Government efficiency is a priority for some states
Published July 27, 2015
by Sarah Curry, John Locke Foundation, The Locker Room, July 27, 2015.
North Carolina tried an experiment, it was called NC GEAR. Government efficiency and performance based budgeting – ways to save dollars or use them more efficiently in state government. Governor McCrory created the office, but both the NC Senate and NC House have left the program out of their budget proposals. Why? Do they not like efficiently run government?
Kansas is making changes to put more emphasis on government efficiency to help offset a difficult budget situation they have encountered.
According to a Topeka newspaper:
Gov. Sam Brownback on Friday expanded the role of the state budget director to include making state government more efficient. The move follows an increasingly tough budget situation in the state over the past year as spending continues to grow while revenue falls short of expectations.For state budget director Shawn Sullivan, his job will now include identifying and implementing efficiencies across state government, the governor’s office said. That includes developing a performance management system and more responsibility over business process improvements. Sullivan’s new title will be Director of Budget and Business Processes.
NC lawmakers don’t have to use the NC GEAR model or follow the model Kansas is implementing, but they do need to do something to make a clear effort that government efficiency or performance based budgeting is a core principle of the budget process in North Carolina.
