Brown Seeks To Eliminate Unnecessary Reports

Governor Jerry Brown released a list of more than 700 unnecessary bureaucratic reports currently required by law and called on the state legislature to eliminate them in order to streamline government and reduce waste.

Brown was Tuesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

“It wastes a lot of time and money to write, track and file these reports,” said Governor Brown. “Government should be focused on providing information that is actually helpful to taxpayers, not on checking boxes to meet outdated bureaucratic requirements.”

In December 2011 Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-14-11 which directed state agencies and departments to audit all reports that they must submit to the Legislature and identify those that are not of significant value.

Examples identified in this audit include:

• A biennial report, required by 1966 statute, by the Department of Boating and Waterways on the status of their operations.
• An annual report by the Australian Government on their annual kangaroo harvest, which the Department of Fish and Game is required to track and transmit to the legislature.
• An annual report by the Department of Transportation on the use of waste tires.
• A monthly report on response and recovery activities tied to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Of the 718 reports identified overall, 375 require legislative action to eliminate. Today Governor Brown directed the state Department of Finance (DOF) to ask the state legislature to end reporting requirements. The text of the DOF letter is below.

DOF will direct the Legislative Counsel to stop tracking of the remaining 343 reports, which will effectively end agency and department production requirements.

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard each weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:47, 7:47 and 8:47am.