Pa. government graded average in effectiveness
WASHINGTON - Where it comes to the effectiveness of state government, Pennsylvania tracks the national average while New Jersey is below average, according to a scorecard released yesterday by the Pew Center on the States.
WASHINGTON - Where it comes to the effectiveness of state government, Pennsylvania tracks the national average while New Jersey is below average, according to a scorecard released yesterday by the Pew Center on the States.
The center ranked all 50 states based on how well they manage their budgets, staffs, infrastructure and information. The states with high scores have made accountability and innovation a priority, its report said.
Utah, Virginia and Washington state have the most effective governments in the country, according to the study.
Washington, for example, holds public meetings led by the governor to monitor how its programs are working, while Utah has a financial tracking system that provides up-to-the-minute data. Virginia offers its employees incentives for meeting goals and improving service.
Pennsylvania, which earned the national average grade of "B-minus," was praised for creating a plan to respond to its alarming backlog of bridges in need of repairs and furnishing meaningful information about programs funded with state money.
The report, however, faulted Pennsylvania for prolonged budget debates and said it was spending less per employee on training than it did three years ago, despite two recent mass retirements.
New Jersey, which earned a "C," lost points for its inability to find "a way to deal with the long-term imbalance between its revenues and its spending" and for its "dwindling investment in human capital training."
It ranks among the lowest in the nation in spending on training corrections employees and managers in the new Department of Children and Families, the report noted.
Delaware, ranked among the top states with a "B-plus" grade, was commended for breaking down "bureaucratic barriers to the delivery of state services" and for "strong financial practices."
New Hampshire - which got the lowest score (a "D-plus") - is not closely monitoring its costs and performance, Pew said.
"Effective state government really matters," said Neal Johnson, director of Pew's Government Performance Project, citing infrastructure as evidence.
"The Minnesota bridge collapse and the failure of the levees in New Orleans prove that few functions of state government have more direct impact on the daily lives of Americans," Johnson said.
The "Grading the States" report card was the fourth in a series of assessments issued by Pew's Government Performance Project and Governing Magazine. The last was in 2005. The rankings are based on reviews by a panel of state-government experts.
Susan Urahn, managing director of Pew Center on the States, said the rankings aimed to give states objective information about how they can improve their performance.
