Performance Management
By Governor
Timothy M. Kaine
Capitol Connections
June 25, 2007
One of my top priorities is ensuring that our state government is well managed and focused on delivering results that sustain and enhance our quality of life. For Virginia to hold its ground and make sure that we are positioned to compete in today’s global economy, we must increase the number of Virginians who have strong reading and math skills, outstanding technical and professional competencies, and the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.
Because these challenges cannot be solved by one leader, by one electorate, or by any one branch or level of government acting in isolation, the General Assembly established the Council on Virginia’s Future to ensure a long-term focus on high priority issues. As Governor, it is my privilege to chair the Council, which includes senior General Assembly members, citizen and business leaders, and Cabinet members. Together, we have created a substantive performance leadership and accountability system and a robust new tool, a website called Virginia Performs (www.vaperforms.virginia.gov/). The website describes how Virginia is doing on a variety of important indicators and tracks service performance and progress by state government in achieving long-term objectives.
Virginia Performs gives citizens an opportunity to see the real world results of our efforts to make Virginia government smarter and more efficient. Strategic planning, performance budgeting, and productivity improvement are the driving forces for improving the Commonwealth’s performance in a variety of areas. Collectively, they provide the structure and substance of our performance leadership and accountability system.
For example, agencies work with my office, the Department of Planning and Budget and others to set performance targets and measure progress. These targets encompass a broad array of areas that affect our quality of life: such as, increasing the high school graduation rate, increasing the percentage of third graders passing the third grade reading standards of learning test, reducing the percentage of adults who are obese or smoke and increasing the acres of land that are preserved for conservation purposes. Once the goals are set, agencies are required to report their progress on the Virginia Performs website at regular intervals, so that citizens can see how Virginia government is working for them.
The website also offers a comprehensive look at the quality of life in Virginia in areas that affect citizens and business. Citizens can see how the Commonwealth is performing from region to region and compared to other states, track progress in their communities and monitor activity on important issues. In some areas, we are doing very well; in others, we clearly face challenges. For example, while Virginia ranks among the top ten states in the nation on most of our economic indicators, our rankings for indicators such as infant mortality, fourth grade math, and voter turnout fall below the top twenty states.
In many ways, the easiest part of our quest is behind us. Now, we must review our progress, make adjustments where necessary, and use this information to improve our future policy and budget decisions. As I begin work on the 2008-2010 biennial budget, I recognize that we will continue to be challenged to do more with less. Throughout this process, I will insist that we focus on goals and outcomes for the future, using real measures of effectiveness to make hard decisions. I will challenge our state government leaders to be innovative and find new ways to deliver high-priority services in more efficient and effective ways. We will have to change programs and in some cases even reduce or eliminate them. I know this process will be difficult. But we must begin with the end in mind: to ensure a strong and vibrant future for all Virginians.