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Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Act before you’re them
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most state legislative sessions are pretty hum-drum — and this one is, too, so far. But one of this session’s most exciting discoveries is the rise of young conservatives, many from outlying areas near Atlanta, who come to the General Assembly with an agenda for making government more manageable, responsive and efficient. One 40-day session won’t be sufficient to judge their effectiveness — bills introduced this year remain for consideration next — but the markers are there.
State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Canton), who was first elected in 2004, is an example of the group of conservatives who will make a mark on Georgia. She’s introducing a bill to set up a 14-member Legislative Sunset Committee to periodically review state agencies, departments, commissions and authorities to determine whether they should continue in existence. Her plan is that they would be reviewed every two years. The idea is patterned on a Sunset Advisory Commission in Texas that, she says, has saved taxpayers $784 million and eliminated 52 agencies and consolidated 12 others since 1978. Florida has a similar review.
Georgia, on a limited scale, has done something similar within the Secretary of State’s office. Regulatory commissions, like those that license barbers and beauticians, were to be reviewed and eliminated if found to be outdated. Not much ever happened — one reason Georgia needs at least a decade of strong, conservative leaders with bold agendas. They all get co-opted eventually, so they have no time to be timid.
Georgia needs a reasonable cap on spending. It needs the kind of fresh-look review that Byrd proposes, and that Gov. Sonny Perdue has launched internally in setting up the budget so that programs can be reviewed for effectiveness. And, with good information and transparency, taxpayers and legislators can set priorities and channel available money to where it does the most good. It’s not brain surgery. But it does require lots of active, creative conservatives in government with determination and staying power.
The good news: They’re there and more are coming. Many are young, many are transplants, lke New Orleans native Byrd, who bring ideas and experiences from elsewhere, and many are new to elective office, meaning they’re not mired in the can’t-do status quo or beholden to the special interests that have long owned the Gold Dome. The trick: Do something meaningful before you’re them.
