Reinvent the Advisory Comm on Intergov Relations

1. Charge the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations with
responsibility to improve intergovernmental service delivery.

(Reinvent the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
(ACIR) and charge it with responsibility for continuous improvement in
federal, state, and local partnership and intergovernmental service
delivery.) (2)

ACIR has a relevant charter, a framework for true intergovernmental
collaboration, and the potential for continuous improvement and
performance measurement of the intergovernmental partnership. The
institution does not need to be abandoned; it should be reinvented to
provide an ongoing vehicle for bipartisan intergovernmental policy
debate and research.

Its mission needs to be more clearly focused on performance measurement,
long-term improvements in intergovernmental grantmaking and regulation,
and assessing intergovernmental fiscal impact. The President should work
closely with the Speaker of the House, the Vice President, and
representatives of the organizations that have traditionally nominated
the membership (National Governors' Association, National League of
Cities, etc.) to collaborate in identifying a slate of candidates for
the next full-year term (FY 1994) who are unequivocally committed to
service delivery improvement and management reform. Citizen members
should be drawn from both the private and private non-profit sectors.
Elected and appointed members should be officials with a demonstrated
commitment to innovation and cost-effective delivery of public services.
Congressional members should have a demonstrated interest in government
performance and accountability, as well as a commitment to legislative
reform and modernization.

A strong staff with extensive federal and/or state and local experience
should be recruited and should-- from inception--work very closely with
the Cabinet- level Enterprise Board (discussed earlier) on issues of
mutual interest. A reinvented ACIR could become the honest broker among
and between competing and sometimes conflicting state and local
interest, and competing or uncoordinated federal executive and
legislative agencies. Its primary approach should be one of
facilitation, supported by high caliber research and policy analysis as
well as broad executive and legislative outreach.

In the next five years, a reinvented ACIR should design broader
solutions to the grant proliferation problem and--in cooperation with
strong existing bodies like the National Academy of Public
Administration--accumulate evidence of best practices in the public
sector and ensure their dissemination to policymakers and managers
alike.

Finally, ACIR should be encouraged to establish task forces and provide
opportunities for a wide range of federal, state, and local elected and
appointed officials to offer policy advice, service delivery ideas, and
participate directly in the activities of the Commission.