Virginia Aces Government Performance

Once again, this time under Gov. Tim Kaine, Virginia has aced the Pew Center's "Grading the States" report card. Virginia received an A-, along with Utah and Washington, as the top tier of states in the nation. The average state received a B- in the report. The study analyzes how well states manage money, people, infrastructure and information.

Virginia did best in People and and Information, reflecting the dedication to professionalism in our government and the success of the programs to expand the use of information technology to track the results of government efforts advocated and supported by the Warner and Kaine administrations.

The report praises Virginia's dedication to performance and results in government administration.

The trick to making performance measurement work is to avoid the temptation to convert it into simple formulas. Managing a state is just too complicated to yield to one-size-fits-all equations.

And that's what makes Virginia's efforts in this field so impressive: The state avoids formulas and focuses on the harder work of asking why goals and targets aren't being met, then seeks to address the underlying problems. Virginia Performs, the state's performance-accountability system, tracks measurable societal outcomes as well as the agency goals and management benchmarks that will help achieve them.

Firm knowledge of what works and what doesn't makes a difference with budget officers and agency managers — especially when they face reductions in revenue such as the $980 million shortfall Virginia confronts in 2008. Good performance data can make otherwise clumsy cuts more precise and ensure that reductions don't frustrate state goals. - "Grading the States"

The report makes specific observations about Virginia's efforts to improve performance and outcomes in the transportation area. These effots were begun under Gov. Warner in 2003 and continued under Gov. Kaine.

Virginia proves that tracking data — and holding employees accountable for outcomes — can work wondrous efficiencies. Five years ago, a mere 27 percent of Department of Transportation projects were completed on time. Thanks to the VDOT Dashboard, which tracks performance outcomes in seven key areas of transportation management, including construction, 87 percent of projects now come in on time. - "Grading the States"

Perhaps most interestingly the report, which is non-partisan and avowedly neutral in political discussions, points to the cause of many of Virginia's fiscal and financial problems of late.

Virginia has worked hard to improve its long-term fiscal outlook over the past few years. It has enhanced tax administration and compliance activities to speed the receipt of tax revenue, with good results. It has made payments and even prepayments into its mandatory Revenue Stabilization Fund in order to have contingency funds in periods of fiscal decline.

Still, the state has to scramble relentlessly to attain structural balance. Virginia is constantly tweaking its revenue code — it has made tax changes in 15 of the past 20 years. Many of the adjustments have been made in an attempt to undo the lasting budget effects of a poorly planned car-tax repeal and other tax cuts that were made just prior to the 2001-02 recession. Virginia needs to continue working on a thoughtful plan to maintain structural balance in the future. - "Grading the States"

Yes, even the Pew Center believes that "No Car Tax" was a terrible idea, and the cause of many of the fiscal challenges Virginia has faced since the Gilmore administration's misguided plan was put into effect.

Here is what Gov. Kaine had to say about the results.

“My top priority is serving our citizens in a smart and efficient way, and I am so proud of the way our state employees have risen to the challenge. The GPP grade card gives Virginia an A for ‘People,’ and that is the heart of our success. I am also proud of the work that the Council on Virginia’s Future has done on the Virginia Performs website, which focuses our management effort on results and gives citizens unprecedented access to information about state services and outcomes.

“I would also like to thank the General Assembly and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for their continued work and commitment to keeping Virginia one of the best managed states in the nation.

“Achieving a top grade doesn’t mean that we don’t have work to do to improve. The one area where Virginia’s performance achieved less than an A grade was in infrastructure, which offers a timely reminder of the importance of addressing our transportation and state building needs. I look forward to working with our employees and the General Assembly to address these needs and keep Virginia moving forward.” - Gov. Tim Kaine

For the second time in three years, Virginia comes out on top in terms of government performance. We should be proud of our commonwealth and the leaders who have brought us this far. We can hope that our representatives in Richmond will see this report as a spur to address the issues of education and transportation efficiently and effectively in the final budget negotiations to come.