Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire wants to close 25 Department of Licensing offices and eliminate more than 150 boards and commissions.

The announcement Monday was part of her broader proposal to “re-boot” state government. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Gregoire is borrowing a page out of Dino Rossi’s playbook.

Rossi was Gregoire’s Republican opponent in last year’s gubernatorial race. On the campaign trail he talked a lot about making government more customer-service friendly.

Now that’s what Gregoire says she wants to do as the state faces a major budget crisis.

Chris Gregoire: “We must have the courage to grab the opportunity to reform. We cannot just ride out the hard times and then go back to business as usual. We must use this crisis to make the changes we know are necessary to position our state for the 21st century.”

Gregoire says she plans to sign an executive order immediately eliminating more than 50 boards and commissions. She will ask the legislature to do away with a hundred more.  

Also, Department of Licensing offices that don’t get a lot of traffic will be closed and replaced with ATM-style kiosks.

Busier licensing offices will stay open longer and be open on Saturdays.