Improvement Requires Willingness to Change
By Governor Jeb Bush

The world has changed dramatically in a short period of time. Advances in technology have revolutionized the way we live.

Thirty years ago, no one had a computer in his home. Now, many people have Blackberries in their pockets. The Internet allows inspiration and ideas to travel at warp speed across continents and oceans in seconds. Medical breakthroughs are allowing people to live longer, with a better quality of life.

The world is "flatter" and more connected than ever before. Trends that used to take years to develop, now take months to take hold. Economies are emerging every day to challenge our dominance in the global marketplace, where innovation and ideas are as commonplace as goods and services.

Yet, government, with few exceptions, still works like it did in the 1950s, with a pyramid-style, top-down bureaucracy that moves with tortoise-like speed. For America to succeed in the increasingly competitive global economy, our government needs to be able to quickly adapt to this new, changing world.

The first step is clearly defining the role of government. I believe the fundamental role of government should be to keep us safe from threats both foreign and domestic, build the infrastructure and human capital that creates opportunity and fuels our economy, and care for the truly vulnerable among us.

A government that grows significantly beyond these core responsibilities will eventually grow beyond our ability to pay for it. When government grows in scope, its size and cost grow too—often exponentially. Requiring a balanced budget, allowing the line-item veto, prohibiting earmarks, and capping the growth of government are sound fiscal measures to rein in runaway government spending.

The second step is developing a zeal for reform. Constantly challenging the status quo with questions like "why?" and, perhaps more importantly, "why not?," creates an ongoing cycle of improvement. Controlling costs is just part of the benefit. Getting better value for the taxpayers is an equally important part of the equation too.

As Governor of the great state of Florida, I spent a lot of time asking the question, "why?" and even more time asking, "why not?"

During a policy and budget briefing in the transition prior to my taking office, I learned the state owned and operated more than 100 communications towers and plans were underway to build more. The towers were the basic infrastructure needed to establish a statewide radio system that allows emergency responders and law enforcement to communicate with each other using different technology—a priority for our state's capabilities to respond to hurricanes. More than a decade had passed since the project was launched and only 15 of our 67 counties were online. The state had already spent $120 million and the price tag for completion was estimated at more than $549 million.

So I asked, why is government in the business of building an independent communications network? Then, why not leverage state resources to encourage investment by the private sector to accomplish the goal faster and at a lower cost to taxpayers?

In September of 2000, Florida entered into a public-private partnership with M/ACOM, a leading supplier of communications equipment, to finish the network. The state transferred our assets and provided a onetime payment of $40 million. The project was completed in 2006. An existing fee of $1 for vehicle and vessel registrations pays the $13 to $18 million needed to maintain the system and the state earns 15 percent on all third-party tenants for the life of the 20 year agreement, which is projected to generate $22 million in revenue. Today, Florida's emergency responders can communicate across jurisdictions with multiple radio systems all on the same network during good times and bad—strengthening public safety to the taxpayers.

Florida tapped numerous other opportunities to maximize the strengths of both the private and public sectors. Custodial services, security at state buildings, housekeeping at veterans nursing homes, data entry and mail delivery are among the many other services outsourced by the state of Florida. Since 1999, outsourcing reduced the government workforce by 9,570, saved more than $741 million in actual dollars and prevented an estimated $1.4 billion in additional costs.

• In 1999, toll booth operations on the Florida Turnpike were outsourced, reducing the public sector jobs by 792 and saving $30 million under the contract.
  
  
• In 2001, food services in the state's prisons were outsourced, eliminating more than 472 government jobs and saving more than $66 million through the life of the contract.
  
  
• That same year, health services in some of our state prisons were also outsourced, eliminating 478 government jobs and saving more than $49 million under the life of the contract.
  
  
• In 2003, the process of negotiating leases was consolidated within one agency and outsourced. Under the comprehensive approach, in less than four years, government reduced the amount of private leased space by 6.2 percent, secured $12.6 million in cash from landlords for tenant improvements and negotiated $86.2 million in rent reductions over the term of the leases.

At the same time, the discussion of competition and the prospect of privatization often spurred reform within an agency. The modernization of Florida's welfare system is an excellent example.

Under the traditional system, applicants for Food Stamps, Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families had to apply at one of the many brick-and-mortar offices in the state. In 2003, we asked, why not use technology to increase access and improve efficiency? We began discussions with outside providers but ultimately "insourced" the project to the Department of Children and Families.

That is when Florida began migrating from the storefront model to a consumer self-service model where applicants could apply for help by Internet, phone and mail. Other enhancements provided for a modern system of document management. Moving to a technology-based system expanded access, reduced errors and expedited the review process, resulting in better customer service and smaller government. By the end of fiscal year 2007, the reform eliminated the need for 3100 government jobs—a reduction of 43 percent of the workforce resulting in an estimated savings of more than $115 million.

New outsourcing projects can be a process of trial and error. In 2001, Florida state government outsourced its human resource departments rather than replace an antiquated computer system that tracked personnel actions at a cost of as much as $90 million. At nearly a foot high, the initial contract was so prescriptive it actually hindered the process of problem solving through the transition, leading to frustration by rank-and-file state workers who were resistant to the change from the beginning.

Overcoming the inherent fear of change within a bureaucracy is a constant challenge to the success of outsourcing, and transformational reform as a whole. As Albert Einstein wisely said, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." To improve services and systems, we need to be willing to change.

Changing the way government operates opens the door for entrepreneurs to offer innovative and cost-effective solutions to today's problems. Outsourcing provides numerous benefits—economies of scale, greater expertise in diverse fields and much-needed flexibility in this new changing world.

The most efficient, effective and dynamic government is one composed primarily of policymakers, procurement experts and contract managers that provide quality assurance and accountability, with the private sector doing a bulk of the actual work.

Jeb Bush was the 43rd Governor of Florida and is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Florida's Future, a not-for-profit organization that advocates for education reform.

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