Action, not slogans, needed to balance budget

He could miss a golden opportunity to put state government on a more responsible course in which budgetary decisions are based on agreed-upon priorities and data-driven performance results.

Roy Meyers, a political science professor at UMBC and the author of a book entitled ‘‘Strategic Budgeting,” has laid out in a policy paper two effective ways to help straighten out Maryland’s budget confusion.

But don’t look for politicians to regard this document as the Ten Commandments. They’d rather stick with the current, insular budgeting process that is growing increasingly unresponsive. Why? Because they know how to get what they want out of this system.

Yet it is today’s budget-making process that has helped create a massive pool of red ink, Meyers asserts.

O’Malley, like other governors, will find it hard to ‘‘cut the fat” out of state government. His StateStat program may force agency officials to improve efficiency or face tough questioning from the governor but savings are likely to be small, says Meyers. StateStat won’t lead to any ‘‘reinvention” of government or a dramatic streamlining.

The professor suggests O’Malley embrace two approaches to public management that would assist him in making more informed decisions on Maryland’s structural deficit.

First, the governor should turn to ‘‘performance budgeting” so programs are judged on whether they meet objective expectations.

Maryland’s attempt at performance budgeting, called ‘‘Managing for Results,” is widely ignored by the governor and legislature. Much of the data is unreliable and the performance measurements rarely tell if programs produce intended results.

This system is so flawed ‘‘Governing” magazine rated Maryland’s budgeting process and its performance budgeting as ‘‘weak” and overly secretive.

Meyers’ second suggestion is to rely on ‘‘strategic planning,” which boils down to advanced priority-setting. By collecting relevant data and holding public hearings, major concerns can be identified and budget priorities can be set to address the most pressing needs.

Maryland, instead, throws a little money at a lot of big problems without attacking the highest priority items with vigor. There is no detailed analysis of how the state’s limited resources can be used most effectively.

For instance, Meyers says the Thornton law that pumped $1.3 billion into public schools in just five years never underwent rigorous budget questioning:

‘‘[W]ere the large increases in education funding sufficiently targeted to produce intended results? And what other critical goals have not been addressed because of that investment? Neither the state’s leaders nor its citizens can now answer those questions because the budget process is not designed to help them do so.”

The state’s prison system serves as another example. In 144 pages of budget documents, there is no mention of perilous conditions at the House of Correction in Jessup. Yet in March, O’Malley shut down this dangerous prison — without any public analysis or data that showed there were performance problems. If this was an administration priority, why didn’t O’Malley say so earlier?

Most governors in Maryland have relied on slogans instead of data-driven performance indicators. Remember ‘‘Smart Growth,” ‘‘Reach the Beach” and ‘‘Legalize Slots?”

Even the annual State of the State address avoids telling citizens about ‘‘the actual economic, social, environmental and other conditions across the state,” based on ‘‘valid and reliable data,” Meyers says. Instead, our governors give us recitations of past achievements and their agenda for the coming year. None of this is based on assessments of which programs performed best or what is judged to be the state’s greatest immediate need.

Meyers argues O’Malley would benefit from a system that lets him make budget cuts based on data showing which programs ‘‘address less important concerns” and other data documenting conditions in the state. It would make it much easier for him to sell a tax increase to Marylanders, too, based on data-driven needs.

These are sensible ideas. But it is unlikely O’Malley and Democratic legislators are up to the challenge of setting rigorous performance standards and implementing a priority-setting system that would dramatically change state budgeting.

Instead, O’Malley’s priorities will change with shifts in the public’s mood and political dynamics. Performance standards will remain murky and ineffective. Little will change in state government, even in agencies that aren’t getting the job done.

It’s a vicious cycle. O’Malley could start to alter it if he uses the current budget crisis to follow the leads of states such as Virginia and Oregon that have implemented good performance standards and priority-setting measurements.

Maryland state government is a $30 billion a year beast that is getting difficult to manage. It might be time for the governor and legislators to try some different approaches.

Barry Rascovar is a communications consultant. His Wednesday morning commentaries can be heard on WYPR, 88.1 FM.