Out of left field on May 4, the legislature’s bipartisan efficiency committee, Program Review & Investigations, took a direct hit of 50 percent of its personnel in the negotiated budget. The committee staff was not previously targeted by the Democratic, Republican, or governor’s proposed budget cut lists — the evisceration appeared overnight. Now, for the sake of saving $750,000, the state is destroying the very committee that saved taxpayers $89.5 million in FY 2010 and $111.9 million in 2011. How could anyone think this a logical decision?
