The Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Board has offered its first set of recommendations to Gov. John Carney.
Carney created the GEAR Board to identify government efficiencies, improving services and saving money.
The governor said he’s concerned changes at the federal level - like the new tax law Congress passed last month - will negatively impact Delaware’s financial health.
“And so we have to continually look at at providing efficient, cost-effective services for the people of Delaware,” Carney said.
The GEAR Board is focused on several critical areas like criminal justice, health and human services and education.
Some of the educational recommendations include consolidating school busing and other administrative costs. The report notes Delaware will spend more than $90 million this fiscal year on transportation.
Carney also said he wants to continue the pattern of doing more with less that started after the Great Recession.
“We need to keep doing that as a regular way of doing business and not just as a result of a fiscal crisis," he said. "We do have budget challenges still - notwithstanding the recent revenue numbers - which is mostly are one time revenue.”
The report offers criminal justice recommendations like reducing the debt of ex-offenders, implementing an e-filing system and overhauling the state’s criminal code. It also suggests streamlining human resources services, investing in information technology centralization and controlling the growth of healthcare spending.
The board is mandated to issue a report annually by Dec. 1st. Carney signed an executive order in February creating the GEAR Board.
