Standard-Times - gosanAngelo.com
SAN ANGELO Texas It would take some imagination to hold up Texas as a model of governance but theres at least one thing this state has that ought to be copied in Washington.
Thats the Texas Sunset Act a process created in 1977 by which state agencies are periodically reviewed to assess how theyre doing and which often leads to substantive changes. Some three dozen times agencies have been abolished and 23 agencies have been shut down and their responsibilities given to other agencies.
In essence officials must justify the agencies existence and at the same time inefficiencies and duplication of effort are brought to light.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is trying for the second time to export that idea to Washington. Because the idea threatens so many fiefdoms populated by influential players it probably will have a hard time getting traction.
At least though the timing is helpful with even spendthrifts acknowledging that saving money by making government more efficient is necessary.
Cornyn also has a couple of highly publicized reports to wave as he tries to gather support.
One is from President Obamas bipartisan deficit commission which praised Texas sunset process as an effective way to make government more efficient.
Another is from the Government Accountability Office which detailed a stunning level of overlapping of government responsibilities over dozens of federal agencies. While the report didnt estimate the cost Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn put the number at $100 billion or more.
To bring at least some of that under control Cornyn proposes creating a commission comprised of eight members of Congress who would review agencies with an eye toward curtailing redundancies.
Such examinations would expose problem areas and force Congress to approve the commissions recommendations or explain why the problems dont need to be fixed.
Scrubbing all inefficiency from the massive federal government is too much to wish for but substantial improvement at least is possible. The question members of Congress should ask isnt why this process should be put in place but why it doesnt already exist.
