Perdue is proposing to combine the departments of Juvenile Justice, Correction and Crime Control, and Public Safety into a new Department of Public Safety. She is also proposing to move the Employment Security Commission into the Department of Commerce.
She further plans to move the Department of Administration into a new Department of Management and Administration that will include the Office of State Personnel and Information Technology Services.
Astute readers of the John Locke Foundation will remember similar proposals in JLF’s Agenda 2010 guide (as well as previous years’ editions of the Agenda guides):
Key Points:
- There are five major departments or offices that oversee state finances: the Department of Revenue, State Treasurer, State Controller, State Auditor, and the Office of State Budget, Planning, and Management. Most of these separate units could be merged into a Department of Finance, headed by an appointed secretary. It would include divisions similar to the previous departments but would not require the staff or funding now necessary.
- There are currently six departments or agency categories that attempt to regulate business activities in North Carolina. These offices could be consolidated (when not eliminated outright) to form a single Department of Commerce devoted to providing consumers with reliable information and protection from fraud.
- A single, statewide police force could be formed within a consolidated Public Safety Department. All disability services could be merged within the Health and Human Services Department.
