Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Best Value Government Task Force Discusses Effective Government Service

State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), Senate majority whip, today led the first meeting of the Senate Government Best Value Task Force for an in-depth discussion and review of the Pew Center’s Government Performance Project and Georgia’s report card.

“Lt. Gov. Casey established this task force to better serve Georgians through government efficiencies,” said Seabaugh. “By working collaboratively with the Governor’s office, we can provide Georgians with the best government at the lowest, most efficient cost.”

The Pew Center on the States released its 50-State Report Card evaluating each state government’s performance in serving the public. Georgia’s grade was a B+, ranking above the national average of a B-, eighth in the nation and the leader in the southeast. Georgia had the second lowest per capita expenditure at $3,732.

“The mission of this task force is to identify what needs to be accomplished and help us attain that goal,” Seabaugh added.

While Georgia improved its score over the past 10 years and scored high on customer service and managing for results, more improvements could be made. Task Force members focused discussions on how they could work with the executive branch to move Georgia state government even further toward a results-oriented, performance measured plans. To find improvements to better managing the government, the Task Force reviewed the Pew Center’s evaluations in the areas of money, infrastructure, information, people and customer service.

The Senate Best Value Government Task Force seeks to examine how the state through its departments and agencies can provide government service in the most efficient manner. It also seeks to develop strategies to ensure cost-effective expenditures of the public's tax dollar. Further, the Task Force seeks to determine whether services can be streamlined though either privatization or elimination of duplicated or mirrored activities.

The next meeting of the Georgia Senate Government Best Value Task Force is tentatively scheduled for September 16th. During the next meeting, Seabaugh plans to select areas for government improvement and attain agreement on the desired outcomes. In addition, he’d like to set a big-picture vision of how the state will work to gain greater flexibility in achieving the agreed upon, desired goals.

The Pew Center’s report card on the states can be found at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=36228.
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