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By MICHAEL H. HOLLAND and WILLIAM H. LUKING
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Creative
tension
in the
reorganization
of
state
government Exercising authority granted by the 1970 Constitution, Gov. James R. Thompson has issued six executive orders reorganizing state agencies in the last three years. He is the first governor who has made extensiv use of this authority, which has been clarified by the 1979 Executive Reorganization Implementation Act.
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BY VIRTUE of Article V, Section 11 of the Illinois Constitution, Illinois is one of 17 states whose governors have authority to reorganize departments and agencies by executive order: Illinois is unique, however, in that the legislature has now staked out a role in the reorganization process. Rep. Doug Kane (D., Springfield), cochairman of the new House standing Committee on State Government Organization characterizes these developments as an example of "creative tension" between the executive and legislative branches on matters of reorganization. Recent efforts by Gov. James R. Thompson to reorganize state government by exercising powers granted the governor by the 1970 Constitution have highlighted those tensions and caused the General Assembly to strengthen its hand in the reorganization process by legislating the context within which such efforts can be made.
When the 6th Constitutional Convention met in Springfield, several delegates introduced proposals to provide for gubernatorially initiated reorganization. The most important of these was an executive article proposed by the Con-Con Executive Committee, with a reorganization section substantially in the form of Article V, Section 11 of the Constitution, which allows the governor, by executive order, to "reassign functions among or reorganize executive agencies which are directly responsible to him."
While Delegate Joseph Tecson, Executive Committee Chairman, described the reorganization feature as a "housekeeping function," Delegate Paul Edward viewed the grant of power to the governor to initiate the reorganization process as a threat to the normal executive/ legislative roles and responsibilities. Nonetheless, the reorganization feature of the executive article was adopted by Con-Con with little dissent.
From its effective date of July 1,1971, until Thompson issued executive orders 1977-1 and 1977-2 on March 31, 1977, Article V, Section 11 of the new Constitution was not used because Governors Richard B. Ogilvie and Daniel Walker either ranked reorganization efforts lower than other governmental priorities or lacked the support to make them. Reorganization of state government under the new constitutional authority did surface during the Thompson-Michael J. Howlett campaign as a result of a study undertaken by the Illinois Task Force on Governmental Reorganization, headed by Chicago industrialist Charles W. Bonniwell.
Bonniwell report
Both Thompson and Howlett endorsed the pending Bonniwell report and agreed to consider, if elected, the task force's recommendations concerning the reorganization of the 22 departments organized under the Illinois Civil Administrative Code, the state's 43 major agencies, and 250 other boards, advisory boards and commissions. Where possible, the Bonniwell Report, issued in December of 1976 and titled "Orderly Government," proposed use of
December 1979/ Illinois Issues/ 13
the Article V, Section 11 reorganization mechanism as a governmental tool. In more complex situations, the report proposed statutory reorganization plans to be initiated by the legislature. Article V, Section 11 requires that an executive reorganization plan be received by the General Assembly on or before April 1 for the plan to be considered as received during that session. There is then a period of 60 calendar days after the executive order is delivered to the General Assembly in which either house can kill the order by a record vote of the majority of the members elected. But if the executive order is not disapproved during the 60-day period, it becomes effective not less than 60 calendar days after it was first introduced to the General Assembly. (If, however, the executive order does not contravene existing legislation, the order does not have to go through the legislative process or the 60-day wait and can become effective immediately.)
On March 31, 1977, Gov. Thompson sent Executive Orders Nos. 77-1 and 77-2 to the General Assembly. Both implemented reorganizations proposed by the Bonniwell Report. The first executive order, merging the former Departments of Finance and General Services into a Department of Administrative Services, was noncontroversial and readily accepted by the legislature. The second reorganization plan called for a major and complex reorganization of various Illinois law enforcement agencies and departments by consolidating several governmental units provided for by statute. By the terms of this executive order reorganization, a new Department of Law Enforcement Merit Board replaced the old state Police Merit Board.
