Governor Gregoire Releases First Annual Government Accountability Report

For Immediate Release: October 5, 2006

Governor at national conference delivers speech on how Washington is improving government accountability

OLYMPIA � Governor Chris Gregoire today released the Report to Citizens, her first annual report to Washingtonians on her work to improve government accountability and performance.

�Holding government accountable for results is just common sense,� said Governor Gregoire. �It is not enough to just set priorities and talk about what we want to do. We must measure government performance to make sure Washingtonians are getting the best possible return on their tax dollars.�

The Report to Citizens includes more than a dozen examples of how Governor Gregoire and her agencies measure performance to ensure they are producing the results and providing the services that Washingtonians expect and deserve.

Highlighted in the Report are impressive improvements in job placement, the protection of vulnerable children and customer service. It also identifies challenges, such as the rapid increase in transportation construction costs related to the high price of oil and the information technology upgrades necessary to continue to improve state services.

Governor Gregoire�s Government Management, Accountability and Performance program is modeled after successful performance improvement initiatives in New York and Baltimore. However, this is the first time a data-intensive approach has been used to measure and improve performance at the state government level.

Governor Gregoire Talks about Washington GMAP at National Conference

Governor Gregoire�s efforts were recognized this week at a national performance management conference in Austin, Texas, sponsored by Governing magazine, where this morning she delivered the conference�s keynote address.

�The idea of GMAP is very simple. You start with good solid facts, your performance measures. You get all the people in the room at the same time who can solve the problem. Most importantly, you�ve got be willing to take a good hard look at your data � and you can�t let yourself ignore it when it�s showing you that things aren�t going well!� said Governor Gregoire in her remarks. �You roll up your sleeves and you say, okay, what are we going to do about it?�

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