Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman will push for a number of local government reforms in the legislative session.
Some of Skillman's legislative agenda also incorporates items the governor is also including pushing for township government reform, anti-nepotism and conflict of interest statutes. A major portion of her proposal will focus on putting financial control back into local hands. That includes allowing local governments to transfer surplus money between different funds and giving cities, towns and counties the ability to seek referendums for additional operating expenses – the same way schools can.
"There are times when local leaders feel that their hands have been tied by legislative action and they have little to no local flexibility," Skillman says.
Skillman says while she does not expect support from local government leaders on all her proposals, she has found broad support when meeting with them for many of the items on her agenda.