Mississippi Lt. Gov. looking to tackle government reorganization in 2025. Read why

Mississippi Senate leadership wants to pass legislation in 2025 establishing a committee to form a plan to reorganize state government and consolidate several state agencies, boards and commissions.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, as well as Senate Government Structures Committee Chairman Chris Johnson, R-Hattiesburg, told the Clarion Ledger after a Wednesday hearing at the Mississippi State Capitol Building they are both gunning for a reorganization of the state government as a top priority during next year's session.

"We in Mississippi have over 200 boards and commissions," Hosemann said. "This has been on my agenda to get to, but we had education and roads and tax cuts and a lot of other things that were also on our agenda. We're laying the predicate here for a really strong look at Mississippi government. We want to have a very efficient government. As you may have known, through attrition, we've reduced the size of government by about 10% (Since Hosemann took office in 2020)."

Hosemann's words came right after the hearing, which along with several state commissions giving testimony about their structure, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson discussed his office's successful efforts in 2019 to reorganize the Arkansas state government.

That effort concluded with reducing the number of cabinet level positions from 42 to 15 and consolidating several boards and commissions into other state agencies. Examples included combining the state tourism and parks departments, bringing auditing powers away from the state finance department and handing it to the inspector general and combining state police, crime labs and emergency management into a Department of Public Safety, among others. Hutchinson's term as governor expired in 2020.

Hutchinson told lawmakers Wednesday he never fired or laid off a single state employee, but rather consolidated positions after someone left or froze hiring of that position. Altogether, his administration was responsible for reducing the number of state employees by 5,000.

Hutchinson said after he left office, he asked a state senator how his reforms were holding up, and the answer gave him a sigh of relief.

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"He thought for a second, and he said, 'Well, you know, it's just really under the radar,' And I said, that's the best answer I could ever have," Hutchinson said. "That means nobody's trying to dismantle it. They're accepting it as the way we do business in government today, and I'm hopeful that it'll be a lasting impact."

When enacting his plan, Hutchinson established a committee to identify the most responsible way to reduce the state government with a focus on improving access to public services, cost savings and increasing managerial control.

"I don't believe that currently I'm in any position to just draft legislation on how to structure government in Mississippi," Johnson said after the hearing. "I think that there needs to be several people that weigh in on that, just as (Hutchinson) said they did in Arkansas. I definitely think it is worth exploring."

Hosemann said the taskforce he is recommending the Senate pass will have a focus on speed of access for public services, but it will also aim to save some money on salaries and possibly a reduction of rented space for state agencies, boards and commissions.

"We're not looking at this like we'll save some money," Hosemann said. "We probably will save money, but the most thing is to be effective and be available to people we work for."

Other than Hutchinson, Mississippi Public Service Commissioners, Public Service Commissioners and Mississippi Insurance Commissioner also spoke at the meeting about whether their positions should be appointed or elected.

Shad White's government waste study to be released this month:

But state lawmakers aren't the only ones looking to trim some fat out of the state government.

State Auditor Shad White announced on Oct. 16 that he plans to finally release the results of a $2 million Boston Consulting Group study by the end of October. White's office said the report is to detail more than $250 million in government waste in Mississippi. He announced he was working on a finalized version of the report in July.

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Johnson said whether that report will play a role in his and Hosemann's plan remains a question mark, but he, as others in the State Capitol, anxious to read it.

"I'm not familiar with what Auditor White is putting together, but I look forward to reading it, but I think it's going to take a collective effort of many people involved in state government, and perhaps people not currently involved in state government to weigh in on how to make things work the best way," Johnson said.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.