WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia spends in excess of $40 billion each year and employs a workforce in excess of 112,000 employees; and

WHEREAS, the taxpayers of Virginia expect the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide the goods and services citizens need and desire in the most cost-effective manner; and

WHEREAS, the economies of the United States and Virginia have experienced a significant downturn; and

WHEREAS, the economic downturn and the related decrease in tax revenues have resulted in a $300 million revenue shortfall for the previous fiscal year and almost $1.2 billion for the current fiscal year; and

WHEREAS, this $1.5 billion dollar reduction is in addition to over $5.6 billion of spending reductions already enacted for the 2008-2010 biennial budget; and

WHEREAS, the citizens and taxpayers of Virginia expect and deserve from their government aggressive cost-cutting and innovative strategies to reduce the cost of the goods and services their state government provides; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for the conduct of a thorough review of all state agencies at the secretariat level to determine (i) identifiable monetary savings among agencies within a given secretariat, (ii) changes in management practices among agencies within a given secretariat, and (iii) elimination, realignment, or consolidation of programs or activities within a given secretariat, all with the aim of improving services and prudently reducing costs; and

WHEREAS, there should be strong incentives to encourage all state agencies to minimize costs, ensure unnecessary functions are eliminated, and perform the remaining critical functions as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates,  That subcommittees be established to study each of the ten organizational secretariats of state government for identifiable monetary savings, changes in management practices, and elimination, realignment, or consolidation of programs or activities. Each subcommittee shall have a total membership of 9 members that shall consist of five legislative members and four nonlegislative citizen members. Members for each subcommittee shall be appointed as follows: five members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; Secretary over the assigned secretariat that the subcommittee will be studying; and three nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor.  Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the subcommittee and the Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of attending meetings. Each subcommittee shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.

In conducting its study, each subcommittee shall review state government at the secretariat level to identify efficiencies and determine specific operational areas where savings may be realized among the agencies within individual secretariat, including identifying (i) monetary savings among agencies within the secretariat, (ii) changes in management practices among agencies within the secretariat, and (iii) specific actions involving elimination, realignment, or consolidation of programs or activities within the secretariat.

Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates. Legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the subcommittee shall be provided by the Division of Legislative Services. Technical assistance shall be provided by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the subcommittee for this study, upon request.

Each subcommittee shall be limited to four meetings for the 2010 interim and four meetings for the 2011 interim, and the direct costs of each study shall not exceed $ 6,200 for each year without approval as set out in this resolution. Approval for unbudgeted nonmember-related expenses shall require the written authorization of the chairman of the subcommittee and the Clerk.

Each subcommittee shall complete meetings for the first year by November 30, 2010, and for the second year by November 30, 2011, and the chairman of each subcommittee shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of their findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the subcommittee intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.