Three Cheers for Performance Audits

Barrett & Green

While the work from many state and local-level performance shops is put to good use, it’s clear that performance audits don’t always have the impact that the performance auditors might like. . . . Notwithstanding the rate at which the recommendations are adapted, auditors can point to problems that require attention from elected leaders and program managers. (see next story for a federal angle!)

Government Getting Less Oversight

NOTUS

The once-independent system that Congress established after Watergate has radically transformed in Trump’s second term. Trump’s unprecedented firing of nearly 20 inspectors general has unraveled the firewalls government’s ombudsmen have operated under for decades. The new watchdogs are erasing the lines between agency leadership and their own watchdog offices

Checking in on California Outcomes Reviews

SubStack, Eating Policy (Jen Pahlka)

Last November, the California Assembly launched a pilot called “Outcomes Reviews:” a structured process by which a legislator and their staff publicly commit to reviewing a law they championed, spend months meeting with the people the law actually affects and researching the outcomes, and then announce what they learned and what they’re going to do about it. This is a story about its first round of reviews.

Managing Risks in Federally-Funded, State-Administered Programs

U.S. Government Accountability Office

This Q&A report looks at the 20 programs that receive nearly all of this funding—Medicaid, SNAP, and disaster assistance for example. GAO describes how each program is administered, including who distributes and safeguards the funds. GAO also discusses fraud risks in each program and how to mitigate them.

Strategic Foresight: Italian Edition

Frontiers in Political Science

This article examines how strategic foresight is understood and used within the Italian central government, and to what extent it is conceived as a foundational component of policy design oriented toward sustainable futures.