HARRISBURG – Legislation sponsored by Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-21) to streamline state government operations by eliminating outdated, unnecessary and inactive boards, commissions and advisory committees was passed by the Senate this week. The measure reaffirms Hutchinson’s commitment to responsible spending, efficient government and prioritizing taxpayer spending on essential government functions.
“While many current services provided by our state government are valuable, some commissions, committees and councils no longer fulfill the purposes for which they were established,” Hutchinson said. “We should constantly examine, refine and make government less complicated and clean up our old statutes.”
Senate Bill 755 would eliminate 13 government entities that are expired, dormant, no longer have any members or are unnecessary. Examples include the Greater Pennsylvania Council that has been long dormant; the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee, whose duties were all assumed by a different committee; the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Commission, which expired in 1987; and the Climate Change Advisory Committee, which has produced no specific beneficial outcomes while continuing to expend taxpayer dollars.
Hutchinson noted that many of the commonwealth’s close to 400 boards, commissions and advisory committees do not publicly share information about their duties, meetings or other activities, raising concerns about transparency. The General Assembly previously acknowledged the continuous necessity of re-evaluating government operations with the broad bipartisan passage of Act 92 of 2019, which eliminated several other state entities that were no longer effective.
To further pursue government efficiency, Hutchinson, as the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, advanced Senate Bill 474 in June establishing zero-based budgeting, which would require every state agency to justify each dollar of spending through intensive budgetary reviews.
Senate Bill 755 now advances to the House of Representatives for consideration.
CONTACT: Justin Leventry