MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Government efficiency is a hot topic at the federal level with the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, and some may not know Alabama has made similar efforts.
One of those was the creation of the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services, or ACES, in 2019.
ACES officials testified before the Alabama House Fiscal Responsibility Committee on Wednesday to discuss their progress, and what more can be done.
They testify even though the commission is similar to DOGE, they use a more data-based method.
“We rely on data and performance metrics to guide our recommendations to the commission, that created a data driven policy making venture that ensures the resources of the state are used efficiently,” explained ACES Director Marcus Morgan.
The organization is now walking instead of crawling according to officials’ testimony, but they would like to be running. The pandemic and minimal staff have put a dent in their efforts. They have five staff members but hope to end up with around 20.
“We’ve had some small success, but admittedly they’re small and probably in state government they’re going to never be big, big dollars,” explained Commission Chair Sen. Arthur Orr.
Another roadblock is a lack of data to determine the effectiveness of programs. They’re encouraging lawmakers to include more detailed data and definitions in the bills they submit to ensure accountability.
“In a lot of cases, we have a very deficient amount of data from which to draw conclusions,” Orr testified.
“In our legislation and things moving forward, we’ve got to have a definition of success on some of our bills and some of our language to see, OK, is this program successful?” said commission member Rep. Andy Whitt.
The commission highlighted their work in several areas, including education and healthcare.
For example, teacher turnover was a concern for the commission. Director Marcus Morgan said it’s “costly,” and primarily an issue with teachers in the first three years of their career. Morgan explained that’s why they helped get pay raises for those teachers, believing the cost of a raise is less of a burden than turnover.
The commission includes 14 members, some appointed by the legislature and others appointed by Governor Kay Ivey.
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