2020 State Standard of Excellence

Since 2017, the Arizona Governor’s Office has developed and updated the Governor’s Fundamentals Map, which lists goals under six statewide priority areas. All cabinet agencies are required to complete an annual strategic plan that includes annual objectives, metrics, and initiatives, which are captured in My Agency Scorecards. In 2020, the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting hired a statewide Strategic Planner to further support the multi-year strategic planning processes.

The Kentucky Governor has statewide priorities focused on wages, health care, education, retirement, and transparency. State agencies are required to align their activities to the Governor’s priorities and establish, maintain, and publish strategic plans. In March 2020, the Governor took actions to elevate Kentucky’s COVID-19 crisis response as the state’s highest priority and publicly committed to a statewide, data-driven response.

In 2018, the Oregon Governor’s Office released the Action Plan for Oregon, which identified key priorities for the state in the areas of: environment, healthcare, education, transportation, good government, earthquake preparedness, housing and homelessness, child welfare, and job training. Progress made on meeting each priority is publicly available online, along with strategic plans for these policy areas.

The Pennsylvania Governor has three statewide goals: Jobs that Pay, Schools that Teach, and Government that Works. For each goal, the governor’s office developed subgoals with key performance measures sourced from the state’s open data platform to track the progress in all three strategic areas.

The Tennessee Governor has five priorities: Education and Workforce Development, Jobs and Rural Economic Development, Transparent and Efficient Government, Healthier Tennessee, and Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform. Specific metrics tied to the success of each priority area are publicly displayed on the state’s Transparent TN website.

In 2018, the Utah Governor’s Office released the Utah Life Elevated 2020 Initiative, which includes four statewide goals: effective and efficient government, thriving communities, qualified workforce, and equitable and competitive revenue. Statewide goals were joined by high priority COVID-19 response goals and strategies that were elevated in March 2020 to help Utah recover from the pandemic.

Vermont’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan included four statewide goals: the economy, affordability, vulnerability, and modernization. These priority areas were established by a 2017 Vermont executive order, which required all agencies “to establish the following cornerstones as their strategic and operational goals: growing the Vermont economy; making Vermont an affordable place to live, work, and do business; and protecting vulnerable Vermonters.” As required by a 2014 law and a related executive order, the state’s Chief Performance Officer annually reports data related to the state’s goals and fiscal transparency.

In 2017, the Washington Governor’s Office issued five overarching goals with aligned outcome measures: world-class education; prosperous economy; sustainable energy and clean environment; healthy and safe communities; and effective, efficient, and accountable government.