Reform 2.0: Prologue

(Previously posted as Taking Inventory: Prologue)

Governor Dayton's experiment in limited government is fading from memory, too quickly I fear.  We saw first-hand that we have some government we can do without, including some of what stayed open.  I fear by the time the Legislature reconvenes in 2012 business will again be as usual.  I want to proceed with perhaps the most important, indeed intriguing plank of the Tom Emmer campaign platform: ending the duplication of government.  And that means taking an inventory of the various elected bodies, joint powers organizations, and administrative departments.

We have about 850 cities in Minnesota.  About 500 of them are under 1,000 population.  Over half of those have fewer than 300.

We have 87 counties in Minnesota.  The smallest 62 of them contain only 20% of the state population.  The largest 9 counties account for 75% of the land area.  The much larger state of California has only 54 counties.

We have 519 school districts in Minnesota.  Not only do they vary widely in area and enrollment, many no longer make sense with the underlying growth and maturation.  Maryland has only 24 that serve about the same number of students as Minnesota.  That might help explain why our districts employ more non-teachers than teachers.

We clearly have many more MnSCU campuses than we need, plus an over-extended University of Minnesota.

Then we have watershed districts, utilities commissions, park boards, soil and water boards, and the myriad of regulatory agencies.  We have the Metropolitan Council hydra here in the Twin Cities and the IRRRB up north.  And then there's the tax code

By national norms, we even have too many Legislative districts.

Tally all of the above and it's no wonder you might need 7 overlapping permits to start a business or even add a room to your house.  So today begins a short series about the number of government entities in our lives and what I might do about it.

Comments

[Hiram]

Some very interesting ideas here. I would like to some of them put in bill form by the Republicans who now control both houses of the legislature.

Bear in mind that Mark Dayton is the governor, he is not a member of the legislative branch. He can't introduce bills, more importantly he doesn't control the legislative calendar. Neither he, nor the DFL has any significant influence on what bills are considered in committee, or brought to the floor.

I should note that each issue raised has it's tradeoffs. How large should a school district be? Large enough to be efficient, small enough to be responsive. On the whole, Republicans are more resistant to centralized state control of schools than Democrats. And inefficiencies are inherent in the system. No reorganization of school systems can reduce the distance kids who live in remote areas have to travel to schools.

Do we want government to be efficient? Or to be responsive? We hate the fact that the Postal Service loses money but we like the fact of home delivery.

[Hiram]

I think one of the least understood things about the legislative process, particularly on the state level is the absolute power of the majority, and the absolute powerlessness of the minority, on matters where partisan politics plays a significant role. Another thing not fully understood is that the passive role played by the governor. He simply cannot do anything at all about legislation that does not reach his desk. He can only respond to what the legislative branch does. However, although in a legislative context, the governor has little direct positive power, he has overwhelming negative power, which can in certain circumstances be used to enact a limited positive agenda.

[Speed Gibson]

I agree, changing numbers/sizes of entities doesn't necessarily create efficiency or responsiveness. But it can be a necessary part. School districts for example need to re-examine the "who's in charge?" question, no matter what size.

[Kevin Watterson]

This is exactly what we started reform2.mn and minngage.com for. Feel free to start posting your ideas!

-Kevin Watterson, House Republican Caucus