New York gets a ‘C+’ on report card

New York gets a ‘C+’ on report cardJanuary 30, 2001In a report released Jan. 30 by The Maxwell Schoolat Syracuse University and Governing magazine, New York received an overallgrade of C+ (up from the state’s grade of C- two years ago) on how well itmanages the government systems that deliver public services. Published inGoverning’s February 2001 issue and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, thelandmark report is based on a comprehensive survey of government management inall 50 states. Governing published a similar report in February 1999.

“With this report, state officials and citizens canidentify the management systems that are working well and areas that needimprovement,” says Dale Jones, director of the Government PerformanceProject (GPP) at The Maxwell School. “States can also use the report tolearn from each other, adapting good ideas that result in higher performance totheir own systems.”

New York’s evaluations in all five categories covered by theGPP improved. In capital management its grade was a C- in 1999. It was a C+ thisyear. The state’s grade rose from a C to a C+ in humanresources; from a D+ to a C- in managing for results; and from a C to a B ininformation technology. Perhaps most notable was the change in the state’sfinancial management grade, from a D+ to a C+. As Governing’s report about thestate indicated, “New York’s financial numbers look better than they havein quite awhile. The budget at the end of fiscal 2000 had an unreserved balanceof $1.8 billion, compared with deficits in the mid-to late 1990s.”

“Of course, New York still has a long way to go–in partto make up for bad fiscal habits in the past,” says Katherine Barrett,special projects editor for Governing. “But it’s certainly heading in theright direction.”

The state’s highest grade was a B in information technology,where efforts to rationalize a previously wild array of computer systems isunderway.