Radical Ideas for Creating More Streamlined Government

State governments in the U.S. are radically rethinking how they work. With tight budgets and little sign of improvement anytime soon, big ideas are bubbling. But few have been put in motion.

1 minute read

May 28, 2010, 6:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

"A lawmaker in Nebraska this year proposed the unthinkable: Cut by half, or more, the 93 counties that have made up the state for generations. Senators in Indiana, aiming to thin the tangled layers there, want to eliminate the system of more than 1,000 township boards.

And in Missouri, where lawmakers this spring took a day off for a brainstorming session on how to 'reboot government,' there is talk of merging the agencies that oversee secondary and higher education, providing incentives to counties for combining services, even turning to a four-day state workweek."

Some say these bold ideas will have to start materializing, as the next year's fiscal budgets are set to take effect July 1.

FULL STORY: Hard Times Spur Ideas for Change

Monday, May 24, 2010 in The New York Times

Government / Politics United States Budgets States Reorganization

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