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What is the Board?
The Board of Government Innovation and Cooperation facilitates improved quality and efficiency in the delivery of services by local units of government by providing incentives for innovation and cooperation and removing state imposed barriers to more effective service design and delivery systems.
The Board is a Minnesota state agency. Its eleven members include the State Auditor, the Commissioners of Finance and Administration, two Administrative Law Judges, and six State Legislators. It has two full-time staff members who administer three grant programs, a program of administrative rule waivers and procedural law exemptions, and a program for assisting local governments that agree to voluntarily consolidate with neighboring governments as a means of improving their overall efficiency.
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Why was the Board Created?
Minnesota state and local officials are under intense public pressure for permanent tax relief. At the same time, our citizens are demanding more and better public services, including smaller elementary and secondary class sizes, more affordable housing, relief for struggling farmers, better roads and mass transportation systems, affordable prescription medicine for seniors living no fixed incomes and a variety of services (child care, job training, etc.) to help people escape from a life dependent upon public assistance.
The Board of Government Innovation and Cooperation helps local officials meet the dual challenges of permanent tax relief and more and better public services. The Board focuses on improving both the efficiency and effectiveness of public services. The Board eliminates wasteful duplication of services by multiple levels of government and enhances public sector collaborations to reduce the overall costs of services. The Board recognizes the public sector must be more receptive to change – overcoming a perception often help by state and local officials that the safest course of action is to continue conducting business as it has always been done.
Though the Board’s competitive grants, the State shares the financial risks of pioneering new and improved public services. By authorizing waivers of administrative rules, and limited exemptions from enforcement of procedural laws, the Board removes State-imposed barriers to improved public services. The Board also streamlines the process for merging local governments, thereby capitalizing on economic of scale in the delivery of public services.
Competitive grants are available for local governments to develop and implement innovative public services and service delivery systems. The grants require collaboration between multiple levels of government and/or non-profit service providers. Grant recipients document their processes and performance outcomes as a means of promoting the replication of the innovations.
The rule waivers and exemptions from enforcement of procedural laws eliminate perceived barriers to more efficient delivery of essential public services. The waivers and exemptions enable local officials to focus on service outcomes without having to adhere to state rules and laws prescribing how those outcomes are to be achieved. By granting the waivers and exemptions for a limited number of local governments, the Board minimizes the risks associated with the proposed modifications to the rules or laws. If a waiver or exemption results in more efficient or effective services, without any unintended consequences, the Board and the local government officials work together to advocate that the rule or law be changed, allowing all local governments to implement the improved process. While a few Minnesota state agencies are able to waive their own rules, the Board, which includes members of the executive and legislative branches of government, is able to waive rules promulgated by all agencies. The independence of the Board helps ensure a more objective review of waiver requests.
