Reps. Bye and McCluskey Named to Commission on Regionalism

From a press release:

State Representatives Beth Bye (D-Avon, Farmington, West Hartford) and David McCluskey (D-West Hartford) have been named by House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden) and House Majority Leader Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield) to a new a commission that will seek to identify opportunities for more regional collaborations designed to create efficiencies and save money for municipalities.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (MORE) will begin its work next Tuesday, January 19th with the goal of recommending legislation during the 2010 session.

“We can be doing more with less,” Speaker Donovan said. “MORE will help us find these new ways to help our cities and towns. I am confident we can bring about real property tax reform by regionalizing certain activities that can both save money and improve the economic competitiveness of our state.”

“This is an opportunity to streamline the services government provides in a cooperative and efficient way that will best benefit the taxpayer,” Rep. Bye said. “Officials on both the state and municipal levels will be working together and developing a plan on how this task can be accomplished most resourcefully.”

“In particular, this commission will be looking at ways to make structural changes that result in continuous benefits for years to come, bringing relief to our cities and towns,” Rep. McCluskey said.

The MORE Commission will be comprised of 45 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and representatives of municipalities, regional organizations, education, business, unions and non-profits.

The commission will look at a wide spectrum of issues and opportunities facing municipalities: multi-town collaboratives, Board of Education functions, regionally-based organizations, collective bargaining, mandates, revenue sources, health care, and state grants. In each of these areas, commission subcommittees will investigate costs, benefits, resources, legal obstacles and opportunities, potential savings, consolidation, and results-based accountability (RBA) methods for tracking performance.