Efficiency & Accountability
by Bob Duff
Sep. 23, 2006

Throughout my entire legislative career, first in the House of Representatives, and now in the Senate, I have made decisions concerning Connecticut's state government that serve to increase its efficiency, accountability and ease of access to the public. Public servants like myself and all members of the elected state government should be held to the highest standards, and the agencies and bodies we work for, like the Connecticut General Assembly, the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Revenue Service, for example, should be held to those very same standards.

As the chairman of the Select Committee on Housing, I've proposed two bills that were unanimously approved by committee members to hold two quasi-public and public agencies accountable for issuing performance reports yearly to analyze the efficiencies of the organizations. Proposed Bills 1035 and 1036, "An Act Concerning the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA)" and "An Act Concerning the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD)" both require that CHFA and DECD study their procedures and policies and make recommendations for responding to the needs of state residents.

Both of these organizations juggle a large amount of money and have a wide jurisdiction in especially important matters - housing and community development. My bills were not borne out of any suspicion that the commissioners and employees at these agencies were abusing their power, but I do believe we need yearly updates as to what they are doing internally to best serve our state. It is my hope that the reports will focus largely on "Performance-Based Budgeting" - a concept which I've championed and which sets certain goals for programs and rewards those which meet those goals, while adjusting those which do not. It's difficult for me to agree with – as a state resident and as a state Senator – any concept that blindly rewards programs based on nothing more than paper requests and promises. I believe that any program the state funds should be able to concretely show how and where that money is best used, and eventually be able to measure their performance against a set of goals.

Especially because Connecticut does not have a department of housing, I want to make sure that the state's limited resources are spent efficiently and with accountability to get the job done. Requiring these reports and beginning to dig deeper to see the whole picture is just the first step and I believes it is one of the legislature's most important responsibility.

In addition to calling on state agencies to report back to the legislature with more regularity and specificity, I've proposed consolidating the ratepayer's Clean Energy Fund (CEF) and the Conservation and Load Management Fund (CLMF) into a new C.L.E.A.N. account (Conservation/Load Management/Energy Efficiency/And Renewable Energy/Now), which the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board would have jurisdiction over. CEF and CLMF now support energy generation options and conservation programs, and my proposition would streamline their functions, increasing efficiency and reliability.

By merging these two funds into one, we're increasing the likelihood that we see results rather than a lack of coordination from the bureaucracy, which unfortunately, government is sometimes compared to. In my position as vice chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, I want to ensure that every state resident is getting the most "bang for their buck." Similar to the reports DECD and CHFA would be required to present, I'd like to see a similar C.L.E.A.N. report including:

• an evaluation of actions and performances based on the previous year's goals;
• measurable goals set for the next year;
• an update to the committees on long-term, five year goals;
• information on how the account funds are reducing transmission congestion, promoting conservation and encouraging renewable energy;
• how much the total load in the state has been reduced as a result of the funds from this new account.

Especially in southwestern Connecticut, where energy issues are such a big concern, the folding of these two funds into one would be extremely beneficial. Merging these two funds just for the sake of doing so is not my intention – I want a measurable, tangible record of the work they're doing, to make it easier to see what's working and what's not, so we can become even more efficient.

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