Heeding the maxim that there is opportunity in crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has trotted out a new, albeit much smaller, version of his 2004 "blow up the boxes" government reorganization plan.

The 2009 version is part of the labyrinthine $40 billion state budget-fixing proposal the administration released Wednesday.

Included in the voluminous scheme are 17 proposals to combine, cut or realign various boards, commissions and programs, including:

• Consolidating the state Hearing Aid Dispensers Bureau with the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board.

• Combining the state boards of geologists and geophysicists into one entity representing the interests of scientific disciplines that begin with the "geo" prefix.

• Leaving it up to local school districts, rather than the state, to issue work permits to child actors.

All of these ideas, according to Schwarzenegger administration officials, represent "an opportunity for state government to increase efficiency, spend less and eliminate duplication and functions that are not absolutely critical."

They also represent a much more modest version of the governor's efforts five years ago to reshape state government.

In 2004, a 275-member task force put together a 2,500-page report that recommended eliminating 12,000 state jobs and hundreds of appointed positions to save the state an estimated $32 billion over five years.

But the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office estimated total savings at less than half the $32 billion. And legislative resistance, opposition from vested interests such as state employee unions and sheer bureaucratic inertia kept most of the recommendations from being adopted.

Victoria Bradshaw, who heads the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said that while she couldn't say exactly how much the state would save by Wednesday's proposed actions, such as consolidating the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau with the Board of Accountancy, it probably is a lot.

"It could be upwards of several hundred millions as well as billions going out" in future fiscal years, she said.

She added that if all the suggestions were adopted by the Legislature, it could abolish as many as 20 boards and commissions, and get rid of 220 board and commission directors and their support staff.

The administration did provide savings estimates for two of the 17 proposals: Consolidating the Postsecondary Education Commission and the Student Aid Commission would save $2 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year, and "realigning" the California Conservation Corps by eliminating the state-level organization would save $17 million.

While $19 million seems like chump change when compared to the $40 billion deficit, Bradshaw pointed out that the plan was sending a message to taxpayers.

"We want to assure people that we are continuing to look at ourselves, that government itself is trying to reform and to become efficient," she said.

Not everyone thinks all of the proposed changes are going to increase efficiency.

Of the proposal to eliminate the state CCC and pass on its functions to 12 local nonprofit groups, for example, Bruce Saito said, "I think it's a terrible idea."

Saito, who is executive director of the Los Angeles corps, said the local groups are not trained as well as the state corps to respond to emergencies such as wildfires.

He also pointed out that the California corps has residential centers scattered around the state, which makes it easier for the state group to respond to emergencies more quickly.

"That's been their focus and mission for 30 years," Saito said. "The local corps are not prepared to do that."

It may be the administration is hopeful that the local corps would be as flexible as the governor's advisers in times of crisis.

On Dec. 2, for example, The Bee's editorial board recommended the abolition of the state's Integrated Waste Management Board, on the grounds that its areas of responsibility could be handled by other state agencies and because its main purpose seemed to be to function as a place for former legislators or gubernatorial staff members to land a $132,000-a-year job.

The editorial drew a sharp response from Linda S. Adams, who heads the administration's Environmental Protection Agency. She called the board a valuable component of the state's efforts to protect public health and safety.

"The work of the board and its staff is an admirable reflection of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's commitment to protect our environment and the people of California," Adams wrote on Dec. 7.

On Wednesday, the governor recommended getting rid of the board.

Call Steve Wiegand, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1076.