GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY TO HOST U.S. SENATE FIELD HEARING ON SMART, EFFECTIVE, AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNING

Senators Warner (VA) and Cardin (MD) bring hearing to Maryland to focus on Governor O’Malley’s CitiStat and StateStat initiatives, bringing accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness to government

ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 9, 2010) – Governor Martin O’Malley will host U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (VA) and Benjamin L. Cardin (MD) for a field hearing of the Budget Committee’s Government Performance Task Force on Monday at the State House. Also attending the hearing from Maryland’s Congressional delegation is Congressman John Sarbanes.

The bipartisan Task Force, chaired by Sen. Warner, has a broad mandate to examine federal program spending, reporting and accountability. Senators Warner and Cardin are conducting the field hearing to learn more about the CitiStat and StateStat initiatives championed by Governor O’Malley, and used by Maryland’s state and local governments to effectively track spending, analyze results and evaluate government performance.

The July 12 meeting, which will be streamed live online, will be held at the Governor’s Reception Room in the Maryland State House.

Governor O’Malley pioneered CitiStat as Mayor of Baltimore ten years ago, a program that has been replicated dozens of times on local, state, federal, and international levels. CitiStat has helped three mayoral administrations in Baltimore streamline bureaucracy, improve the efficiency of city services and cut costs to taxpayers. In 2007, Governor Martin O’Malley extended CitiStat’s principles of accountability and transparency to Maryland state agencies by creating StateStat, and has extended its good governing principles to such actions as measuring clean-up efforts in the Chesapeake Bay, monitoring overtime costs for Corrections Officers, and deploying public safety resources throughout Maryland.

In October 2009, the Task Force on Government Performance was established to examine current federal program measurement systems that have been designed to ensure that policies are implemented efficiently and actually achieve the intended result. The Task Force will also examine how performance and program evaluation information is used during the budget process and draw on best practices from public, private, and non-profit experience, and from previous federal performance reform efforts.