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New Jersey's new Republican governor, Chris Christie, is creating a commission that will recommend what state government functions could be done better -- and cheaper -- by the private sector. The commission will examine hundreds of regulatory bodies to see which might be closed or privatized as part of the governor's plan to reduce an $11 billion deficit left by his Democratic predecessor, Jon Corzine.
Christie may also suspend civil service rules to make it easier to lay off higher paid workers. This would be a switch from the way things are usually done in a state dominated by...
Private in New Jersey
Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand
Maurice P. McTigue
http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?ye ar=2004&month=04
"When we started this process with the Department of Transportation, it had 5,600 employees. When we finished, it had 53. When we started with the Forest Service, it had 17,000 employees. When we finished, it had 17. When we applied it to the Ministry of Works, it had 28,000 employees. I used to be Minister of Works, and ended up being the only employee. In the latter case, most of what the department did was construction and...