THROUGHOUT HIS masterpiece, Parliament of Whores, conservative commentator P.J. O'Rourke tries to explain the vastness of government: It's a behemoth, swallowing tax dollars by the trillions, always growing, always expanding, always wanting more. And it's built that way to do exactly what it does.
"It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth," our author notes. "Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money."
For when does government end? When has it done enough? The answer: never. And there may even be good reasons for most of it. The roads and highways will never be finished. As soon as the interstate to Memphis no longer resembles a cheese grater, the highway through Jacksonville will need repair again. As long as people continue to be born, the government will have to provide DHS services. And as long as there is war, we'll need a Veterans Affairs department.
But, according to news reports this very month, the population of a swell state of some acclaim and beautiful natural landmarks increased by just 0.4 percent since last year. So why does government seem to grow by many times that percentage every year? When is enough enough? And when is it too much?
The current governor of Arkansas--namely Asa Hutchinson--has proposed shrinking the number of state agencies reporting to him from 42 to 15. The papers call it "consolidation." Maybe it's against AP style to use "shrink" and "government" in the same sentence.
Consolidation in government is often a good thing--for taxpayers. Some of us are old enough to remember when the biggest controversy in Arkansas came during the effort to consolidate school districts if those districts had fewer than 150 or so students. Well, why not? Fewer district offices meant fewer assistant deputy superintendents for transportation, fewer acting secretaries for snack nutrition services, fewer people answering phones at the several central offices in each county. Which meant saving a lot of tax dollars. Some of us cheered it on.
And are cheering on the governor's plan.
Back in 1971, Gov. Dale Bumpers & Co. reduced the number of state agencies reporting to him from 60 to 13. But in the natural order of things, government grew. It's up to 42 agencies again. The governor's plan--helped along by leaders in the Legislature--is to get it back down to a more manageable 15. Several lawmakers have filed bills in the last few days so the public can begin its input.
Here's ours: Bravo!
For example, a bill by state Rep. Andy Davis would transfer 46 state entities--including the Arkansas Board of Nursing and the Arkansas surgeon general's office--to the Department of Health. And why not?
Here are the proposed Cabinet-level agencies, at least in one bill and at least for now:
-- Agriculture
-- Commerce
-- Corrections
-- Education
-- Energy and environment
-- Finance and administration
-- Health
-- Human services
-- Inspector General
-- Labor and licensing
-- Military
-- Parks, heritage and tourism
-- Public safety
-- Transformation, shared services
-- Veterans affairs.
That pretty much covers state government, doesn't it? Can you think of a function of Arkansas government that cannot be placed in one of those categories?
THIS REORG would save the state about $15 million a year, according to the Department of Finance and Administration. Not only that, but it might save the governor's office--and governors, present and future--some headache, too. Forty-two agencies? The president of the United States has about half that many in his Cabinet.
So let's get this done.
Say, can this be one of those rare occasions when the citizenry is looking forward to the start of a legislative session?
"There is one word in America that says it all, and that one word is, You Never Know."--Joaquin Andujar
Editorial on 12/27/2018