This reorganization proposal was not well received in many legislative quarters because, among other reasons, the Police Merit Board was not thought to be an agency directly responsible to the governor. The House Select Committee on State Government Organization, established to consider the governor's reorganization efforts, recommended that the House not accept the plan. The full House rejected the committee recommendation by a slim vote of 79 to 82. The tensions between executive and legislative branches were certainly alive since a change of two votes would have scuttled this initial major Thompson reorganization initiative.
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Executive
orders
for
reorganization
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1977
Administrative services
Executive Order No. 1, creating the Department of Administrative Services by merging the departments of General Services and Finance. Conforming legislation: H.B. 2398 (P.A. 80-57). Signed by the governor July 1, 1977.
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Law enforcement
Executive Order No. 2, reorganizing the Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) into five divisions under the control of one director. Conforming legislation: H.B. 2397 (P.A. 80-56) also created an independent Office of the State Fire Marshall (previously part of DLE). Signed by the governor July 1, 1977.
1978
Energy and natural resources
Executive Order No.l, creating the institute of Energy and Environmental Resources by merging the Institute for Environmental Quality and the division of energy which was part of the Department of Business and Economic Development (BED). Conforming legislation: S.B. 1861 (P.A. 80-1218), by Sen. John J. Nimrod (R., Park Ridge), added the natural history, water and geologic surveys (previously housed in the Department of Registration and Education) to the new agency and renamed it the Institute of Natural Resources. Signed by the governor July 14, 1978.
1979
Vocational rehabilitation
Executive Order No. 1, transferring programs for disabled children and adults from the Department of Children and Family Services to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Conforming legislation: H.B. 455, by Reps. Aaron Jaffe (D., Skokie) and Penny Pullen (R., Park Ridge). Passed both Houses June 25. Signed by the governor August 13 (P.A. 81-177).
Commerce and community affairs
Executive Order No. 3, creating the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs by consolidating BED, the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development, and the Department of Local Government Affairs (DLGA), except for DLGA's property tax functions which would be moved to the Department of Revenue. Conforming legislation: H.B. 1400, by Reps. John W. Hallock(R., Rockford), George H. Ryan (R., Kankakee) and Stiehl. Failed to be called for a vote in the Senate and was recommitted to Reorganization of State Government Committee June 28. Thompson's executive order, however, was not disapproved by the General Assembly and became effective October 1.
Office of Consumer Services
Executive Order No. 6, transferring the Office of Consumer Services (OCS) from the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development to the Office of the Governor effective October 1. Thompson's order transferring OCS did not contravene existing legislation, and it was therefore not necessary to go through the legislative process or the waiting period.
Reorganization
H.B. 921, by Reps. Douglas N. Kane (D., Springfield) and Richard A. Mugalian (D., Palatine), would codify reorganization by executive order and clear up ambiguities in the constitutional provision. Passed both Houses June 30. Signed by the governor September 22 (P.A. 81-984).
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14/ December 1979/ Illinois Issues
Energy organization
Undaunted by this setback in 1977, the House Select Committee chaired by Kane and James M. Houlihan (D., Chicago), employed a different and more successful tactic in reviewing the 1978 energy reorganization executive order. That order designated the Illinois Institute on Environmental Quality (IIEQ) as the Illinois Institute of Energy and Environmental Resources, transferred to it the powers previously exercised by the Division of Energy of the Department of Business and Economic Development, and combined those powers with those of the IIEQ. The governor's specific intention with such action was to ". . . consolidate energy research, planning, conservation and development activities in a single state agency." Pursuant to this order, all the powers, duties and rights previously performed and exercised by the Division of Energy and IIEQ were to be exercised by the redesignated agency.
As in the two 1977 executive reorganization orders, rights of employees of the reorganized agencies were expressly preserved by a clause which continued the effectiveness of existing regulations. The Kane-Houlihan select committee held hearings and carefully reviewed Thompson's proposal. However, in the previous year, this committee had developed its own comprehensive statutory reorganization of related energy agencies including the Division of Energy. These reorganization efforts were contained in Senate Bill 1142 which was passed by both chambers of the General Assembly and amendatorily vetoed by Governor Thompson for reasons unrelated to the reorganization aspects of the legislation.
