Governor Charles D. Baker's Budget Recommendation - House 1 Fiscal Year 2018

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Cover Letter Article 87 Reorganization - Department of Public Safety


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Massachusetts State Seal Outlined 300 Blue spot
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
STATE HOUSE ▪ BOSTON, MA 02133
(617) 725-4000
CHARLES D. BAKER
GOVERNOR
KARYN E. POLITO
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

January 25, 2017

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives:

As provided in Article LXXXVII of the Amendments to the Constitution, I submit for your consideration “An Act to Reorganize the Department of Public Safety.”

This Article 87 plan will transfer the functions currently within the Department of Public Safety to the Division of Professional Licensure and to the Department of Fire Services.  This will enable the Commonwealth to consolidate licensing functions currently split across several secretariats, thereby increasing efficiencies, eliminating redundancies, and improving customer service by creating one-stop shopping for the vast majority of license approvals.  It should also save the Commonwealth approximately $800,000 in FY2018.

Specifically, this bill establishes an Office of Public Safety and Inspections to be housed within the Division of Professional Licensure, within the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.  It then transfers all of the non-fire-related functions of the Department of Public Safety to the Office of Public Safety and Inspections and the fire-related functions to the Department of Fire Services.

This bill would also change the distribution of agencies under the undersecretaries within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to more closely align with their areas of expertise.

In addition, the bill makes technical changes to reflect the transfer of functions, removes outdated references, and updates antiquated language.

Accordingly, I urge your favorable consideration of this plan to consolidate licensing functions and increase the efficiency and accountability of our government for the people of the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

Charles D. Baker


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