Battle over streamlining state government is just beginning

(Harrisburg) — One of the biggest administrative proposals on Governor Tom Wolf’s budget is a plan to merge four cabinet-level agencies into one, and battle lines ovef the plan are already being drawn.

Governor Wolf wants to consolidate the Departments of Health, Human Services, Aging and Drug & Alcohol Programs into one “Department of Health & Human Services.”

During a House budget hearing for the Department of Aging, Secretary Teresa Osborne butted heads with Republican State Rep Tim Hennessey, Chair of the Aging & Older Adult Services Committee.

“This is a model that works currently in federal government.  The federal governmernt structure is very similar to what Pennsylvania is proposing,” Osborne said.

Hennessey countered, “That’s not what we have now.  We have a cabinet-level voice, in you, speaking directly to the governor.  The proposal takes you three steps away from that.  That simply removes the elderly from the governor’s purview.”

Even Democrats who support the merger plan say it could be an uphill battle.