Secretary of State Alex Padilla (California)

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Many voters are planning to submit ballots by mail this year, due to health concerns around voting and other logistic challenges, but some voters may feel anxious about whether their vote arrived safely for counting. NewDEAL Leader California Secretary of State Alex Padilla unveiled a new tool to help voters track their ballots, allowing Californians to follow their ballot’s progress step by step until it’s officially counted. Check out more details about “Where’s my Ballot” to learn more about how Sec. Padilla is using tech to adapt to the unique challenges of the 2020 election season.

Resource and Development Tax Credit

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Problem

Historically, research and development incentives in Delaware have supported larger established companies. While these larger companies are vital to the state, smaller businesses and startups usually need more resources as they are starting out to remain competitive and expand their business efforts.

Solution

Rep. Short introduced legislation to reform the R&D Tax credit program in Delaware so that it will drive more of the resources to smaller start-up companies. By refocusing the credit toward smaller businesses and startups, this bill incentivizes innovation and growth in emerging industries that are critical to enhancing Delaware’s competitiveness and increasing the opportunity for job growth. If passed, the bill will improve the business climate for existing small businesses and attract new businesses to Delaware.

Enterprise Zones 2.0

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Problem

Several parts of Nebraska, including Omaha, suffer from greater unemployment rates than the rest of the state but the state has limited resources allocated to economic development programs.

Solution

Senator Mello authored legislation to reauthorize Nebraska’s enterprise zone statutes to encourage investment and economic growth by giving preference for projects in economically distressed communities. Rather than creating a new economic development program, this innovative idea focuses existing resources where the need is greatest for the largest economic return. By giving these areas a leg up on programs like job training and affordable housing funds, these communities are able to better prepare citizens with the skills and support they need to become self-sufficient and contribute to the state economy.

Best Practice P3s

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Problem

As traditional funding from the federal government has become increasingly uncertain, state and local governments are struggling to invest in the roads, power grids, and other kinds of infrastructure that we need to ‘build for the future’ in the changing economy. Without a standard set of rules around private funding for public infrastructure, it becomes much more difficult for both the government and private companies to fill this critical void.

Solution

Public Private Partnerships (P3s) are structures to essentially share resources to reduce the cost of construction, and therefore enable more projects, create the associated jobs, and literally build the kind of modern America we want to live in. Senator Keller is working to develop a standard set of best practices for public-private partnerships in order to untap private funding that can lower the cost and speed up infrastructure improvements while still ensuring accountability to the public.

Community Building Through Public Art

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Problem

Salem’s downtown pedestrian mall was in need of a variety of improvements; it was tired, in need of maintenance and repair, was not pedestrian friendly, and had vacant storefronts. Without improvements, the area lacked a strong sense of community and economic activity was hindered.

Solution

Mayor Driscoll is leading the planning stages of a downtown redesign based on feedback from residents who identified public art as a means to create a great public space and enhance the economic development potential of this area. The city is starting a formal public art initiative through development of a master plan for public art, adoption of an Ordinance by Council to establish a Public Art Ordinance, and the hiring of the first Public Art Planner. This is a smart investment for everyone because art and culture add vibrancy to neighborhoods, bring people together, attract tourists to visit and stay longer, and serve as an economic development tool.

Keep Your Money Local

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Problem

Cities and counties have millions in reserve and special funds but most of those dollars are invested in large funds run out of state. Local financial institutions know their community and customers better than large banks, and therefore by having access to those funds can more effectively invest in the community.

Solution

County Supervisor Coonerty proposes investing a small percentage of these reserves in local banks and credit unions to keep the money local, creating jobs and more funds for these institutions to lend to citizens to start businesses, purchase cars or improve their homes, all of which help grow the economy.

ROI on Tax Expenditures

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Problem

In most states and at the federal level tax expenditures (incentives, dedications, exemptions, loopholes etc.) that have not been recently analyzed and updated are draining resources from government budgets. In NM for example, these tax breaks have cost $1 billion of taxpayer money and have not significantly increased job creation.

Solution

Senator Keller is working to bring transparency and accountability to tax expenditures by requiring annual return on investment (ROI) and jobs created reporting. This information would make it easier for impactful programs to be enhanced and wasteful, redundant and out of date programs to be shifted to areas that are more effectively meeting citizen needs and creating jobs.

One Stop for Veterans

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Problem

Current programs established to provide benefits and services to veterans often struggle to find and engage the veterans they are meant to serve. Veterans falling through the cracks to the point of homelessness, unemployment, marriage breakups, higher suicide rates only get help when they hit the bottom.

Solution

Mayor Warren proposed a municipally-sponsored Veterans Center, which combined socializing/networking, activities, and speakers along with the opportunity to speak to service providers. This has been a successful model for Newton to better serve the veterans in their community while providing a comfortable environment for them to engage with other veterans.

Global Benefits Management Program

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Problem

Public employee benefits are often managed by different agencies, often with different goals and objectives. As a result, the customer experience varies significantly. In addition, the fine points of health and retirement benefits can be difficult to understand and can interfere with employees making optimum decisions for career advancement and retirement.

Solution

State Treasurer Cowell is in the process of merging state health benefits and state retirement benefits under common leadership to create a global benefits program. By combining the NC State Health Plan and the NC Retirement Benefits program, the state will be able to share data and data analytics capabilities, develop unified customer experience strategies, and develop more effective outreach opportunities. Ultimately, the Treasurer hopes to help employees develop a better sense of their financial and physical health and make the best possible benefit choices for their future success.

County and Municipal Fiscal Analysis Dashboard

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Problem

Local government officials are tasked with monitoring and reporting on the financial positions of government but have lacked a method of quickly comparing themselves to peer governments. As a result, it can be difficult for governments to benchmark financial performance and learn best practices related to financial management.

Solution

State Treasurer Cowell implemented the County and Municipal Fiscal Analysis Dashboard, an online tool that helps citizens and public officials evaluate the financial condition of a selected local government on various dimensions of resource flow and stock for governmental activities, general fund, water and sewer fund, and electric fund. This tool allows local governments to learn and implement best practices in financial management, increases government transparency and engages a broader citizen base to help build constituent trust in government.

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