Cut waste and spending while improving productivity

Cut waste and spending while improving productivity - Doing more with less and with higher quality

As Governor and in response to the State’s significant reduction in Tax Revenues, the State of Vermont must dramatically reduce its wasteful spending. Like many other public and private sector companies, Vermont’s spending irresponsibly increased as the economy “boomed” and its now time to right-size our state and federal government budgets.

• Unfortunately as budgets are cut, false assumptions are made that quantity and quality of services will naturally be compromised. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Operations and processes across the state are riddled with wasteful, bureaucratic activities and tasks that have no value. Costing us, the tax payers and customers, time and money.
• Operations and processes across the state are lacking clearly defined goals, objectives, and measures. Resulting in competing “priorities” and worst yet, individuals, who don’t know or understand the state’s priorities, determining the priority of the work they will do.
• Operations and processes are managed to a “budget” and not based on measurable performance standards. Ask a state employee what would happen if the demand for their services increased 15%, they will likely respond one of three bureaucratic ways. 1. We will need more people, 2. People will have to wait, or 3. I will have to reduce the services I provide. I don’t anyone will or is expected to answer, I will find a way to make our service more productive to accommodate the demand.

Even after the “so called” tough budgets cuts are made, there will still be plenty of money to provide essential, needed services. If and only if, we have a leader in place who is experienced in boosting productivity and performance while significantly driving down costs.

If you go to our state's web site, you will find a laundry list of unprioritized "priorities" without measures of success. As Governor, I will use my deep expertise to develop a relevant, practical and pragmatic measureable strategy that includes, yes, prioritized goals, objectives, and yes specific, actionable, relevant and time bound measures that everyone can rally around and drive towards. Doing so, will immediately surface a tremendous amount waste in government. Waste that is costing us money and time which subsequently results in Vermont, people and business, dissatisfaction.