Taking measure of state government

Accountability is a hallmark of good government at any level.

Part of being accountable is having metrics that people can use to measure progress.

A simple example of non-government metrics is the annual United Way thermometer chart. It shows the public how much a community’s residents have donated toward meeting the organization’ fundraising goals.

The metric is clear and communicated to the public.

Tying metrics – objective measurements – to a goal is a good way to gauge whether a plan is working or whether adjustments are needed.

In Kansas, some of the metrics used to measure the state’s economic health show troubling indications. In even worse shape are the metrics used to measure its fiscal health – in other words, the government’s finances.

Good leaders would study the situation and recommend adjustments to improve the state’s condition.

Our leaders just throw away the metrics.

Admittedly, the temptation among politicians to hide information that doesn’t serve their interests is great.

That’s why it wasn’t a surprise when Gov. Sam Brownback and his staff decided they would no longer develop a quarterly report on the state’s economy.

The reports were a means of tracking the success of the governor’s economic policy.

The reports allowed the governor and the public to determine whether the tax cuts and other policies pushed through by Brownback and his supporters in the Legislature were working.

The short answer was, No.

Rather than admit that their own reports showed that their plans were failing, the governor and his staff stopped issuing them.

Brownback is using the same sort of thinking in the budget planning process.

The governor is scheduled to make recommendations for next year’s budget in January. The plans are not expected to bring much cheer to anyone except those who want to dismantle and defund state government.

Universities, Medicaid and Kansas’ highway department are among the agencies and entities that already have had to reduce services and make other cuts because the state’s revenues aren’t sufficient to cover the expenses the Legislature approved.

And word is out that those cuts weren’t sufficient; services and programs will need to be slashed further just to get through the current fiscal year.

On top of that, more cuts are expected in the budget for the next fiscal year, which will start July 1.

With budget shortfalls growing bigger by the month, the cuts that will be needed on top of the cuts already made will be drastic.

But Kansas residents have no right to know what those cuts might be or how they might be affected, according to Brownback. His administration has denied open-records requests for budget-planning documents, including budget requests and recommendations from state agencies.

The governor’s move would be more insulting if it weren’t quite so futile.

It’s not like the governor can keep secret the dire budget situation his policies have created. From roads to schools to doctors to state hospitals to prisons to parks to retirement plans, the effects have been felt by every one of us.

And the budget problems will get worse because the state has borrowed so much money in unsuccessful attempts to fill its budget gaps.

Using debt to meet ongoing expenses is always risky. It sometimes makes sense during a serious recession, because once the economy revives, the state’s revenues will increase sufficiently to pay off the loans and interest.

But to add substantially to state debt to pay for day-to-day government when the economy is growing – as Kansas has done repeatedly in the past few years – is reckless and irresponsible. If the state isn’t generating enough revenue to pay its bills in relatively good times, then the debt is making a bad budget situation even worse.

That’s the hole Kansas is in.

To put the budget in order, the state needs to substantially increase its revenues, as well as keep spending under control.

Given past experience and comments from the governor’s office, that isn’t the course Brownback likely will take. His attempts to keep the public in the dark would appear to forewarn of more of the same failed strategies.

This time, with fewer metrics and more spin.