Private Enterprise Review Board

This report addresses the Private Enterprise Review Board’s viability and impact on state government services. PERB was established in 1983 to provide a mechanism by which an independent body could review state government functions that compete with private enterprise. PERB’s ten volunteer members primarily review complaints about state agencies competing with private enterprise and solicit and evaluate written notices of interest from the private sector to perform functions that are currently performed by a state agency. While PERB has made efforts to address recommendations from a 1996 Auditor General performance audit regarding increasing its public visibility and implementing procedures for handling cases brought before it, the continued needs for PERB remains questionable. In the last two years, PERB has received and conducted hearings on only five cases within its purview. Of those cases, PERB’s activities appear to have positively impacted only one area of state government. Additionally, since the last audit, other entities have been established in state government that could likely perform the same functions as PERB.