Gov. Christine Gregoire applauds state for placing third nationally in management of state government

For Immediate Release: January 31, 2005

Gov. Christine Gregoire today commended the state for ranking third in the nation, earning a B-plus, for management of state government. Virginia and Utah tied for first place.

The findings are reported in the February issue of Governing magazine and are based on an analysis done by Pew Charitable Trusts.

�This shows that we�ve been doing a great job to assure taxpayers that they are truly getting return on the investment of their tax dollars,� Gov. Gregoire said. �The way we excel in management maximizes our ability to use government resources to improve the lives, livelihood and quality of life of all our citizens.�

The report grades the states in four categories � money, people, infrastructure and information � on a scale of A through D. It is designed to show leaders how to identify their state�s strengths and weaknesses and how to compare their performance with other states.

The study stated, �Washington�s efforts in performance measurement have made it a national leader for some time. Not only does it collect a great deal of valuable data, but agencies and legislators make good use of it.�

Washington received high scores for money management and information technology, earning an A-minus in both categories. The state also won high praise in human resources management due to the state giving collective-bargaining rights to its employees to negotiate for future salaries and benefits.

This is the third time that the Government Performance Project (GPP) has graded the states. The grades in this version are not comparable with the grades in the previous phases (2001 and 1999) of the project because some of the grading categories have been combined and condensed and because the newest grading looked not only at processes but also results.