"Right-sizing" State Government

We need a better state government, but let’s get past the rhetoric of slashing state employees, or demanding union job protection. Connecticut needs a lot of state employees, because the state performs many tasks that county governments do elsewhere. The point is not how many employees there are, but whether employees are positioned properly, managed well, service driven, and compensated at a level that their customers (taxpayers) are willing to support. The situation is serious, and we must get serious about solutions. There is common ground to be found, though it will not be easy. My plan to "right-size" government is based on several key principles outlined below.

We begin by setting the COST of governance and prioritizing our expenditures. I will then incorporate the following tools, principles, and leadership objectives:

We can reduce state employment and employment costs by allowing municipalities to do more, taking advantage of their greater accountability and smaller bureaucracy, thus reducing overall cost.

No political party or labor organization openly supports wasteful spending. So, let’s stop calling it waste and call it what it is - inefficient, ineffective, or non-strategic spending. Here’s what can be accomplished by putting the best minds of policy makers, management, and labor together:

Streamlining services to constituents

Offering incentives to employees in the trenches for cost saving-ideas - and implementing those ideas.

Instituting "charter agencies" that are outcome-driven divisions with the authority to circumvent the red tape and get to the desired outcome as expeditiously as possible. Take what is learned, spread the word, and expand adoption of the new processes.

Restructuring services with the help of labor through attrition and job reclassification.

Identifying where services can best be managed. Let municipalities deliver services that they can do best. Let the state focus on services only they can provide.

No political party or labor organization openly supports poor service. So let’s work together to improve service and increase value by taking these actions:

Commit to making the DMV, in one year, an example of excellence rather than the butt of governmental service jokes, thus setting a public example of our change in attitude and direction.

Demand value at every level. This is a management style that starts at the top, AND IS FREE.

Require management to spend time in the field, undercover, experiencing the services they oversee.

Hold management accountable for outcomes.

Institute outcome-based performance measurements - CONDUCTED BY OUTSIDE PARTIES.

Work with management and labor to hold employees accountable for their performance. No patronage in management, no protection of the non-productive or disruptive employee by organized labor.

Require Commissioners to work with legislative leaders to identify and repeal overreaching legislation by:

Identifying short-term and long-term legislative and regulatory reform.

Working with the Governor’s office and legislative leaders to bring reforms to a vote. Hold the legislature accountable to their constituencies through executive office pressure.

We need to start today on compensation reform. (See benefit position statement.) The current benefit agreement with SEBAC ends in 2017. Waiting until 2016 to start talking will result in a benefit "cliff" that the state government and its employees will drive off. The cost of the current program is not sustainable. Waiting until the plan expires will harm rank and file members. Starting to talk today can soften the slope and lower the cliff. Reasonable people can find common ground on:

Pension Reform - moving new and newly hired employees out of defined benefit and into employee contribution, 401k-type plans.

Health Care Reform - promoting healthful habits, preventive care solutions, and wider use of Health Savings Accounts.

Workable solutions are only possible with leadership in the Governor’s office, fortitude in the legislature, and flexibility on the part of organized labor. It can be done as long as there is a will to succeed.