May 14, 2003
ROMNEY SUBMITS EXECUTIVE BRANCH REORGANIZATION PLAN
SAYS THREE R’S – “REFORM, RESTRUCTURE, REVITALIZE”- GUIDED HIS THINKING
With the filing of his reform plan to reorganize the Executive Branch, Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey today asked the Legislature to give them the tools to manage state government more effectively.
“We owe the six million citizens of Massachusetts a government that works for them – a government that runs smarter and more efficiently,” said Romney. “Common sense suggests these reforms should be adopted. The fiscal crisis demands it.”
In putting the plan together, Romney said he was guided by the “Three R’s” – “Reform, Restructure, Revitalize.” He said the plan saves money for taxpayers, improves the delivery of services to citizens and incorporates suggestions from the Legislature and other interested parties.
“Our proposal takes into account the feedback we received, while also remaining true to the core principles of reform to which we are committed,” said Romney.
Romney submitted his reorganization plan under the authority granted him in Article 87 of the State Constitution. The actual filing will be made tomorrow, once the legal department completes its final review of the many details that go into a major restructuring.
The Article 87 provision gives the Governor the power to consolidate agencies and reorganize functions within the executive department. Sixty days after submitting the plan to the Legislature, the plan becomes law unless disapproved by a majority of either the House or Senate.
Romney divided the Article 87 submission into two parts – a comprehensive plan that makes changes in the existing Cabinet and creates new secretariats for education, economic affairs and commonwealth development, and a separate filing covering higher education only.
Romney acknowledged that the higher education piece has generated controversy, primarily because of the change that would eliminate the President’s office at the University of Massachusetts, which is held by former Senate President William M. Bulger.
“I recognize this is a hot button issue where we have not found consensus. That is why I have not included it in our larger filing. But I still think it deserves to be considered and accepted or rejected on a straight up or down vote,” Romney said.
The plan creates a 13-member Cabinet consisting of six Executive Offices (Public Safety and Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Commonwealth Development, Administration and Finance, Economic Affairs, Education) and seven Departments (Elder Affairs, Transportation, Housing and Community Development, Environment, Labor, Business and Technology, Consumer and Commercial Services). The heads of each Department and Executive Office share full secretary status, which was not the case previously.
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey credited the hundreds of legislators, business leaders, nonprofit heads and community activists who have weighed in on the plan in forums and hearings around the state.
“When different groups expressed concerns about specific proposals, we strove to address those concerns. For example, when veterans’ organizations expressed strong disagreement with our proposal to move Veterans Affairs from A&F to Elder Affairs, we devised a more palatable solution by placing Veterans Affairs within Health and Human Services,” Healey said.
She also noted that the administration listened closely to the arguments of labor groups opposed to the elimination of the Division of Apprentice Training. As a result, the final plan supports the Division’s retention.
Healey said the “open exchange of ideas over the last few months has served as a reminder that nobody has a monopoly on the right answers.”
“I urge the Legislature to adopt these reforms and set Massachusetts on the road to long-term recovery and prosperity,” she said.
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