Gregoire gives 56 boards and commissions the axe, wants to cut over 100 more

I found this story thanks to The Seattle Courant. It's great that Gregoire is finding new ways to balance the budget, but after a look at the list of doomed boards and commissions, I'm not so sure how I feel about this move. Out of 192 boards and commissions that will be eliminated, are scheduled to be eliminated on 6/30/2010, or are under review to possibly be eliminated:

• 31 are environmentally oriented
• 39 are for Public Health
• 14 are Special Needs or Disabilities focused
• 18 are focused on Education
• 7 are for Families and/or Children and
• 22 are concerned with Public Safety or Justice (The counts and the headings are my own)

I really don't know what this means for public health or the environment in the State of Washington or any of the other subjects I've listed. Maybe all these commissions are as useless as the governor says they are and they should be cut. If not, we're going to lose a lot of useful information on education, special needs and disabilities, etc. that could have informed decision-makers in Olympia.

Do you have any idea what the consequences will be, if any? Give me a holler in the comments.