Janet Napolitano on Technology Democratic AZ Governor; Designee for Secretary of Homeland Security

Invest in infrastructure: highways and school buildings

Last year, I asked you to hold hearings and prepare a statewide transportation plan for referral to the ballot. Sadly, the Legislature failed to do this, and then a citizen's initiative was kept from the ballot. That citizen's initiative proposal made sense, because we will need roads, highways, rail and transit to support our growth.

But infrastructure does not stop with transportation. With my budget, I am giving you a plan for desperately needed school buildings. These new buildings will be energy efficient, they will provide an economic stimulus and they will build a legacy that is able to serve this state for decades.

New research facilities drive the high-tech economy

Chief information officer to digitize federal government.

Performance-Based Government
The strong anti-government sentiments of the early 1990s have subsided, but most Americans still think government is too bureaucratic, too centralized, and too inefficient.

In Washington and around the country, a second round of “reinventing government” initiatives should be launched to transform public agencies into performance-based organizations focused on bottom-line results. Many public services can be delivered on a competitive basis among public and private entities with accountability for results. Public-private partnerships should become the rule, not the exception, in delivering services. Civic and voluntary groups, including faith-based organizations, should play a larger role in addressing America’s social problems.

When the federal government provides grants to states and localities to perform public services, it should give the broadest possible administrative flexibility while demanding and rewarding specific results. Government information and services at every level should be thoroughly “digitized,” enabling citizens to conduct business with public agencies online.

Goals for 2010
• Require public agencies to measure results and publish information on performance.
• Consolidate narrow federal-state grants into broad performance-based grants that offer greater flexibility in return for greater accountability for results.
• Make it possible for citizens to conduct all business with government online.
• Create a chief information officer to drive the digitization of the federal government.