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Editorial
for April 2003
Jim Hyler
If
state government made shoes, how much do you think they would cost, compared to
what you pay for shoes at Wal-Mart? That’s a silly question, of course, but it
highlights a serious problem, one that Jim Hyler, like a prophet in the
wilderness, has been raising for a year now.
Hyler, the Raleigh banking executive, pulled double duty as chair of NCCBI and
the blue ribbon panel informally known as the Governor’s Efficiency
Commission. He did an excellent job at both and was particularly successful in
reconnecting NCCBI with its business roots. He wasn’t afraid to stand up for
the business community in reminding the politicians that NCCBI’s main mission
is to watch what they’re doing and offer constructive criticism when
necessary.
Some of his best criticism is in the Efficiency Commission’s final report,
which too few people have read. In essence, it says that business people are
pretty smart, they’ve learned a thing or two about delivering the best
possible product at the lowest possible cost. Forced by global competition to
adapt or die, we’re now producing many more widgets at a much lower price by
wringing costs out of production. Shouldn’t state government do the same?
Unfortunately, the Efficiency Commission says, state government is still making
shoes pretty much the same way it has for decades. How much did it cost to make
shoes last year? How much more will it cost this year to make the same shoes?
How much will we have to charge customers to cover that nut? That’s how the
General Assembly writes the Continuation Budget. Of course we need wingtips,
otherwise known as the Expansion Budget.
But wait a cotton-picking minute, Hyler has been harping to anyone who would
listen. Can’t we walk up and down this 1970s-era assembly line and spot a few
places where we can improve the production process? Couldn’t state government
deliver better services to citizens at the same or lower tax rates, for example,
if it didn’t have 40 separate computerized payroll systems that can’t talk
to each other?
State government has been making the same shoes the same way for more than 25
years now. The Efficiency Commission recommends, and we wholeheartedly agree,
that it’s time to modernize the process by incorporating a few of the ideas
already employed so successfully by most businesses.
Hyler’s term as NCCBI’s volunteer leader ended at the annual meeting on
March 19, but his considerable influence will continue through a new initiative
we’ve launched called NC BEST. Working together through NC BEST, business
people can apply friendly but persuasive pressure on state government to deliver
better services without higher taxes. Fortunately, Gov. Easley and legislative
leaders seem willing to listen and learn. We urge you to learn more by visiting
the NC BEST web site at www.nccbi.org/ncbest.
-- Steve Tuttle
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