Gov.

Tuesday, October 10, 2000

Gov. Jesse Ventura’s administration has made a smart move by changing the way state agencies are funded and adding incentives to put out-of-date programs out to pasture.

The challenge pool system requires agencies to get rid of their least worthy programs if they want a better chance of adding new ones or expanding existing ones.

Ventura has always talked about streamlining government by losing the programs that aren’t necessary or that aren’t performing well. By putting the burden on agencies to decide what is more important to them, his administration has made it possible to discourage government growth while still allowing the people who work with programs to have some control over which get state money.

Ventura is demonstrating the advantages of electing a governor who sees himself as an outsider and a reformer: He’s examining the way the state does business and proposing changes from the standpoint of someone who hasn’t spent years within the system. Most of the time, it seems to have produced good results.

Here’s hoping more ideas like the challenge pool system are on the way – ideas that make government more accountable and less wasteful.