Gov. Bob McDonnell's government reform commission on Monday advanced dozens of proposals aimed at increasing efficiency, saving dollars and reducing bureaucracy — and members also found time to discuss hair braiding, body waxing and toe fungus.
Before a standing-room-only crowd at the state's Patrick Henry Building, the commission sped through most of its work, approving nearly all of the 50 workforce suggestions.
The wide-ranging recommendations, now awaiting the governor's approval, would consolidate various governmental departments and committees, eliminate dozens of boards, and deregulate certain industries and occupations.
Although cutting the Hemophilia Advisory and Polygraph Examiners Advisory boards and deregulating mold inspectors won't be of concern to many Virginians, some suggestions are more significant.
For example, the 31-member panel gave its collective nod to:
- merging the Department of Rehabilitative Services and the Department for the Aging, and then merging that new combined department with the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing;
- eliminating the Interagency Dispute Resolution Council, the Commonwealth Competition Council and the Child Day Care Council, assigning oversight of child-care centers to the Board of Social Services; and
- eliminating the Virginia Council on Human Resources, Sewage Handling and Disposal Appeal Review Board, the Purchase and Supply Procurement Appeals Board and Virginia Public Buildings Board.
The committee also suggested a five-year moratorium on the regulation of any new industry in Virginia and directing the state's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to study the impact of industry regulations.
Committee Chairman Fred Malek suggested that even that was not enough.
"We are an over-regulated society," he said, asking staff members to come back with proposals for how to launch a sweeping review of every state department and agency's regulations.
Referring to a proposal to end the licensing of hair braiders, commission member Maurice McTigue, a former New Zealand Parliament member and Cabinet minister, suggested doing away with the entire Board for Barbers and Cosmetology, which regulates 73,000 businesses and individuals licensed in everything from cosmetology and nail care to body waxing, tattooing and piercing.
Calling them "licensing schemes," McTigue said that the stringent requirements necessary to work in some professions were "patently ridiculous."
Gordon Dixon, director of the state's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, said health and safety concerns precluded deregulating all of the professions under the board's purview.
Alexandria City Councilwoman and commission member Alicia Hughes agreed, adding that "you can have a bad day, a bad year" if something goes wrong with chemicals at the hair salon.
"I have watched nails get completely filled with fungus and the person has a lifetime fungal infection on their feet, on their hands," added committee member Alexandra "Sandy" Liddy Bourne. "I don't think we want to get in the way of some good public health standards."
The board delayed action on a proposal to reform and simplify state employee leave rules and procedures. There are currently 17 categories of leave with a complex and costly system of payouts.
The approved recommendations will be sent to McDonnell this week for review.
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