MacIver News Minute: Wisconsin Agencies Can't Pass Self-Assessments

The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week

You probably haven’t given much thought to the next state budget yet, but the budget writing process is already underway, and fortunately the MacIver institute is on top of it. Last week state agencies submitted their individual budget requests to the governor, and they are fascinating. Every agency is required to include a self-assessment on their performance over the past two years. The criteria are measurable and objective, but the agencies themselves get to pick them. They do their best to set themselves up for success. For example, none of the criteria for the Department of Public Instruction have anything to do with academic achievement. But, even with their fingers on the scale Wisconsin’s major state agencies are failing to achieve even half of their performance goals. That says a lot about government effectiveness. And it’s something we hope lawmakers bring up during agency briefings this coming spring.