BEST PRACTICES NEEDED IN STATES
The 50 State Laboratories
“Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.”
Frank Herbert
When state power was established in the Constitution, the idea was that each state could be “a laboratory of democracy” because they can come up with new, creative policy ideas, tested within the state, and sometimes adopted at the federal level. Examples include welfare, health care policies, voting and workplace safety. Many ended up being a bad idea (rent control and minimum wage).
The U.S. relies on a system called “federalism”: Powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. It’s an important concept to understand because citizens encounter different levels of government daily, but in different ways. For some reason, the focus is always on highly political issues (gay marriage), and, rather than other states looking to well-thought-out arguments that caused a state to make a decision, too often, the arguments are poorly framed and those supporting it are making political points.
Sadly, my state, California, has a terrible reputation for doing stupid things politically, which other Blue states follow. The worst part is that when they don’t achieve their stated goal, they don’t re-examine it. They sometimes double down instead. A smart person learns from mistakes. A good example is that Noisome wants more housing, but it has to be affordable. A good part of the cost is complying with a ridiculous host of regulations that delay projects, run up the cost of finished units AND discourage people from investing in housing at all. Very often, California is seen as the home of nuts and crazies. People having this view aren’t entirely wrong.
A Better 50-State Lab Approach
For some reason, what NEVER gets looked at is processes and systems. Recently, Florida announced they would be finishing the vote count by end of day on Election Day. I’m sure you know that most states know they won’t be done for as much as a week, and perhaps, longer. And yet, isn’t it a best practice to be done as quickly as possible? Allowing ballots to arrive long after Election Day makes no sense. Nor does allowing people to register and vote on the same day, without any form of vetting. Why not see which state gets things done efficiently and accurately and have other states adopt their practices?
Florida also has a department of motor vehicles, Division of Motor Services, which has solved a lot of problems other states have. In CA, we often wait a long time even with an appointment, it can be difficult to get an appointment, and too often, if you have more than one thing to accomplish, you need to book other dates/times. In Florida, a friend of mine went in, after moving there, and walked out with license plates, registration AND…their official new licenses. Not an awkward sheet of paper as your temporary, a thing that doesn’t fit neatly in your wallet. They must have better computer systems.
I don’t know why this never seems to happen. Is it ego? States unwilling to admit that their systems and processes are no good? And yet, what would it be like if states didn’t just focus on political thought sharing, but improved the customer experience? Having worked in IT for a long time, I know there are better pieces of software, but somehow, California can’t seem to implement the best practices available. This may also explain why customer service reps don’t provide what you need on a first call. They simply don’t know and don’t have a reliable database to query.
There’s really no reason why this couldn’t happen, nor a reason why states shouldn’t do it. People don’t move to a state because it has better tech. But they do enjoy dealing with government when they can rely on getting services, answers and help easily from a friendly, competent agent.
How do we get there? End the tyranny of career politicians, who care only how they can benefit from a long reign. They are too often, egotistical, unable to look at the value of an idea they didn’t consider. People from the business world are used to looking for a better way to work, more efficient, easier to learn, and producing better results. Time to get politicians who actually work this way. Term limits and the elimination of any benefits when you leave office might just get us the people we need.
