Sold – Reagan Says That Efficiency, Cost Control Will Lead to Better government

One of Reagan’s prime programs as new Governor of California was to reduce the cost of government by making it more efficient. In 1967, he appointed a task force to assess the cost versus value of state government management and administrative practices, and the next year the group submitted a 149-page summary report. Helping sponsor the survey were 187 California firms. Many business and professional people volunteered; business and industry furnished the executives and management specialists on a full-time basis.

Reagan was pleased with the report and dissiminated copies for review and suggestions. Typed Letter Signed on his Office of the Governor letterhead, Sacramento, February 28, 1968, to Frank Turnbull, Sergeant at Arms of the Republican State Central Committee of California, praising what the report would mean to California government and informing him that he would receive a copy. “Under separate cover I am sending you a copy of the Summary Report prepared by the Governor’s Task Force on Efficiency and Cost Control. This summary report represents the findings of the Task Force’s survey which was conducted throughout most of our state departments in an effort to achieve a better, more efficient and responsible government. The Task Force was composed of over 250 outstanding business and professional men who donated their time and expenses to this effort. We believe that their findings can, when implemented. help achieve a turning point in the road to better government. I am sure you will find this report of great interest…”

It was programs like these that made Reagan’s reputation and sent him on the road to the White House.