States cut, cut, cut to meet leaner times

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- U.S. state governments, having picked the low-lying fiscal fruit, are getting more creative in fighting the lingering economic crisis, experts said.

Commissions are gone, departments merged and operation centralized as state officials rethink their day-to-day operations while trying to avoid budget cuts and tax increases, USA Today reported Monday.

"The budget crisis is so severe that it's now possible to do some things that everyone knew were smart but couldn't get done because of political considerations," John Thomasian, director of the Center for Best Practices at the National Governors Association, told the newspaper.

Iowa, for example, enacted a law to centralize purchasing and information technology, eliminating 13 boards and saving $127 million a year, USA Today said. Michigan officials estimated the state saved more than $3 billion in recent years by eliminating more than 300 boards and reducing the state Cabinet.

Jason Mercier of the Center for Government Reform said efforts to reduce the number of boards "is a step in the right direction. But it's not the type of reform that gets you the savings you need to balance a budget."