She asked the Legislature for that authority today while announcing her administration will ask companies to bid on several back-office functions of state government: bulk printing, website development and mail service.
The Legislature passed a law last winter creating the Department of Enterprise Services and authorizing it to consider outsourcing of back-office services. DES says about 30 printing employees and 13 others would be affected if those three are contracted out.
The agency has already gone to bid on another service, storage and distribution of printed items, Gregoire said.
But the Democratic governor wants to expand on those by finding out whether a private business could run a more efficient Lottery. The state would keep oversight of the program and would not seek an expansion of games. Gregoire's budget staff doesn't have an estimate for what they hope to save.
The governor also proposed a series of other ideas she described as government reforms.
She wants the Legislature to eliminate the paid, three-person Liquor Control Board, which she said is no longer needed now that voters have approved Initiative 1183 privatizing liquor sales. A director would handle the agency's remaining work of handing out liquor licenses and enforcing the law, saving $780,000 a year.
She will make other reforms on her own without lawmakers:
Expand "Lean" techniques for efficiency to all Cabinet agencies. Eliminate mailing of renewal notices and vehicle licenses, saving $1 million in the current two-year cycle and $5.3 million in future cycles. Replace license plates every 10 years instead of every seven, saving $1 million now and $4 million in future cycles. Stop printing calendars for state agencies, saving $30,000 a year.
