And, for the present, the new BROC Process is not Public Policy-Making. When you make policy, using this working definition, you will create or modify programs. In contrast, the first phase of achieving Responsive Government through Responsible Budgeting is the establishment of Legislative Oversight for Performance by the executive branch. The key product of this committee and of any committee exercising Legislative Oversight will be the establishment of explicit expectations for executive branch performance. Crucially, as locally-elected representatives of the taxpayers and of all citizens, you will better advance accountability of state agencies.
Accountability is a somewhat shop-worn phrase.
Before Kevin comes forward, I want to explain how we will use this term. First, Accountability for us is not about finding compliance problems and assigning blame when things go wrong. And, it is not about cutting an agency s budget as a mechanistic reaction to a failure to meet expectations. We will not advocate that you mechanically tie program budgets to performance. On a positive note, Accountability is about Managing for Performance.