare and public infrastructure, such as roads and the environment. The task force report that Wilson released Thursday said it expects that many government functions can be performed 20% to 40% cheaper by private companies. It also downplayed the impact on state jobs, contending that studies of other government cutbacks indicate a minimal loss of jobs.

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Governor’s Efficiency Plan

Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to improve state government’s efficiency involves a combination of privatizing, consolidating and abolishing various departments and programs. Here are some details:

* Privatize the $7.3-billion workers’ compensation insurance fund.

* Transfer to private or nonprofit management one of the state’s four taxpayer-financed law schools.

* Sell state-owned Santa Monica beachfront lots.

* Contract out the administration of tests for various state licenses, such as real estate licenses and Department of Motor Vehicles driving tests for first-time license applicants.

* Privatize collection of fines owed to the state’s 33 licensing boards and commissions.

* Privatize all or part of the state’s telephone system.

* Privatize various data processing and microfilm functions of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

* Contract out maintenance and repair of state vehicles and privatize state travel management.

* Privatize roadside maintenance now done by Caltrans.

* Consolidate the state’s 400 Caltrans maintenance yards.

* Transfer management of up to 54 state-sponsored agricultural fairs, ending hundreds of gubernatorial appointments.

* Eliminate 4,000 state regulations and significantly modify 1,700 others that affect business, such as requirements that upholstered furniture and bedding be sanitized before being sold to consumers.

* Eliminate the Department of Boating and Waterways and transfer some of its functions to other departments.

* Eliminate the Office of the Public Advisor at the California Energy Commission.

* Consolidate the Department of Banking and the Department of Savings and Loan.

* Consolidate the State Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board and tax functions of the Employment Development Department into a new Department of Revenue.

* Consolidate occupational licensing functions.

* Consolidate various personnel functions at the State Personnel Board and the Department of Personnel Administration.

* Combine the Integrated Waste Management Board and Department of Toxic Substances Control into a new Department of Waste Control.

* Eliminate licensing of yacht brokers, regulation of trading stamp companies and rating of thermal windows.

* Consolidate the state’s 43 separate financing authorities.

* Sell 135 surplus acres at Agnews State Developmental Center in San Jose.

* Sell a Sacramento site containing 187 condominiums.

* Transfer billions of dollars in transportation planning and project construction to local government.

* Streamline the state’s procurement process.

Source: Governor’s office