PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.
If state government is going to operate more effectively and efficiently, then there are several questions policymakers should ask as they review individual pieces of legislation up for consideration.
Though I often advocate asking these questions as a new legislative session starts, they also apply during what’s called “the interim” between regular sessions in Salem.
- Is there an appropriate role for government to play?
This is a question seldom asked, at least on the record. Many policymakers simply assume that, if there is a problem, then there should be a state response to it. The evidence is found in the 3,500 to 5,000 bills introduced every legislative session.
If the question was asked routinely, the answer would not automatically be yes or no, but would depend on the specific situation. Often, the simple act of asking the question and considering the answer would be a step in the direction of aligning state government programs with available resources.
Policymakers should reserve the right to say there is no appropriate role for state government.
- What is the state getting for the money it is spending?
Call this “performance-based” government. Or, as a business person might say, “what is the return on the investment?”
It sounds obvious that state government spending should be based on this premise. But performance-based operation is the exception, not the rule.
In fact, in social services law in Oregon, the first instance of the use of the phrase in contracting for social services occurred in the 2011 legislative session when lawmakers passed and the governor signed Senate Bill 964, now ORS 418.190-195. It deals with contracted programs designed to provide services to Oregon’s foster children.
In terms of full disclosure, I was the prime advocate for the bill on behalf of my firm’s client, Youth Villages.
- How will state action affect the private sector — especially individual and corporate taxpayers on whom the state depends for the money to fund its operations?
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, wrote this in a Wall Street Journal piece several years ago.
“We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise. We have to let them compete. We need to let people fight for business. We need to let people take risks. We need to let people fail. We need to let people suffer the consequences of bad decisions. And, we need to let people enjoy the fruits of good decisions, even good luck.
“That is what economic freedom looks like. Freedom to succeed as well as to fail, freedom to do something or to do nothing. People understand this. Freedom of speech, for example, means that we have to put up with a lot of verbal and visual garbage in order to make sure that individuals have the right to say what needs to be said, even when it is inconvenient or unpopular. We forgive the sacrifices of free speech because we value its blessings.
“But when it comes to economic freedom, we are less forgiving of the cycles or growth and loss, and of failure and success that are part of the realities of the marketplace and life itself.
“Increasingly, we have let our elected officials abridge our own economic freedom through the annual passage of thousands of laws and their associated regulations. We see human tragedy and we demand a regulation to prevent it. We see a criminal fraud and we demand more laws. We see an industry dying and we demand it be saved. Each time, we demand, “Do something…anything.”
Asking and answering the issues Bush poses in his quote would go a long way toward creating appropriate limitations on the role of government, both in Oregon and nationally.
So I say to government: Ask the right questions and don’t be afraid to answer logically and forthrightly. Doing so will benefit all of those who depend on government “to get it right.”
Perspective from the 19th Hole 