HD20 - An Assessment of Structural Targets in the Executive Branch of Virginia
Executive Summary: Since the mid-1920's, State officials have sought ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the executive branch by making changes in the structure of agencies, programs, and activities. Although many important changes have been made, the trend toward growth of agencies and their dependencies has continued. Today the executive branch is composed of 407 entities, including 85 independent agencies, 79 dependent agencies, 222 collegial bodies, 11 political subdivisions, and the offices of seven secretaries and three elected officials. Within the overall organizational structure, executive agencies are grouped within six functional areas. The functional areas are composed of agencies with similar or related missions, and each area is overseen by a secretary with budgetary and coordinative responsibilities who reports to the Governor. While the overall organizational structure is basically sound, JLARC's systematic review of the activities of executive agencies identified the potential for constructive change. The range of problems identified involves statewide concerns as well as those concentrated in individual agencies and functional areas. In some cases immediate action appears to be warranted; other cases may require further assessment. JLARC Review This review was called for by House Joint Resolution 33 passed by the 1982 General Assembly. The resolution directed JLARC "to study the organization of the executive branch for the purpose of determining the most efficient and effective structure," and expressed concern regarding the number and independent status of executive agencies. It is the latest expression of the legislature's continuing interest in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of State government by reducing its size and consolidating related activities. The efficiency and effectiveness of executive branch organization, however, involves more than the composition of agencies and their activities. The complexity of the structure and its manageability are affected by the roles and responsibilities of high-level executive officers and the 222 boards and commissions, which have a range of advisory, policy-making, and supervisory powers related to State agencies. Companion volumes to this study address those issues. They are entitled "An Assessment of the Secretarial System in the Commonwealth of Virginia" and "An Assessment of the Role of Boards and Commissions in the Executive Branch of Virginia." Methodology A functional analysis -- an intensive review of available data regarding agency activities and structures -- was the primary method used to assess the organizational structure of the executive branch. Computerized data on the 189 program and 1238 subprogram activities of State agencies, as well as data from other sources, were systematically analyzed to identify potential structural problems. A list of 127 agency-specific structural concerns involving duplication, fragmentation, and inappropriate alignment, as well as a number of cross-cutting concerns, were identified in the initial analysis. Extensive verification research was then conducted for each structural concern. The verification research, consisting of structured interviews with State agency staffs and a review of additional data from numerous sources, led to the identification of 6 structurewide or cross-cutting concerns and 33 agency-specific structural "targets." Cross-Cutting Concerns Despite continuing concern over the years, the size and complexity of the executive branch have not been appreciably constrained. Agencies have been created or extended as service delivery needs have been perceived. The consequence has been overall growth in the number of State agencies, and a proliferation of small agencies and organizational additions such as branch or regional offices to existing agencies. Agencies have also been named in a confusing and inconsistent manner. Further, PROBUD -- a computerized budgeting system designed to aid in structural analysis -- requires refinement. Finally, agencies have been created by executive order, even though the Legislature has been vested with this responsibility by the Constitution of Virginia. Staff Recommendation 1. The General Assembly and the Governor should take steps to modify the organizational structure of small agencies by consolidating those with missions similar to other agencies and providing administrative assistance to others which should remain separate. Staff Recommendation 2. The General Assembly should (a) direct the Department of Planning and Budget to devise a uniform system of sub-State boundaries and (b) require agencies to conform it. However, procedures should be established to grant a minimum number of exceptions to agencies whose districts require unique boundaries. Staff Recommendation 3. The Governor should propose to the General Assembly enabling legislation for the Advocacy Office for the Developmentally Disabled, Governor's Employment and Training Division, and any other executive agency created without specific legislative action. Staff Recommendation 4. The General Assembly should adopt a standard nomenclature system to name State agencies and entities. Staff Recommendation 5. The General Assembly should (a) direct the Department of Planning and Budget to continue refining the PROBUD system so that differences in programs and subprograms are more accurately reflected, and (b) require agencies to use codes in a consistent manner. Structural Targets A total of 33 