TABLE OF CONTENTS
RG 028:009, Commission to Study the Management of State Government (Thomas Commission), 1989-1991
Inventory of Records
Finding aid prepared by Connecticut State Library staff.
Copyright © 2007 by the Connecticut State Library
Overview of the Collection |
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| Repository: | Connecticut State Library |
| Creator: | Connecticut. Commission to Study the Management of State Government |
| Title: | Commission to Study the Management of State Government records |
| Dates: | 1989-1990 |
| Quantity: | 20 cubic feet |
| Abstract: | The Commission conducted a comprehensive study of state government and made cost cutting and revenue enhancement recommendations for agencies. |
| Identification: | RG028_009 |
| Accession: | Multiple |
| Language: | The records are in English. |
Historical Note
The General Assembly created the 23-member Commission in 1989 to conduct a comprehensive study of state government. The commission had a budget of $4 million for staff and consultants. Governor William A. O'Neill appointed DeRoy C. Thomas, president of ITT Corp. as chair. Thomas had chaired an earlier study commission on restructuring the state's higher education system whose recommendations had strongly impressed the Governor. The rest of the membership consisted of political appointees, state budget and personnel officials, members of the General Assembly and their appointees. Mary Polci, an OPM planning analyst, was the project's executive director.
By the end of the Commission's work in early 1991, the consultants' reports filled two legal size file drawers and claimed proposed savings of more than $500 million a year. Two members, John Olsen, president of the State AFL-CIO and Rep Linda Emmons, R-Madison, complained that most consultants ignored the mandate to suggest ways to improve state services and focused exclusively on cutting expenditures or raising revenue. Others complained that the savings projections were overblown. Chairman Thomas said it didn't matter whether the state achieved the exact amount of savings just that the recommendations improved state operations and produced some savings.
Aside from the specific cost cutting and revenue enhancement recommendations for existing agencies, the Commission called for the creation of an independent agency to centralize information technology functions and the appointment of a chief operating officer to handle the day-to-day oversight of state agencies. The Commission also made a number of controversial recommendations concerning state aid to towns in the areas of education grants, teacher retirement, property tax relief, and statutory grants and regarding personnel policies and administration. The Commission also called for a return to biennial budgeting. It also recommended expansion of privatization of services, purchasing instead of constructing new buildings, and development of new attitudes concerning delivery of state services and what those services should be in every branch and at every level of state government.
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Scope and Content
Includes agency program reviews and consultants' reports.
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Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
These records are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.
See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.
Restrictions on Use
See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.
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Related Material
RG 028:001, Commission to Investigate the Advisability of Consolidating Certain State Boards and Commissions and to Investigate the Public Health Laws, 1915.
RG 028:002, Commission on the Reorganization of State Departments, 1935-1937.
RG 028:003, Commission to study the Integration of the State Judicial System, 1943-1945.
RG 028:004, Commission on State Government Organization, 1949-1950.
RG 028:005, Commission on Services and Expenditures (Etherington Commission), 1971.
RG 028:006, Committee on the Structure of State Government (Filer Committee), 1976-1977.
RG 028:007, Human Servuces Reorganization Commission, 1977-1979.
RG 028:008, Governor's Study Group on Limitation of Expenditures, 1978.
RG 028:010, Commission to Effect Government Reorganisation (Hull-Harper Commission), 1991-1992.
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Index Terms
Persons:
Organizations:
Subjects:
Document Types:
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Container List
| Records, 1989-1991 | |||||||||||
| Study Group and Administrative Files, Accession: 1992-069 | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| Child Support Enforcement Operations | 1 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services, Bureau of Purchasing | 2 | ||||||||||
| University of Connecticut Health center | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Motor Vehicles | 3 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Education, State Libary, Board of Education and Services for the Blind | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Envirornment Protection, Dept. of Agriculture | 4 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Mental Health, Dept. of Mental Retardation | 5 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Children and Youth Services | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Income Maintenance, Dept. of Human Resources | 6 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Labor | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Transportation | 7 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Health, Dept. of Aging, Dept of Veterans' Affairs, Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, Dept. of Consumer Protection | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Housing | 8 | ||||||||||
| Office of Policy and Management | 9 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Higher Education, University of Connecticut, Central Naugatuck Regional Education Center, Technical Colleges, Community Colleges, Connecticut State University | 10 | ||||||||||
| Assistance in preparation of final reports | 11 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Revenue Services, Division of Special Revenue, Dept. of Economic Development | 12 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Correction, Dept. of Public Safety, Dept. of Public Works | 13 | ||||||||||
| Judicial Dept., Division of Public Defender Services, Division of Criminal Justice, County Sheriffs | 14 | ||||||||||
| Administrative files and implementation reports | 15 | ||||||||||
| Includes meeting files and minutes, contracts, RPF responses. | |||||||||||
| Consultants' Bids and Final Agency Reports, Accession: 1999-039 | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Correction, Dept. of Public Safety,. Dept. of Public Works | 1 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Mental Health, Dept. of Mental Retardation | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Revenue Services, Division of Special Revenue, Dept. of Economic Development | |||||||||||
| Final reports | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Mental Health, Dept. of Mental Retardation | 2 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Transportation, Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Housing | |||||||||||
| University of Connecticut Health Center | |||||||||||
| Judicial Dept., Division of PUblic Defender Services, Division of Criminal Justice, County Sheriffs | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Motor Vehicles | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Education, State Library, Board of Education and Services for the Blind | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Human Resources. Dept. of Income Maintenance | 3 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Children and Youth Services | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services, Bureau of Purchasing | |||||||||||
| Connecticut Task Force on State Tax Revenue | |||||||||||
| Office of Policy and Management | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Mental Health, Dept. of Mental Retardation | 4 | ||||||||||
| Child Support Enforcement Operations | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Labor | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Mental Health, Dept. of Mental Retardation | 5 | ||||||||||
| Dept. of Environmental Protection, Dept. of Agriculture | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Administrative Services, Bureau of Purchasing | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Income Maintenance, Dept. of Human Resources | |||||||||||
| Dept. of Motor Vehicles | |||||||||||
| University of Connecticut Health Center | |||||||||||