Grading the States introduction THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT Report Card: Wisconsin GOVERNOR Tommy G. Thompson (Republican, elected 1986) LEGISLATURE Assembly — 56 Republicans, 43 Democrats Senate — 18 Democrats, 15 Republicans FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: C+ Wisconsin is required by law to balance its budget, but under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, it has been running a deficit for years. The deficit is going down, from $1.2 billion two years ago to $830 million at the end of fiscal 2000, and that’s good. But the balance between revenues and expenditures is still worrisome. In the current year, with new tax cuts taking effect and substantial use of carry-forward balances, the state spent $475 million more than it took in. Another bad sign: The budget was late again, signed into law in late October for a fiscal year that began in July. On the other hand, investment management practices here are among the best in the country. Debt management is good, with clear Internet disclosure, a complete debt report, and successful efforts to keep debt service between 3 and 4 percent of the operating budget. Procurement and contracting are also respectably managed. CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: B+ By and large, capital management in Wisconsin is well done. The state is strong in tracking and evaluating projects through to implementation. Monthly status reports are produced for the State Building Commission and the legislature. The Building Commission also receives monthly financial reports for consideration prior to taking action on capital requests. Most projects come in on time and on budget. At the moment, however, Wisconsin faces a daunting and potentially overwhelming challenge in its commitment to undertake a major reconstruction of urban freeways, expected to cost up to $6 billion over the next 20 years. Neither the state nor the DOT really knows how this huge project will be funded. The first installment, an interchange redesign in Milwaukee, will start in 2004, so there’s some time to come up with the answer. But not an unlimited amount of time. The transportation department doesn’t calculate its deferred maintenance, although it employs the standard pavement and bridge management systems to assess the condition of its roadways. The DOT does set goals for funding, but it usually underestimates, and that leads to a backlog. HUMAN RESOURCES: A- With the help of a federal grant to identify best practices in labor-management cooperation, Wisconsin is doing exciting things in this area. Recently, five impressive forums were held in the state, with 800 union and civil service representatives attending and sharing opinions under an overall theme of “Working Together.” Labor-management teams have joined forces to fight absenteeism and other chronic problems. With the traditional employee-manager tensions largely under control here, numerous innovations have been possible. In the grievance area, a “pre-filing” step has been initiated, in which management, the union and the employee meet to discuss problems before the formal process begins. The state estimates it has eliminated about 50 grievances a year this way, at a savings of about $5,000 to $6,000 apiece. Meanwhile, the state has eliminated arbitrary restrictions on the number of candidates who can be interviewed for a job, repealed residency requirements and removed restrictions on out-of-state recruiting. This has created a far more flexible personnel system. Training, although not a major problem, is highly decentralized, and officials say the state needs “comprehensive, statewide strategic planning, coordination and leadership in the area of employee development.” MANAGING FOR RESULTS: C This year, all of Wisconsin’s agencies are being required to submit performance measures — with an emphasis on outcomes. If it happens, that will be a big change; just two years ago, only about a quarter of the agencies did any results-oriented measurement at all. The new measures will be tied to the budget and published in the governor’s budget book and on the Internet, making them more visible to stakeholders. But however this venture turns out, Wisconsin still has a long way to go in this category. Up to now, performance measures have not been subjected to any real validation, and have been largely ignored by the legislature. In the words of one official, “the most significant challenge is to change the mindset of legislators, agencies and employees who may question the value of performance measures, feel threatened by them or fear that they will be a fad that will not be continued over time.” INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: B- Wisconsin jumped ahead of most other states by putting its IT infrastructure in place in the mid-1990s, and moving quickly at standardizing its systems. The executive branch built a good technological partnership with universities and courts. But more recently, IT efforts have stumbled. A few bad experiences with projects — notably the difficult installation of an accounting system — have made leaders a little gun-shy. The state would really benefit from a high-level CIO position. And despite a crying need for an enterprise-wide human resources information system and a new budgeting system, the funds haven’t been allocated to get them under way. There does seem to be a growing recognition of the need to get moving again in this field. The governor recently issued an executive order making electronic government a priority. And Wisconsin’s highly developed telecommunications architecture — BadgerNet — gives it a good start. Every school district in the state is now wired for the Internet. One innovation here is the development of central training programs in technology for state agency management. Managers are trained with useful courses outlining trends in technology and explaining the tools available to manage an IT system effectively. AVERAGE GRADE: B- Copyright © 2001, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.