N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143A-1

History

(1971, c. 864, s. 1.)

Government Efficiency and Reform. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 6.5(a)-(f), provides: "(a) The Office of State Budget and Management shall contract for a Government Efficiency and Reform review and analysis of the executive branch of State government, which shall be known as NC GEAR. The purpose of the review and analysis is to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of State government and to identify specific strategies for making State government more efficient and effective. The review and analysis may examine entire departments, agencies, institutions, or similar programs in different departments. The review and analysis shall include an examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of major management policies, practices, and functions pertaining to the following areas:

"(1) The statutory authority, funding sources, and functions of each department, agency, institution, or program.

"(2) The organizational structure and staffing patterns in place to perform these functions and whether they are appropriate based on comparative data and other reasonable staffing criteria.

"(3) The measurement of each reviewed program's outcomes, overall performance, and success in accomplishing its mandated or stated mission and subsequent goals, considering the resources provided to the program.

"(4) State and local responsibilities for providing government services and funding for those services, and whether these responsibilities should be reallocated.

(5) Personnel systems operations and management.

"(6) State purchasing operations and management.

"(7) Information technology and telecommunications systems policy, organization, and management.

"(8) The identification of opportunities to reduce fragmentation, duplication, and related or overlapping services or activities through restructuring of departmental organizations and streamlining programs.

"(b) All executive branch departments, agencies, boards, commissions, authorities, and institutions in the executive branch of State government, including receipt-supported agencies, and all non-State entities receiving State funds shall be subject to review and analysis. The chief administrative officer of each entity shall ensure full cooperation with the Office of State Budget and Management and provide timely responses to the Office of State Budget and Management's request for information under the provisions of G.S. 143C-2-1(b).

"(c) The Office of State Budget and Management will work collaboratively with the Office of State Auditor to develop the review, analysis, and findings needed to produce a final report and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly.

"(d) The contracting provisions of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes and related State purchasing and budget regulations do not apply to NC GEAR; however, the Office of State Budget and Management shall report all external contracts for consultants or professional services within 30 days of their execution to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Fiscal Research Division, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

"(e) The Office of State Budget and Management shall submit an interim report of the NC GEAR's analysis, findings, and recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Fiscal Research Division, and the Program Evaluation Division by February 15, 2014, and a final report by February 15, 2015.

"(f) Funds appropriated for NC GEAR shall be used to contract with consultants and other experts and to pay for travel, postage, printing, planning, and other related costs as needed to accomplish the objectives specified for the project. Funds appropriated for the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium for NC GEAR shall not revert at the end of each fiscal year but shall remain available for expenditure for the project."

Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'"

Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium."

Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, is a severability clause.