Performance Management
Executive Summary
December 1999
Executive Summary
The purpose of the study was to identify ways to strengthen and systematize the availability and use of performance measurement information for the Connecticut General Assembly. The basic elements of a performance measurement system involve:
· development of a plan that defines agency and program objectives and identifies strategies and resources to meet the objectives;
· identification of measurable performance indicators;
· collection and verification of the accuracy of the performance data; and
·
analysis of the performance data and distribution to
decision-makers.
A 1998 consultant's report done for the Office of the State Comptroller indicated Connecticut's performance measurement system contributed little of value to:
· managing agencies and programs;
· evaluating agency operations and programs; and
· analyzing agency and program budgets.
A 1998 legislative task force study found Connecticut had some performance auditing mechanisms in place, but such mechanisms were not implemented uniformly across state agencies in an ongoing manner. The task force recommended a performance review division be established in the Office of Legislative Management.
Finally, a 1999 survey of state agencies by OPM found:
· 67 % claimed to have a strategic planning process;
· 54 % claimed to have performance measures for all their programs; and
·
there appeared to be little connection between strategic planning
and program measurement.
The
committee through its analysis concluded:
· Connecticut already has statutes requiring all the key elements of a performance measurement system; and
·
to have a successful performance measurement system, there must be
a commitment to the system by executive and legislative leaders.
The committee examined four options for systematizing the availability and use of performance data within the Connecticut General Assembly. A brief outline of each option follows.
1.
Create a permanent commission
composed of individuals representing the executive and legislative branches.
Empower the commission to make recommendations to the governor and legislature.
Contract consultants would provide the staff work needed by the
commission to perform its functions. The estimated cost of implementing this
option is $1.5 million.
2.
Create a permanent commission
composed of individuals representing the executive and legislative branches.
Empower the commission to make recommendations to the governor and legislature.
Staff loaned or reassigned from other state units would assist the
commission in performing its duties. The
estimated cost of implementing this option ranges from $225,000 to $1.4 million,
depending on whether the reassigned staff is replaced in their previous units.
3.
Create a permanent state office
empowered to make recommendations to the governor and legislature.
State employees would staff the office.
The estimated cost of implementing this option is $1.4 million.
4.
Establish a process by modifying the
responsibilities of existing governmental entities to focus on the systematic
identification, collection, and distribution of performance data.
Specifically: 1) OPM would be charged with overseeing the development of
strategic plans and performance measures by executive branch agencies; 2) the
state auditors office would serve as an independent monitor of agency
compliance; and 3) the program review committee would review reports and data
produced by state agencies and forward the reports and data with the committee's
comments to the legislature's Office of Fiscal Analysis and the appropriate
committees within the General Assembly. Estimated
cost of implementing this option ranges from $515,000 to $805,000, depending on
whether the reassigned staff is replaced in their previous units.
Recommendations
1.
The Office of Policy and Management
shall be responsible for:
a)
assuring
all budgeted state agencies develop strategic plans that identify the relevant
benchmarks established by the Connecticut Progress Council and include goals,
objectives, and performance measures for each program provided by such state
agency;
b)
assuring
the goals, objectives, and performance measures included in each budgeted state
agency's strategic plan address performance information needs identified by the
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters
relating to appropriations, government administration, or the subject matter
addressed by the agency;
c)
assuring
each budgeted state agency collects data on the performance measures and
benchmarks included in the agency's strategic plan;
d)
assuring
an annual report is prepared on each budgeted state agency and its programs
based on an analysis of the benchmark and performance measurement data included
in the agency’s strategic plan and submitting such reports to the Program
Review and Investigations Committee; and
e)
assuring
access to all performance and benchmark data to the Program Review and
Investigations Committee and to the joint standing committees of the General
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations, government
administration, or the subject matter addressed by the agency.
2.
a)
b)
analyzing
and commenting on the performance measurement and benchmark data made available
by OPM including the relevance of the performance data related to each program's
objectives; and
c)
distributing
the reports submitted by OPM along with the committee's comments on the reports
and data to the joint standing committees having cognizance of matters relating
to appropriations, government administration, and the specific agency's
operations.
3.
The Auditors of Public Accounts when
conducting an agency or program audit shall be responsible for determining if:
a)
the
agency's or program's strategic plan is current;
c)
the
data pertaining to the performance measures and benchmarks are being collected;
and
d) the data being collected are reliable and valid.
4.
The Office of the State Comptroller
shall pursue the development, funding, and implementation of a new state
automated accounting system capable of providing performance data at the program
level.
5. Not later than 90 days after the effective date of the act, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall establish a schedule whereby each budgeted state agency shall biennially develop a strategic business plan. The schedule established by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall require at least 20 percent of the budgeted state agencies to develop such a plan by July 1, 2001, and no later than July 1, 2004, all budgeted state agencies shall be developing strategic plans biennially.
6.
Beginning
September 1, 2002, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Office of
Policy and Management shall submit to the Program Review and Investigations
Committee a report on each budgeted state agency based on an analysis of the
data associated with the benchmarks and performance measures included in the
agency's strategic plan.
7.
Beginning
January 1, 2003, and annually thereafter, the Program Review and Investigations
Committee shall distribute the reports and data submitted to it by the Secretary
of the Office of Policy and Management along with the program review committee's
comments to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having
cognizance of matters relating to appropriations, government administration, and
the subject matter addressed by the agency.
8. Funding for five additional staff positions in the Office of Policy and Management and two additional staff positions in the Office of the Auditors of Public Accounts shall be phased in along with the implementation of the proposed performance measurement system.
9. Repeal C.G.S. Title 2c "Connecticut Sunset Law."