California Performance Review Report
As covered in the "Consolidation in the Air" article in this newsletter, Government for the People for a Change is a four-volume performance review of California’s state government containing far-reaching recommendations. The full report is available online in four hefty volumes:

I. Prescription for Change (a summary of the recommendations)

II. Form Follows Function (a review of the proposed new structure which sets forth a framework within which all programs are aligned by function - in practice, this would place all disciplinary activities, including those for professional discipline, within the same area). 

Also in the second volume is a section on Evaluating California's Boards and Commissions which proposes eliminating 118 boards and commissions, while retaining their functions. 

Among those proposed for abolition are:
Alarm Company Operator Disciplinary Review Committee
Architects Board
Landscape Architect Technical Committee
Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
Contractors' State Licensing Board
Court Reporters Board
Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun
Private Security Disciplinary Review Commission (North/South)
Real Estate Advisory Commission
Service Agency Advisory Committee
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board
Board of Geologists and Geophysicists
Structural Pest Control Board
Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine Advisory Committee
Commission on Emergency Medical Services

III. Keeping the Books

IV. Issues and Recommendations 

A performance audit report on Montana's Professional Licensing activities was released in June 2004. The legislature had charged its Legislative Audit Division with looking at five aspects of professional and occupational licensing: board composition, department administrative services, licensing fees, public protection, and disciplinary activities.

The auditors found that Montana licensing boards have more public members on average than other regulatory boards in Montana and other states.  The report also found that the boards use licensure requirements and discipline activities appropriately to protect the public. The report makes a number of recommendations regarding administrative practices (e.g., staggering renewal dates so temporary assistance is unnecessary, and standardizing administrative fees and disciplinary procedures).  

Illinois Department of Health Suspends EMT Testing
The Illinois Bureau County Republican reports that the Illinois Department of Health has temporarily suspended testing of emergency medical technicians because of alleged cheating by Chicago firefighters.

Open Encyclopedia Worth a Visit

Wikipedia is an open encyclopedia that is continuously updated by anyone (writing in any language) who wishes to edit the articles. The concept has caught the fancy of leading experts in many fields. It has several good articles of interest to the CLEAR community. A sampling:

European Professional Qualification Directives
Profession
Administrative Law

US: State Fiscal Outlook

In a pair of interesting articles Paul Mullon with Metrofile in South Africa argues that "when it comes to records that need to be retained over the long term with few access requests, technology falls short" (see Media matters: Choosing the most appropriate storage medium). He suggests that "while disk is an IT vendor's dream, it is an archivist's nightmare" and recommends relying on an old standard for data longevity (see Microfilm outperforms disk archives).

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