Senator Jack Donahue, head of the streamlining commission said the Louisiana Legislature needs to lead efforts to shape a leaner state government instread of relying on Governor Bobby Jindal to do the work.

The Streamlining Commission has been a fixture in the state Capitol this fall and in the schedules of its members. While it is due to make a report to the Legislature by Jan. 4, its work won't end there.

Its chairman Sen. Jack Donahue saw to that when he wrote into the legislation that the commission will operate through 2012.

With the state of Louisiana facing a $1 billion shortfall in the 2010-11 budget year, Governor Bobby Jindal has charged the Commission on Streamlining Government headed by Senator Jack Donahue to identify $802 million worth of savings by December 15th.

“There is no doubt that we are going to have to reduce state spending, not only to deal with our short-term budget limitations, but also to move toward a more prudent and focused use of taxpayers’ dollars,” Donahue says. "We want to move in that direction with the public’s help.”

Governor Bobby Jindal’s Executive Order creating the Commission for Streamlining Government was a key element in his legislative package and a major first step in addressing our budget crisis.

An official with the Public Service Commission accused the Legislature on Tuesday of unlawfully taking ratepayer money.

Eve Gonzalez, the PSC’s new secretary, told the Commission on Streamlining Government that the state swept the agency’s accounts.

She said the state took roughly $4 million in unspent money.