Minnesota

Minnesota is a well-managed state. Minnesota has been a well-managed state for a long time. But if the political leadership continues down its current route, those sentences may soon have to be written in the past tense.

Since 2001, for example, state government here has excelled in its use of performance information. It tracks the work of its agencies through a publicly available “Department Results” Web site, on which the agencies are required to post goals, measures and their ability to meet targets. Twice a year, each agency must submit a report evaluating its progress in four areas: government reform through technology, financial and capital management, results management and human capital management.

It’s no surprise, given this commitment, that the state also has been successful at long-term planning for its finances. It has a good revenue and expenditure estimating process, and few states are stronger in their use of solid managerial practices to govern contracting. Financial reporting is beyond reproach.

Money A- Long-Term Outlook Budget Process Structural Balance Contracting/Purchasing Financial Controls/Reporting People B+ Strategic Workforce Planning Hiring Retaining Employees Training and Development Managing Employee Performance Infrastructure B Capital Planning Project Monitoring Maintenance Internal Coordination Intergovernmental Coordination Information B+ Strategic Direction Budgeting for Performance Managing for Performance Program Evaluation Electronic Government • Population (rank): 4,919,479 (21) • Average per capita income (rank):    $34,443 (7) • Total state spending (rank):    $26,692,608,000 (16) • Spending per capita (rank):    $5,312 (10) • Governor: Tim Pawlenty (R) • First elected: 11/2002 • Senate: 67 members: 35 D, 31 R, 1 I • Term Limits: None • House: 134 members: 66 D, 68 R • Term Limits: None

Enter the legislature: In a display of grandstanding sufficient to make New York and California look like centers of congeniality, Minnesota’s major political players spent virtually all of 2004 squabbling with each other, forcing the House and Senate to adjourn without passing a capital budget, an omnibus spending bill, or any revenue bills. “There were insurmountable differences,” says one legislative fiscal analyst. “There were disagreements on almost everything you could think of.”

This deeply dismayed many in the state who take pride in its history of managerial excellence. “Decisions have been made more on politics than they have been based on what’s best for Minnesota,” says one executive branch official.

The fuse for the political powder keg was lit when the state’s self-proclaimed apolitical governor, Jesse Ventura, left office in January 2003. Ventura hadn’t gotten along well with either side in the legislature, but this sometimes united the two parties rather than dividing them and made orderly government possible. Ventura’s departure left the legislature without a common enemy, and partisan lines were drawn stronger and bolder than ever before. The GOP House majority found itself in constant conflict with the Democratic majority in the state Senate.

It is a political dispute, not a managerial one, but the consequences for management threaten to be enormous. Take the state’s infrastructure. The level of deferred maintenance for state-owned buildings in Minnesota has been tagged at a minimum of $420 million. With no capital budget and no new bonding bills last year, the problem is getting out of control. “Deferred maintenance is a critical issue at the moment,” says Kath Ouska in the State Architect’s Office. “We’re trying to get a handle on it.”

Other facets of Minnesota management are proceeding rather well despite the political confusion. The state’s personnel systems are solid. Particularly noteworthy was the adoption in 2002 of a Yahoo!-based résumé system, which has made it dramatically easier to post, recruit for and fill positions. Three years ago, applicants had to muck their way through six-page hand-written applications. Now, they can finish in minutes. Posting a job used to take three weeks; now, it’s done in hours. Hiring time has been cut by more than half. Online applicants — who now make up more than 80 percent of the state’s pool — can establish personal job searches, receiving an e-mail notification whenever a job matching their search criteria opens up, regardless of what department the job is in.

It’s been a very impressive innovation. But all the management innovations in the world won’t be enough to save Minnesota from the degenerative effects of endless partisan wrangling. If last year’s political gamesmanship continues, it will only be a matter of time before the state’s ability to deliver a wide range of services will suffer. And at that point, it won’t really matter much how well the state can measure them.

Note: This corrects the launch year for the state’s new résumé system from the version of this article that appears in Governing.

For additional data and analysis, go to: http://results.gpponline.org/minnesota

Copyright © 2005, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are registered trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.