From the Chairman: Enlightening Grades

Report cards, as any student knows, are a mixed bag. Grades let you know where you stand, whether you’ve learned the material, where you’re strong and where you’re weak. Report card information can be very helpful, but nobody wants a bad report card, no matter how much it helps you improve.

Typically, we’re done with report cards when we finish school. Not so in New Mexico government. Under the state Accountability in Government Act, key state agencies must release quarterly performance reports. The reports include performance measures identified for their agency by the executive and other measures the agencies consider significant.

The documents also include “report cards,” a legislative requirement. Developed in 2006 by LFC staff, the report cards are intended to add emphasis to the success or failure of specific programs and clearer information on program performance results.

The committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the FY09 third-quarter reports – and the latest report cards – at 3:30 p.m. June 4 during its meeting in Clovis. Like in any classroom, the results are mixed, with the grades showing some programs are succeeding while others clearly need work. But, unlike struggling school children, state agencies can’t hide these report cards.

Representative Luciano “Lucky” Varela

Chairman