The Pew Center on the States released its 50 state report card that shows Washington State continues to be a leader in results-based governance.

The report card evaluates 4 areas; money, people, infrastructure, and information. Washington showed improvement over the 2005 report in all areas except money.

What's evaluated

Money

• Long-Term Outlook – The state uses a long-term perspective to make budget decisions.
• Budget Process – The state’s budget process is transparent and easy to follow.
• Structural Balance – The state’s financial management activities support structural balance between ongoing revenues and expenditures.
• Contracting / Purchasing – The state effectively manages procurement activities.
• Financial Controls / Reporting – The state systematically assesses the effectiveness of its financial operations and management practices.

People

• Strategic Workforce Planning – The state regularly conducts and updates a thorough analysis of its human resource needs.
• Hiring – The state acquires the employees it needs.
• Retaining Employees – The state retains a skilled workforce.
• Training and Development – The state develops its workforce.
• Managing Employee Performance – The state manages its workforce performance programs effectively.

Infrastructure

• Capital Planning – The state conducts a thorough analysis of its infrastructure needs and has a transparent process for selecting infrastructure projects.
• Project Monitoring – The state has an effective process for monitoring infrastructure projects throughout their design and construction.
• Maintenance – The state maintains its infrastructure according to generally recognized engineering practices.
• Internal Coordination – The state comprehensively manages its infrastructure.
• Intergovernmental Coordination – The state creates effective intergovernmental and interstate infrastructure management networks.

Information

• Strategic Direction – The state actively focuses on the strategic direction of its policy and on collecting information to support that policy direction.
• Budgeting for Performance – State officials have appropriate data on the relationship between costs and performance, and they use these data when making resource allocation decisions.
• Managing for Performance – Agency managers have the appropriate information required to make program management decisions.
• Program Evaluation – The governor and agency managers have appropriate data that enables them to assess the actual performance of policies and programs.
• Electronic Government – The public has appropriate access to information about the state, as well as the performance of state programs and state services, and is able to provide input to state policymakers.