structural targets involving duplication, fragmentation, or misalignment of activities were identified by JLARC within the functional areas of State government. These terms were defined as: • Duplication where two or more agencies conduct identical activities at the agency, program, or activity level. • Fragmentation -- where two or more agencies carry out different activities leading to the accomplishment of the same goal. • Inconsistent Alignment of Agencies and Activities -- where the goal of one activity or agency is different from others in the same group. Some targets cut across secretarial areas, because several agencies deal with different aspects of a particular problem or process. In other instances, several agencies carry out activities which are inherent to their responsiblities, but which might more efficiently be centralized. Additionally, some agencies or activities appear to be misplaced among secretarial areas or agencies. Although targets were identified throughout the executive branch, they were concentrated in the Human Resources and the Commerce and Resources areas. A number of targets involved the Departments of Health, Visually Handicapped, Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Conservation and Economic Development. Staff Recommendation 6. Initiate legislative/executive action on the structural targets outlined in this report. Each of the targets identified in this report has been placed on one of two lists. The first contains targets for which a recommendation for action is being made. The second list contains targets which may warrant fìrther study. I. Areas Where Action Should Be Taken I-1 The responsibility for collecting delinquent debts owed by individuals to State agencies should be centralized under the Attorney General or the Department of Taxation. I-2 The Department of Taxation's revenue estimating activities and the Commonwealth Data Base should be transferred to the Department of Planning and Budget. (An independent revenue forecasting capacity could be established in the legislative branch to maintain a system of checks and balances.) I-3 The Division of Motor Vehicles' revenue forecasting unit should also be transferred to the Department of Planning and Budget. I-4 The evaluation section of the Department of Planning and Budget and the management consulting division of the Department of Management Analysis and Systems Development should be co-located in a new Department of Analytical and Administrative Services. I-5 The following three activities of the Department of Health should be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: - Milk and Milk Product Inspection - Inspection of Seafood Processing Plants - Bedding and Upholstered Furniture Regulation. I-6 Worksite inspection responsibilities currently divided between the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Health should be transferred to the Department of Labor and Industry. I-7 The Department of Health Regulatory Boards and Department of Commerce should be brought together to form a new Department of Commerce and Health Regulatory Boards. I-8 The entities which manage and/or preserve historic sites and attractions (Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, Virginia Outdoors Foundation, Division of Parks and Recreation of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Gunston Hall, James Monroe Museum and Library, and the Virginia War Memorial Commi ssion) should be administratively merged. These entities should be brought together in a proposed Department of Parks and Historic Preservation. If this agency is not established, the entities which manage sites should be merged under the Division of Parks and Recreation in the Department of Conservation and Economic Development. The Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission and the attached Virginia Outdoors Foundation should be placed in a separate division of the Department. I-9 The Division of Tourism, Division of Industrial Development, the State Office of Minority Business Enterprise, and the Industrial Training Division of the Virginia Community College System should be merged to create a new Department of Economic Development. The port promotion activities of the Virginia Port Authority could also be considered for inclusion. I-10 The Virginia Marine Products Commission should be merged with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. If the State decides to continue specific product promotion as part of its mission, the Department should also assume the functions of the individual product commissions. I-11 The State Water Control Board, Air Pollution Control Board, Division of Mined Land Reclamation of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development, Council on the Environment, and the State Department of Health's regulation of wastewater treatment facilities, Bureau of Toxic Substances Information, and Bureaus of Solid and Hazardous Waste should be merged into a new Department of Environmental Regulation. I-12 The Soil and Water Conservation Commission should be merged with the Department of Conservation and Economic Devel opment. If a new Department of Conservation is created, the Soil and Water Conservation Commission and the conservation activities of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development could be brought together under this department. I-13 The Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries should be brought together to create a new Department of Game and Inland and Marine Fisheries. I-14 The Department for the Visually Handicapped should be moved as a