A Brief Break From the Presidency: State Government Well-Run

An article in the August 21, 2016  Providence Journal summarizes an approach taken by Rhode Island State government to streamline processes for executive agencies in Rhode Island. It is an example of how innovative and smart elected officials like Governor Gina Raimondo (full disclosure: I think Raimondo is both smart and interested in innovation) can streamline government, reduce red tape, lower costs for the state, and better serve the people of Rhode Island.  It is one of those increasingly rare stories that shines light on the often hidden competence of government.

In the story there are two less obvious points that are as important as Governor Raimondo's attempt to improve government performance and efficiency:

1. The program, implemented through executive order (RI has only recently seem governors use executive orders to expand the scope of authority in this legislative-centered government), was funded at $100,000 for Fiscal Year 2015 but was eliminated when the RI General Assembly passed its budget in June of this year.  Why? My guess is that efficiency is not the first priority of the General Assembly (there is a lot of patronage in the state government and the General Assembly is where the "principals" reside, not the Governor's Office).  Another possible explanation is that it was just a small way of retaliating against the governor for larger conflicts, slights, and slightly bruised egos, especially from the House leadership, which is the center of the closet Republican Party in Rhode Island.
2. The article reports that despite making processes for applying for licenses or programs accessible online (hunting licenses are the main focus of the story), the governor's executive order cannot change things like the annual renewal requirements on hunting licenses because the legislation creating the licensing requirements requires annual renewal. This suggests that in order for RI to become even more efficient, the State Assembly has to embrace the "Lean" program implemented by Governor Raimondo.

So, here we see the executive branch doing what it does well: using management innovations to increase government quality and efficiency.  We also see, however, the implications of having a state that was for centuries run from the General Assembly.  Only recently has Rhode Island embraced the separation of powers when it comes to executive implementation, and so the long-term effects of legislative dominance explains part of why Rhode Island seems to only now be discovering the value of using information age technology.

I wonder how much longer the General Assembly will take before it gets on the bandwagon and actually uses it to improve government?  Maybe when the closet Republican Party actually changes its affiliation and the state develops a competitive two-party election system, since that among the best predictors of well-run, efficient governments.