Governor Perdue Named Innovator in Action by Reason Foundation

ATLANTA – The Reason Foundation today named Governor Sonny Perdue as a 2009 Innovator in Action for the work of his Commission for a New Georgia.  Governor Perdue created the Commission after taking office to bring a 21^st century business model to state government.  The Commission is comprised of top-level business and professional executives from across Georgia.

“The recognition that the Commission for a New Georgia is receiving is a testament to the more than 400 Georgians who have volunteered their time to create a more efficient, more effective state government,” said Governor Perdue.  “Without spending a dime of state money the Commission has developed and is implementing 126 recommendations to improve the state’s management.”

You can read the Governor’s first person account of the Commission for a New Georgia at http://reason.org/news/show/1009347.html .

By the end of the Governor’s first term the state transformed from “average” on a national rating scale to one of the five best-managed states in the nation.  Implementation of Commission recommendations have resulted in improvements like child support orders taking three months to now just 24 hours and Medicaid’s 45-day processing period has been reduced in many cases to same-day service.

Following recommendations of the Commission, the state’s procurement division has saved more than $100 million a year on state purchases. The state has also downsized its vehicle fleet by 10 percent and has recovered more than $200 million in seriously delinquent taxes. Increasing verification of eligibility for health and other programs have saved the state billions of dollars.

Edited by Reason’s Leonard Gilroy, Innovators in Action 2009 also features:

• Chicago Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold on privatizing the city’s parking meters;
• Bob Carr, former Premier of New South Wales, Australia, explains how the private sector built vital infrastructure the government couldn’t afford;
• Onvia Chief Information Officer Eric Gillespie shows why Recovery.org cost less than $100,000 but the government’s own website, Recovery.gov, is costing taxpayers $18 million, and illustrates how today’s data and technology can “bring high-level scrutiny to government spending”;
• Oliver Porter, who helped launch the start-up city of Sandy Springs, describes how governments can, and should, outsource many non-governmental functions.

Innovators in Action also contains in-depth interviews with:

• Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard:
• Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis;
• Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek;
• And Henry Garrigo, former Director of the Florida Council on Efficient Government.

More details of the Commission for a New Georgia can be found at http://newgeorgia.org.

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