Report Purports to Support Fewer Reports
A 668-page report prepared by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission purports to support less reports. This Texas government report says that the state requires too many reports.
The Houston Chronicle had fun reporting on this last month. Oh, the irony.
But what the humungous report tells us is not shocking. Politicians like to require reports. And bureaucracies exist to make and file those reports. And most of them do no good whatsoever.
The new report project took a year and a half, with more than 170 agencies canvassed. The state of Texas used to compile a list of around 400 reports, required by law and sent in by agencies. The report commission, however, found more than 1,600. And there are probably many more that haven’t been uncovered.
You see, it turns out that quite a few reports are required to be made and sent to government agencies . . . that no longer exist.
Not surprising. Governments are bureaucracies, and bureaucracies live by paperwork.
Still, the commission found over 400 obsolete reporting requirements, or double requirements. Texas bureaucrats hope to streamline the process.
Good for them. And maybe, soon, it will be easier for Texas citizens to review the reports, too. That’s the final use for a report: citizen review.
It might even be that, were it easier to review government reports, there’d be less support for government activities that require reports.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
