5/16/2008
Is it "Pepsi" time in Madison?
FoxPolitics News this week included a great piece by Rob Henken of the Public Policy Forum. Rob penned his words Monday, before both the Senate and the Assembly voted on the bill meant to balance a state budget that’s coming up well short of projected revenues.
Henken speaks of summer as the season of “foreboding: the start of a long and difficult budget process.” Of course, it’s not only the state that’s in tough budget straits this year – many municipalities and school districts are struggling as well.
But then he turns positive and constructive:
… what if this year -- instead of grappling with their immense problems in private all summer and then springing agonizing budget decisions on the public in the fall -- these officials engaged the public early in the process and leveled with citizens about their challenges?
Henken references a recent article by Phoenix’ city manager describing exactly this process.
Faced with certain public uproar over unavoidable decisions to cut services, city leaders launched a comprehensive public information campaign to inform citizens about the causes and nature of their challenges and the menu of difficult options from which they would have to choose. The city even went so far as to create an 8-page primer on budget options in tabloid form that was inserted in the Sunday newspaper. The result was a rational debate that apparently was high on public empathy and low on hyperbole and friction.
A rational debate. As city manager Fairbanks described,
The public listened to each other as much as they listened to us. People tend to support their personal interests, but in these meetings they had to listen to other residents whose concerns differed from their own when it came to cutting services. And although they might still be partial to their favorite issue or department, they saw balance in the proposed cuts and that the cuts were developed fairly. [my emphasis]
This makes me think of the Sheboygan County benefit analysis process I’ve oft touted. Supervisors actually evaluated and prioritized services and programs – 207 of them. (Here’s the report - it's long and takes time to load.) An amazing amount of work. The Sheboygan Program Evaluation and Prioritization Committee (PEPC – say “Pepsi”) rated all programs and services based on – believe it or not - a program’s effectiveness!!! Look at PEPC’s well thought-out rating form yourself – it’s the last page of the report, linked above. It’s great stuff for effective prioritizing and decision-making for public sector budgeting.
Henken’s article takes the jump then from county budgets to a state budget – and a huge state budget at that.
Another approach employed in California by the non-profit Next 10 (and highlighted in a Milwaukee Talkie blog post last fall) invites citizens to log on to a web site and take the California Budget Challenge, an interactive tool that requires them to try to balance the state budget themselves. More than 40,000 Californians have taken the challenge so far -- you can do so by clicking here.
It’s all about balance – give and take by the public. By us. By you and me and yes, by the legislators and governor who represent us and by the thousands of employees who perform the services for us day in and day out.
Last Sunday, the Post-Crescent editorialized that the state must look at real cuts to balance our budget. It railed against “cost-shifting, accounting maneuvers or other trickery.”
The prospect of actually cutting $500 million out of the budget might be so enlightening that we would learn where our state's true priorities are. What we're willing to pay for, what we're not willing to pay for and maybe even what we're willing to pay more for.
Yes, the state budget covers a whole lot more than 207 programs – but perhaps, just perhaps, it’s PEPC time in Madison.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Jo,
Brilliant and so obvious. Bravo for Sheboygan. Unfortunately however the larger the organization (any organization) the more that politics enters into the equation. After all, we elect people for lots of reasons other than their technical competency. Remember that we still have budget balancing laws and paperwork reduction act notices in place at the federal level? Imagine the chaos if there were real debates about federal budgets. On the state level (which maybe you will have the opportunity to affect) individual agencies should be able to accomplish a ranking as was done in Sheboygan if given proper direction and shelter from the political winds of all directions. The process used here is no different than part of the processes of zero based budgeting. Unfortunately, many organizations employ no such process.
dave allen (Fri May 16 07:07:31 2008)
Jo:
I hate to keep beating the same old drum, but unless you elect representatives for the state and local levels that are willing to take the extra effort to prioritize programs, you will continue to get only lip service to addressing the budgetary problems.
Hopefully Jo you will be able to address this at the state level. Jim Steinike, one of the supervisors on the Outagamie County Board, has tried in vain to initiate a priority setting session similar to Sheyboygan, but has been stone walled by the people who do not want to change and are satified with the status quo.
The upcoming budget will be the most difficult in the last decade and the board and Administration should be discussing openly the priorities now and not wait until fall when the official public hearing takes place.
My opinion is that the Administration will be proposing higher taxes including a sales tax for Outagamie County. You should contact your supervisor and/or the County Executive to ask them how they will be addressing the upcoming budget. Mike Thomas
Mike Thomas (Fri May 16 09:14:42 2008)
Jo - Great piece today. I agree that it is time to do a thorough review of state government and its programs. It would also be wise at the same time to define (or redefine) the mission of the state government. We have gone so far beyond what its purpose is that we can't figure out how to get back to basics.
Mr. Thomas is correct in that I have been pushing for a "PEPC" type program at the county. We have begun discussions on the issue, and while there has been some initial resistance, I believe that in the end we will have some type of system in place to review, prioritize and determine the effectiveness of county programs and services. Whether it follows the Sheboygan County model, the Lean standards adopted by many corporations, or perhaps a combination of the two, both county and state residents deserve elected officials that are willing to makes some tough decisions regarding the size and scope of both units of government. If we fail to do so, I'm quite afraid of what the future holds for the economy in our fine state.
Jim Steineke (Fri May 16 10:22:33 2008)
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