The Council of State Governments - WEST
March 20, 2013
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66th
Annual Meeting
Registration
Now Open
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July 30 - August 2, 2013
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Upcoming Webinars
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Foreign Direct Investment: Economic Development Strategies for States
Wednesday, March 27,
2 p.m. EDT
Report Card
for America's Infrastructure
Thursday, April 4,
2 p.m. EDT
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Contact Us
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CSG-WEST
1107 Ninth St.
Suite 730
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916.553.4423
Fax: 916.446-5760
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Performance Based Budgeting
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Eye on the Prize
States Looking at Goals, Outcomes for Budget Decisions
By Jennifer Burnett, CSG Senior Researcher
As budgets remain strained, state leaders continue to look for new and better ways to allocate scarce resources. While performance-based budgeting is not a new strategy, some states are giving the concept a closer look.
"In recent years, there has been renewed interest in performance-focused strategies, largely because of frustrations from the recession. State leaders had to make painful cuts, and were often frustrated that they couldn't determine what current programs were accomplishing and which ones produced the greatest returns on investment for citizens," said Gary VanLandingham, director of Results First, an initiative the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation created to assist states with implementing a cost-benefit approach to policy decisions.
South Dakota has seen some of the benefits and Sen. Phyllis Heineman is hoping for more. She has co-sponsored legislation this year to create a systematic process for the performance management review of state agencies.
"We're seeing the power and the possibilities of results-based management in some of our agencies, like the department of education and in the area of criminal justice," she said. "It's really about a shift in the culture of government-thinking about outcomes instead of just focusing on the process."
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Western Legislative Academy
Application Deadline Approaching
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 November 13 - 16, 2013
Colorado Springs, CO
Application Deadline is April 26th
Each year CSG-WEST brings together a distinguished national faculty to offer the West's premier training experience for Western state legislators in their first four years of service. The goals of the Western Legislative Academy (WLA) are to help newer legislators become more effective and to build stronger state legislative institutions. To that end a faculty of outstanding academics, corporate, military and public trainers work with a small class of lawmakers who come from each of our 13 Western states.
Members of the Academy are selected on the basis of their dedication to public service, desire to improve personal legislative effectiveness and commitment to the institution of the legislature. Many WLA graduates go on to leadership positions from caucuses and committees to chamber leadership offices.
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Upcoming Webinar: Foreign Direct Investment:
Economic Development Strategies for States
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Wednesday, March 27, 2 p.m. EDT
Register Now!
What kind of foreign direct investment opportunities are on the market for states right now? Chris Steele, chief operation officer and North American president of Investment Consulting Associates, will provide the site selector's view on industries and how foreign direct investment is being used. The presentation will feature discussion on issues such as nearshoring, re-shoring, best practices for industry and the ongoing incentive debate's impact on the outlook for the U.S.
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The mission of CSG-WEST is to facilitate regional, nonpartisan cooperation and exchange of information, and to strengthen legislative institutions among our 13 member states. These services are achieved through a variety of programs and services offered to legislators and their staff, including the convening of policy forums, professional development training, international relations opportunities, publications and institutional links with other political entities in the West.
CSG-WEST serves the Western legislatures of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Associate members include the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and the Pacific islands of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. |
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