The Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) was created in 1999 to bring together into one governance body almost all of the state's community and technical colleges. Driven primarily by the need for increased workforce training capabilities, Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster and other top governmental officials promoted the idea as a simplification of the complex and inefficient governance structure in operation at the time. Using the three-pronged California system of higher education as a model, the proponents of the LCTCS sought to take the first step in shifting typical community college functions from expensive four-year institutions to the more economical community colleges. Doughtery's (1994) State Relative Autonomy Theory provides the best theoretical framework for understanding the process behind the establishment of the LCTCS.