May 24, 2010

Dear Friends,

 

The final month of this spring’s session of
the General Assembly is drawing to a close, and we need to confront the
most pressing challenge facing Illinois government:
the budget.  A few weeks ago, the Senate passed a “budget” bill.  This
legislation did not receive my support because I wanted more reductions
and reforms included to protect taxpayers’ money, prevent waste,
mismanagement and abuse, and end business as usual.

 

This week presents us with a historic opportunity to finally
have significant budget reform in the State of Illinois. I have worked
for the past several weeks with colleagues in the Senate and House,
from Upstate and Downstate, Chicago and the Suburbs, to craft a comprehensive budget reform package. These reforms focus on a wide-range of cuts and innovative, cost-saving measures, as well as an initiative called Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO). 

 

BFO will fundamentally transform how we spend taxpayer dollars in Illinois. This
newsletter highlights this measure, which I have introduced along with
Rep. Carol Sente in the House, and other efforts to attack wasteful
spending and corruption in our state.

 

---

 

Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) will fundamentally reform the way
the State prioritizes and spends taxpayer dollars.  A dramatic
departure from cost-based budgeting, BFO (also known as “Results
Budgeting") focuses on better results for taxpayers’ dollars spent on
government. The first step of BFO is defining spending priorities (such
as job creation, education, health care, transportation, and public
safety) and identifying how much revenue is actually available. The
next step is to create measurable outcomes for these priorities. The
process encourages legislators and state agencies to then find creative
ways to achieve these goals using the limited resources available.

 

“The
current budget process makes our state vulnerable to waste, fraud, and
mismanagement,” Kotowski said.  “Budgeting for Outcomes will fix our
broken and ineffective budgeting process by placing clearly defined
checks on spending and creating performance-based accountability.”

 

BFO
also requires annual reports on how well programs and agencies achieved
their outcomes.  This information will allow legislators and agencies
to have data-driven reasons (as opposed to personal, political
ones) for cutting, eliminating, reforming and funding programs and
agencies.

 

BFO has already been adopted by several state and local governments, including Washington state and Iowa.  In Washington, BFO took a $2.5 billion budget deficit and turned this crisis into an opportunity to improve the effectiveness
of state programs while at the same time reducing costs.
 
Implementing
BFO is not Senator Kotowski’s first effort to reform the State budget. 
Last year, he enacted a provision encouraging all state agencies to
adopt performance-based measures for their services and employees.  He
believes that by setting goals and finding the most cost-efficient ways
to meet them, the State can provide taxpayers with the services they
want and need at a price they are willing to pay.
 
Reforming Contracts

In addition to advocating for better results for taxpayer
dollars spent, Kotowski continues to fight to end politics as usual
through contract reform.  He has passed laws requiring state agencies
to post all of their contracts online and preventing individuals who
make contract decisions from ever receiving political contributions
that create a conflict of interest. 
This year, he introduced Senate Bill 375, which required all state
agencies to open all contracts over $249,999 for competition rather
than automatically renew them.  Rebidding has successfully
saved millions in states much smaller than Illinois, like Connecticut. 
Kotowski’s plan was integrated into a more comprehensive contract
reform measure, Senator Jeff Schoenberg’s Senate Bill 3576, which has
passed both houses of the General Assembly and awaits the governor’s
approval.
 
“State agencies need to justify each and every
contract,” Kotowski said.  “There is a very real potential for waste
and fraud, so every state business transaction should be analyzed,
reviewed, and open for competition.”
 
Fighting Public Corruption