separate program division into the Department of Rehabilitative Services. (Further study of individual functions should also be undertaken as recommended in II-3). I-15 The Division of Volunteerism should be realigned under the Secretary of Administration and Finance, and provisions should be made to provide administrative support to the division. (This recommendation would be adopted if volunteerism is viewed as an administrative or central service agency. If viewed as a human resources agency, it would be co-located under the Department of Advocacy Agencies recommended in I-20). I-16 A non-structural solution to the problem of duplication between the Division for Volunteerism and the Center for Volunteer Development of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has been proposed in a separate JLARC report (Sen. Doc. 6, "The Virginia Division of Volunteerism," December 1983). That report recommended either (1) requiring a more specific memorandum of understanding to clearly specify the responsiblities of each agency and/or (2) restricting activities of the Center to those consistent with the University's extension mission and limiting the Center's funding to non-State sources. Therefore, a structural solution is not being proposed in this report. I-17 The Department for the Aging should be moved as a separate program division into the Department of Social Services. I-18 The Governor's Employment and Training Division should be transferred to the Commerce and Resources secretariat from the Human Resources secretariat. I-19 The regulation of health-related public facilities carried out by the Departments of Social Services, Mental Health and Mental Retardation and Education should be merged under the Department of Health. I-20 The four small advocacy agencies under the Secretary of Human Resources (Commission on the Status of Women, Division for Children, Advocacy Office for the Developmentally Disabled and the Council for the Deaf) should be co-located together to form a new Department of Advocacy Agencies. If the Commission on Indians should become a staffed agency, it would also be included here. (If a decision is made to retain the Division of Volunteerism as a human resources agency, it would be established here.) I-21 The Central Garage should be transferred from the Department of Highways and Transportation to the Department of General Services and efforts continued to designate it as a working capital fund. (Legislative action is currently pending on designation as a working capital fund.) I-22 The Department of Aviation should take over the administration, operation and maintenance of the aircraft hangared in Richmond and owned by the Department of Highways and Transportation, the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Governor's Office. I-23 Responsibility for the registration of shippers of radioactive materials and responding to emergencies involving radioactive materials should be transferred from the State Department of Health to the State Office of Emergency and Energy Services. I-24 The emergency services functions of the State Office of Emergency and Energy Services (OEES) should be transferred from the Transportation secretariat to the Public Safety secretariat. The Energy Division of OEES should be transferred to the Commerce and Resources secretariat. If the proposed Department of Conservation is not established, the division should be merged with the Department of Conservation amd Economic Development. I-25 The Department of Military Affairs should be transferred from the Transportation secretariat to the Public Safety secretariat. II. Areas Where Further Study May Be Required II-1 The transfer of the Department of State Police computer operations to the Department of Computer Services should be assessed further. II-2 The feasibility of combining the two political subdivisions with student financial assistance orientations (the State Education Assistance Authority and the Virginia Education Loan Authority) with the grant and scholarship programs of the State Council of Higher Education and State Department of Health should be studied. II-3 A merger of the Title XX, auxillary grant, and library functions of the Department for the Visually Handicapped with the Department of Social Services and Virginia State Library, respectively, should be assessed further. II-4 The status of the Rehabilitative School Authority as an independent agency should be considered during the forthcoming JLARC study on the Rehabilitative School Authority and the Department of Corrections. Net Effects Adoption of the various recommendations in this report would result in important changes in the structure of the executive branch. For example, the integrity of secretarial areas would be strengthened by realligning those agencies that do not share common missions with other agencies in their areas. The total number of independent executive agencies would be reduced from 85 to 72 and would include the following new or renamed agencies: • Department of Analytical and Administrative Services • Department of Advocacy Agencies • Department of Parks and Historic Preservation • Department of Conservation • Department of Environmental Regulation • Department of Economic Development • Department of Game and Inland and Marine Fisheries • Department of Commerce and Health Regulatory Boards And, depending upon the final proposals decided upon to implement each recommendation, cost differences from $1,474,474 to $1,653,239 or higher in staffing costs alone could be realized. |
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