Most, if not all, state and local government programs can be tested. If we consider the issues long enough, we can find a metric to measure that indicates success or failure. If not, we should not consider the proposal.

For example, car tab fee reduction. What is success in this case? What goal are we attempting to achieve?

I don’t know either. Roads must be paid for. Raiding the rainy day fund is a habit we should all be very anxious about as critical events are unpredictable, and damages caused during those events are unpredictable as well. Three billion dollars seems like a lit of money, but if we change it into a government piggy bank, those funds won’t last long.

A better approach would be to keep the budget as-is and start to move things that car tabs pay for, but shouldn’t, to other fiscal buckets. Once we have the money, then make the change. That way, we can tell (by evidence) that we have the money to make the change because we’ve already paid for it.

If we can’t pay for it without raising the rainy day fund, don’t make the change. Don’t gamble with our future. This shouldn’t be a political issue. Reason and measured progress would be better for us all. Evidence-based government.

– Charles Sweet