Legislative 'amendment'
The committee recommended acquiescence by the full House in Executive Order 1978-1, and neither the House nor the Senate rejected the order. At the same time, however, the committee offered implementing legislation which effectively grafted reorganization features proposed in Senate Bill 1142 onto the order, and transferred the State Geological, Natural History and Water Surveys and the Museum Division of the Department of Registration and Education to the new agency. The legislation also renamed the new agency the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources. A majority of the select committee approved these effective changes to Executive Order 1978-1, the bill was passed by the House and Senate, and approved by the governor as Public Act 80-1218. The implications of this process were significant. On the one hand, the governor's executive order was basically upheld. But at the same time, the General Assembly's legislative "amendment" of that order effectively made the governor's action on energy reorganization more consistent with the General Assembly's wishes. The passage of this bill into law was the General Assembly's contribution to the "creative tension" over reorganization between the executive and legislative branches.
In 1979, the governor submitted two reorganization executive orders. The first, transferring the Educational and Rehabilitation Services of the Department of Children and Family Services to the jurisdiction of the Board of Vocational Rehabilitation, was approved by both chambers' committees and became effective in May. A more controversial executive order, No. 1979-3, consolidated the Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development, the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development (GOMHD), and most of the functions of the Department of Local Government Affairs into a Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.
Organized labor groups, including the Illinois American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), opposed including the GOMHD office in a department charged with the responsibility of serving the business community. Accordingly, legislation that was introduced in the House to create a Department of Commerce was amended to exclude GOMHD responsibilities, including Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) programs. The legislation was never passed in final form, and the governor's reorganization was not disapproved by the House or the Senate. It became effective in October 1979.
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Who's who
in new
Department
of Commerce
and
Community
Affairs
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The new Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) consists of an administrative staff and five divisions answerable to the director, John W. Castle, and assistant director, Andrew C. Barrett.
Offices in the department which are directly answerable to the director are: policy and programs, headed by Laird Starrick, Springfield, formerly assistant to the director of the Department of Local Government |
Affairs (DLGA); internal audit, headed by John Schwarberg, Springfield, who was in charge of internal audit at the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development (GOMHD); and external audit, headed by Tom Atherton, Springfield, who managed external audit for GOMHD.
Tom Clark, Springfield, is assistant to DCCA Director Castle. He was formerly Chicago area administrator for DLGA. Clark is responsible for four offices; public affairs, headed by John Elmer, Springfield, formerly director of communications for the Department of Business and Economic Development (BED); legal and legislative liaison, headed by Robert Barry, Springfield, formerly legal counsel for BED; budget, headed by Larry Main, Springfield, formerly BED's chief fiscal officer; and management analysis, headed by Ed Marlin, Kankakee, who coordinated the reorganization for GOMHD.
The Division of Commercial and Industrial Development, which carries out many of the former functions of BED, is managed by Tom Ferguson, Kankakee, who was executive director of the Kankakee Chamber of Commerce. The division's four units are: international business, headed by Al Vosylius, Naperville, who worked for 12 years in the international trade market with McGraw-Edison; development and retention, headed by Dean Whittaker, Springfield, who held the same job at BED; business services, headed by Peter Censky, Chicago, formerly head of GOMHD's small business assistance program (BED and GOMHD hotlines for small businesses have now been merged); and minority business enterprise, headed by Ron Watkins, Chicago, formerly in BED's industrial development program.
The Division of Government and Community Services, which was assigned the work of the Department of Local Government Affairs as well as some of the functions of GOMHD, is managed by George Dinges, Springfield, who was chief of DLG A's office of research and planning. The division has three units: housing and community development, headed by Peter Lennon, Springfield, formerly director of DLGA's areawide development project; local management services, headed by David Cannon, Rochester, formerly chief of DLGA's office of community services; resource conservation (a merger of DLGA and GOMHD programs for energy and water conservation and weatherization), headed by David Farrell, Springfield, formerly head of DLGA's water conservation program.
The Economic Development Services Division will provide technical assistance for downtown improvement and preparedness for industrial expansion. In the past, local chambers of commerce served by BED and local governments served by DLGA sometimes ended up at cross purposes. Division manager is Allan Nathan, Highland Park, an attorney who previously worked as a consultant. The division's three units are: tourism, headed by Sandy Guettler, Chicago, who managed BED's office of tourism; films, headed by Lucy Salenger, Chicago, who managed the same office at BED; and technical assistance, where a chief has not yet been appointed.
