Vermont

Most years, about 150 moose are killed by cars in Vermont. Despite the fact that these animals weigh as much as half a ton, they are real road hazards in part because their eyes don’t sparkle in the headlights, and their hair doesn’t reflect the gleam of oncoming cars. This is not just bad news for moose. Every couple of years, a driver is killed in a collision with one. It may sound like an exotic problem, but at its heart, it’s similar to a multitude of issues that demonstrate the complexity of interagency management in any state bureaucracy. Most states would have trouble dealing with an issue of this sort. Efforts by transportation officials to solve it on the driver side would conflict with environmental initiatives to see it from the moose point of view.

What matters is that Vermont doesn’t usually have problems of this sort. To some extent, that’s because it’s a small state with a small bureaucracy. But even more, it’s because Vermont has a holistic managerial style that evidences itself throughout state government. To meet the moose challenge, Transportation and the Department of Fish and Wildlife got together and are creating so-called “critter crossings,” safe places for moose and other wild animals to get across the roads. “We work with a moose map,” says Patricia McDonald, the former transportation secretary, “that shows where the cars and the moose meet on the roads.”

Personnel policies in Vermont benefit from a similar holistic approach put in place a few years ago by an interagency human resources team. In the old days, as in most states, the salary allotment for unfilled vacancies in individual departments was simply used by those departments as a kind of slush fund for other needs. This happened even when other agencies were short on budgeted positions.

Money B+ 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): 608,827 (49) • Average per capita income (rank):    $30,740 (22) • Total state spending (rank):    $3,511,510,000 (47) • Spending per capita (rank):    $5,701 (7) • Governor: James Douglas (R) • First elected: 11/2002 • Senate: 30 members: 21 D, 9 R • Term Limits: None • House: 150 members: 83 D, 60 R, 7 I • Term Limits: None

But the state’s management leadership instituted a new rule: Vacant positions in Vermont go into a pool and are available to any department with demonstrated need. As a result, the state was able to bring a new prison on line without adding any new positions.

Of course, success at job pooling and interagency coordination doesn’t make all managerial problems disappear. A difficult implementation of the state’s new financial management information system has caused recent financial reports to be delayed. In infrastructure, Vermont has had ongoing problems providing enough cash to properly maintain its roads. “We have all these charts and graphs that show that we should be spending $152 million to maintain roads and bridges,” says one high-ranking state official, “and we’re spending $62 million. We send that to the legislature every year. We do condition reports of every road. It’s all right in front of them, and it’s very sad.”

Vermont is making positive steps toward better measurement of program performance, though “it’s spotty in the agencies,” admits Stephen Klein, the legislative fiscal officer. Assessment is generally good in areas where the agency budgets are substantial, such as transportation and human services, which have solid measures of results. It’s less good in public safety and commerce.

One thing Vermont does consistently well is solicit public input. Legislators can hardly pick up a six-pack at the grocery store without hearing suggestions from a constituent. But unlike some other small states — which seem to count almost exclusively on this kind of personal contact — Vermont actively solicits citizen opinion. Last summer, seven public hearings focusing on public transportation were held in an effort to bring large groups of taxpayers together with the state’s Regional Planning Commission. At the end of each meeting, discussions were encouraged about specific roads, bridges and culverts. “It’s very important that the public get input and get feedback,” says former Transportation Secretary McDonald. “That’s key.”

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

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