May 7, 2003

REP. GODFREY UNVEILS INITIATIVE TO
IDENTIFY AND REDUCE GOVERNMENT WASTE

Deputy Majority Leader Robert Godfrey (D-Danbury) today announced a major legislative initiative with the goal of making state government more effective, efficient and accountable. Called Operation ACE for Government Accountability, Creativity and Efficiency, the multiyear legislative initiative begins immediately and concludes in the 2005 legislative session.

"I have been beating this drum for years," Rep. Godfrey said. "We must work to reduce government waste and inefficiency. However, the governor’s plan to merge agencies and departments is not the answer. His alleged money saving venture would end up costing us economically and socially by decimating good agencies and valuable programs. With Operation ACE, we have the opportunity to create a lean government without turning it into a mean government."

Operation ACE would be a three-step process:
Step 1: The formation of a bipartisan six-person think-tank.
Step 2: The think-tank would report to an eighteen-member task force.
Step 3: Legislative review and implementation of recommendations.

Rep. Godfrey joined House Majority Leader James Amann (D-Milford) and House Speaker Moira Lyons (D-Stamford) at a press conference in the Legislative Office Building Wednesday to announce Operation ACE.

"It had been more than ten years since we have conducted a comprehensive review of state government and in light of the budget challenge that confronts all of us this is the right moment to get on with the job to make government more effective and accountable," Rep. Amann said.

House Speaker Lyons said, "Operation ACE is a timely idea. It’s been more than a decade since the Thomas and Hull/Harper Commission looked at how we deliver services. It’s high time that we take another look. Times have changed and our state’s needs have changed. Government should be prepared to change with it."

Rep. Godfrey is the State Representative from the 110th district in Danbury. The eight-term Democrat serves as Deputy Majority Leader, as chairman of the House Democrats’ Bill Review Committee, and as a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Legislative Management Committee, and the Public Safety Committee.