Idaho's legislative Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) held a work session today discussing performance-based budgeting and its possible use. I had the opportunity to present before JFAC and provide our recommendations on how the committee can build on its new process to focus the legislature's budget on performance outcomes.
Along with including examples from other states, I encouraged the JFAC members to ask these questions when writing the budget:
What are the results citizens expect from the state government?
What strategies are most effective in achieving those results?
How should we prioritize spending to buy the activities that are most critical to implementing these strategies?
How will we measure progress?
Is the activity a core function of government or commercial in nature?
If it is a core function, can the service be provided more efficiently and effectively through competitive contracting?
Does it provide a broad public benefit or only serve a special interest?
Does it duplicate the activities of non-profits or other private initiatives?
Does it duplicate the efforts of other state agencies or programs?
Does the activity demonstrate quantifiable performance?
I also encouraged JFAC members to consider the following going forward:
Take a more active and direct role in demanding accountability for agency spending of tax dollars.
Approve statewide priorities and performance targets for agency activities. Make this data publicly available.
Focus spending on outcomes by routinely requesting and using performance information in policy and budget decisions. Place performance targets directly into the budget.
Have JFAC track performance outcomes to facilitate performance-based budgeting like Texas.
Provide an opportunity for public comment before adopting appropriation bills.
Here is a copy of my full JFAC presentation.
You can view the JFAC discussion about performance-based budgeting here.
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