Governor Rell Announces Executive Order To Eliminate

Boards and Commissions

Effort Will Downsize Government, Reduce Costs

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she has signed Executive Order 24, which will reduce the number of state government task forces and commissions, thereby shrinking the state bureaucracy and reducing costs.

“These task forces and commissions have served many useful purposes -- but they were created in better fiscal times and now more than ever, Connecticut needs a smaller and less intrusive government,” Governor Rell said. “For decades, both the size of government and its role in our citizens’ lives have been expanding. By eliminating these agencies, we take the first steps toward my comprehensive goal of downsizing and streamlining state government.”

In her budget proposal for the 2010-2011 fiscal years, Governor Rell has recommended the elimination of 70 state boards, commissions and committees and the merger or consolidation of an additional 20.  Cost savings will be achieved by eliminating mileage reimbursements and expenses for members, by eliminating Connecticut’s participation on particular boards and by reducing the number of members on other boards or commissions.

“Tough economic times are when new ideas and approaches matter most,” the Governor said. “Many of these entities have functions that are already being addressed by other state agencies or they have completed the tasks they were established to address.”

Governor Rell’s Executive Order will eliminate the Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness, the Advisory Commission on American and Francophone Cultural Affairs, the Governor’s Competitiveness Council, the Governor’s Small Business Advisory Council, the Governor’s Identity Theft Advisory Board, and the Governor’s Early Childhood Research and Policy Council.

The Executive Order also asks the Department of Transportation to consider dissolving the Buckland Area Transportation Study Advisory Committee, given that the Committee has accomplished its intended purpose. In addition, it asks the Connecticut Economic Resource Center Board to consider dissolving or terminating its board.

A copy of Executive Order 24 is attached.  https://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=1719&Q=434234