Sen. Bruce Starr testifies on agency sunset bill

Oregon Senate Republicans

Salem, OR — A legislative concept introduced by Senator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) for several legislative sessions received a hearing this week in the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency.  House Bill 2373 would create a Sunset Advisory Committee to review state agencies, boards and commissions on a regular basis.

“This bill gives legislators a chance to do a deep, thorough review of every state agency on a regular basis,” said Starr. “It establishes a way to put every government program under intensive scrutiny and determine whether it is still serving a useful purpose.”

HB 2373, which contains the same concept as Senate Bill 299 as introduced by Starr, sets rolling sunset dates for all agencies and programs. The bill also establishes the Joint Oregon Sunset Committee to perform a careful review of each sun-setting state agency or program.  The goal of the committee is to evaluate whether an entity is still necessary and still fulfilling its original purpose.  The committee will have the ability to recommend consolidating or shutting down divisions of state agencies that are no longer needed.

“It is so easy for government to adopt new ways of spending money, but it is much more difficult to root out waste and eliminate outdated programs,” said Starr. “A system to do a regular, top-to-bottom evaluation of state government will help make government leaner and more efficient.”

Starr also noted that the Sunset Advisory Committee concept has been effectively implemented in Minnesota and Texas.