This mention about the North Carolina House consolidating and otherwise reducing the number of committees from 37 to 18 is an encouraging sign that the new leadership is on the right track in downsizing government.
It also reminded me about this Civitas article from last year pointing out the more than 500 boards, committees and commissions our state rulers had created to micro-manage our lives.
Another often-overlooked barometer of state government’s far-reaching involvement in its citizens’ daily lives is the number of boards, commissions and legislative commissions and study committees. The State has over 500 such groups with over 3,000 members according to Gov. Bev Perdue’s office. When releasing her budget plan for 2010-11, Perdue proposed eliminating 100 of these groups, but her office has not yet specified which will be cut.
Similar to the state’s fee schedule, the seemingly endless list of boards and committees ensures there is virtually no remote sliver of society that escapes government’s microscope. From birth to death, the government of North Carolina is involved in its citizens’ lives.
The article also makes mention of the nearly 3,000 fees imposed on the activities of North Carolina citizens – amounting to roughly $2 billion in 2007-08.
A government with so many boards and committees along with so many activities having a fee imposed hardly sounds like a minimal government “cut to the bone.”
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