Holding Government Accountable

Governor Chris Gregoire is committed to building trust and confidence in state government. She holds every state employee personally accountable for doing his or her part to move Washington forward. The Governor has taken the following actions to deliver on this commitment.

Focus on performance

• Created the Government Management Accountability and Performance to hold state agencies accountable for delivering results. This tool enables Governor Gregoire to evaluate the results programs are achieving and to take action publicly to make course corrections.

• Promoted use of performance audits, another tool to improve state government.

• Continues to use the Priorities of Government budgeting process. We use this clear, straight-forward approach to establish the state’s highest priorities and identify how we can invest our resources to get the greatest possible return.

• Conducts performance assessments to determine if agencies are making progress toward goals. These assessments improve the quality of the performance measurement information used by the Office of Financial Management and the Legislature during the budget development process.

Communicate with citizens

• Communicate clearly with citizens. The Governor banned bureaucratic jargon and requires all agencies to use Plain Talk to write clear letters, applications and instructions when communicating with Washingtonians.