Capitol Coverage: Government Efficiency Study

A multi-million dollar initiative between the state and the University of Denver will evaluate ways that the government can be more efficient and effective. Some Colorado programs could be revised. Others could be done away with. Bente Birkeland has more from the state capitol.

A lab at the university will study the state’s agencies and programs. The idea has been tried in states such as California, Michigan and Rhode Island. Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, wants the lab to provide information that the state can use to improve.

“I think people have to believe in government and that’s not going to happen unless we get the systems right. Hopefully they will give blunt assessments based on facts and not politics.”

The four-year project is funded by four-and-a-half million dollars from the nonpartisan Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise. Hickenlooper says programs worth studying include: work force training, criminal justice and the foster care system.I’m BB at the state capitol.