The Division of Employment and Training administers the Comprehensive Employment Training Act(CETA) which was formerly under GOMHD. Division manager is Grey Warmer, Virden, who was head of GOMHD's statewide employment and training division. The division's two units are: the statewide training and employment office, headed by Dennis Whetstone, Chatham, formerly head of staff for the Illinois Employment and Training Council; and the balance of state employment and training office, headed by Terry Quertermous, Springfield, who held the same job at GOMHD.
The Division of Administrative Services, which handles agency support operations is managed by Dennis Kelly, Rochester, who was formerly an assistant to Bureau of the Budget Director Robert Mandeville. Under this division are four units: Personnel, headed by Carole Fox, Springfield, formerly personnel officer at Governor's Office of Manpower; support services, headed by Marilyn Marshall, Springfield, formerly support services officer at BED; accounting, headed by Ken Kirby, Springfield, formerly fiscal officer at GOMHD; and management information (temporarily headed by Kirby).
The main mailing addresses of DCCA are: 222 South College Street, Springfield,Ill. 62706 and 205 West Wacker Drive, 11th Floor, Chicago, Ill. 60606.
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December 1979/ Illinois Issues/ 15
Benefiting from the experiences of Gov. Thompson's first term and anticipating the 1979 executive reorganization orders discussed above, the House Select Committee reported to the 80th General Assembly late in 1978 and recommended that standing reorganization committees in both chambers be institutionalized. In response to questions raised and unanswered through the two-year process, the House Selecl Committee recommended the adoptior of an Executive Reorganization Implementation Act which would:
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"require that reorganization executive orders under Article V, Section 11, be printed and published with the session laws, and mandating that all such executive orders preserve all existing substantive requirements of the Civil Administrative Code;"
"require that any agency reorganized by executive order pursuant to Article V, Section 11 periodically report to the General Assembly for a period of three years following the effective date of the executive order;"
"define which agencies are directly responsible to the Governor (a) by establishing principles in a detailed definition and/ or (b) enumerating these agencies;" and
"define when a reorganization under Article V, Section 11 'contravenes' a statute." |
All of these recommendations were incorporated into bill form and introduced by Reps. Kane and Richard Mugalian (D., Palatine), Houlihan's successor as co-chairman of what was now the House Standing Committee on State Government Organization, as House Bill 921. As a measurable concession to the increased significance of reorganization matters, both houses
of the General Assembly had institutionalized
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their new reorganization review process through standing committees at the opening of the 81st General Assembly in 1979. The bill passed the House, was amended by the new Senate standing Committee on Reorganization of State Government chaired by Sen. Dawn Clark Netsch (D., Chicago), and, with those changes, was presented to the governor who signed the bill into law on September 22 as Public Act 81-984.
Rep. Kane and Richard J. Carlson, an aide to Thompson on reorganization, disagree about the significance of the act. Kane sees the provisions of the act
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December 1979/ Illinois Issues/ 17
as insurance against sweeping and irresponsible reorganization efforts by some future executive who might lack Thompson's restraint.
| Carlson, however, believes the law is unnecessary because interactions between the legislative and executive branches have been "socialized" through the experiences of Thompson's reorganization efforts thus far. Given the vagueness of Article V, Section 11, Public Act 81-984 should have some specific impact. While the Con-Con delegates clearly gave the governor certain powers to reassign functions and duties among state agencies, they also failed to define terms like "reorganization" and "function." According to Kane, the ultimate effect of the new law will depend upon what reorganization proposals are made by Illinois governors in the future to revamp the structure of state government without introducing formal legislation. Whether more
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clearly defined obligations and responsibilities will enhance or stifle creativity remains to be seen. Creative or not, however, the tensions will remain.
William H. Luking and Michael H. Holland are Chicago attorneys who have written on the legal aspects of Illinois executive reorganization. Both served as special counsel to the House Select Committee on Government Organization.
18/ December 1979/ Illinois Issues
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