President Bush has signed into law legislation that will pare the Red Cross’s 50-person governing board to 20 people within five years and will change the role of that board, reports the Associated Press.

The board was criticized as unwieldy after the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. The leaner board will now consider only long-term management decisions, not the daily operations of the Red Cross. An independent review panel proposed the changes last year.

The bill also establishes a Red Cross ombudsman, who will have access to information about all relief campaigns and who will supply Congress with annual reports on the charity.

In addition to those changes, the Red Cross recently named a new chief executive, Mark Everson, who will leave the Internal Revenue Service to take over the charity in late May.

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s article on the challenges facing Mr. Everson.

(Free registration is required to view the AP article on the Washington Post site, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)