Panel supports many parts of California government overhaul

AP ^ | 10/20/4 | Ben Fox

[SmithL]

IRVINE, Calif. -- A proposal to reform California's government by privatizing some functions and eliminating others won a qualified endorsement Wednesday from the bipartisan commission charged with collecting public testimony on the massive overhaul.

The California Performance Review Commission ended a series of public hearings with a draft report agreeing with "a significant number" of changes proposed by the team commissioned by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to find ways of eliminating government waste.

But the 21-member commission also urged the governor to reject some proposals including elimination of the Air Resources Board, a requirement that public university students do volunteer service or moving game wardens and park rangers into a new homeland security agency.

The report is vague at points to reflect the consensus of a diverse commission on the 1,200 recommendations for streamlining California's bureaucracy -- including many that have prompted sharp criticism and could result in the loss of thousands of state and local government jobs.