Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday he would recommend eliminating 25 of state government’s 258 boards and commissions to reduce overlap.

“Over the years when these boards and commissions were first created by statute, most of them served a worthwhile purpose for their time, however many either no longer fit today’s needs, or their functions can be or already are served by another state body that already exists,” Malloy said.  “It’s incumbent upon us from time-to-time to review and reconsider whether these state boards and commissions are still serving their original purpose, are duplicative, or have completed their tasks.”

One example the governor cited involves the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers National Heritage Corridor Advisory Committee. The panel completed its mission over a decade ago yet still exists in the statute books. And shorthand reporters are already required to pass a national exam, so there is no longer a need to have a separate overlapping State Board of Examiners of Shorthand Reporters, the governor said.

The list of boards and commissions Malloy proposes to eliminate includes:

  • Adult Literacy Leadership Board
  • Advisory Committee for the Center of Real Estate and Urban Studies (UConn)
  • Advisory Committee for William Benton Museum of Art
  • Bi-State Farmington River Watershed Advisory Committee
  • Board of Directors of the Lower Fairfield County Conference/Exhibit Authority
  • Child Daycare Council
  • Commission on Innovation and Productivity
  • Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal Systems Advisory Board
  • CT International Trade Council
  • CT Israel Exchange Commission
  • CT Progress Council
  • CT Public Transportation Commission
  • CT Risk Assessment Board
  • Geospatial Systems Information Council
  • HealthFirst Connecticut Authority
  • Housing Advisory Committee
  • Innovations Review Panel
  • Medical Inefficiency Committee
  • Nurturing Families Network Advisory Commission
  • Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers National Heritage Corridor Advisory Committee
  • Small Business Air Pollution Compliance Advisory Panel
  • Southwest Corridor Action
  • State Board of Examiners of Shorthand Reporters
  • Statewide Community Antenna Television Advisory Council
  • Student Financial Aid Information Council

Malloy also is proposing merging the Commission on Uniform Legislation into the Connecticut Law Revision Commission, and the Special Contaminated Property Remediation and Insurance Fund Advisory Board into the Brownfield Remediation Liability Workgroup.

Keith has spent most of his 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

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