GovTech Market Insights: August 2019
States ended fiscal 2019 with revenue growth and a few surpluses. The National Association of State Budget Officers says most states saw year-over-year revenue gains driven by increased collection of personal income taxes, corporate income taxes and sales taxes.
According to NASBO’s Spring Fiscal Survey of the States, 47 states are proposing spending hikes for fiscal 2020. Here are a few more highlights:
- States estimate general fund spending grew 5.8 percent in fiscal 2019, the fastest annual growth rate since fiscal 2007.
- Proposed 2020 spending plans would increase general fund expenditures by 3.7 percent.
- Governors’ budgets are based on forecasted general fund revenue growth of 4 percent in fiscal 2020.
Consumers remain dissatisfied with their interactions with government, a newly released study says. In May, Salesforce surveyed more than 8,000 consumers and businesses worldwide for its annualState of the Connected Consumer Report. The report offers insight into how customer expectations are changing. Here are my key takeaways from the report and what they mean for government.
- Government trails all other industries when it comes to experience, with 60 percent of survey respondents ranking public sector last. This may not be entirely surprising, but it’s worth noting that the situation is starting to change. Our national benchmark surveys show that state and local CIOs across the country are prioritizing the improvement of digital and non-digital experiences.
- Government websites require too many clicks.Fifty-six percent of Salesforce survey respondents expect to find what they’re looking for online in three clicks or less. Unfortunately, most public sector websites — which typically are built to mirror the government organizational chart — fail to meet this expectation. That’s a big factor in government’s low overall experience ranking.
- Privacy matters a lot. This year privacy emerged as a major legislative issue, first with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and now with several states enacting their own privacy laws. Looking forward to 2020, we expect data rights and ownership to take center stage as it gets harder than ever for public and private sector organizations to earn and keep citizens’ trust.
Illinois will invest $420 million in broadband infrastructure to strengthen internet access across the state. Gov. J.B. Pritzker launched the initiative in mid-August by appointing a 25-member Broadband Advisory Council, which will present recommendations to state lawmakers by the end of this year. Investments will focus on improving connectivity to support education, telehealth and economic development, according to Pritzker’s office.
New Jersey is the latest state to create a task force to study potential government applications for blockchain. New Jersey joins at least seven other states that have created similar groups to find uses for the distributed ledger technology. GovTech Associate Editor Ben Miller recently tracked them all down and mapped them here.
New York and Arizona are seeking new state CIOs after the departure of their top tech executives. New York’s Robert Samson announced his retirement in August after two years as state CIO. He took the job in 2017 following a 36-year career at IBM. Arizona CIOMorgan Reed departed in late July for a position at an undisclosed private company. Reed became CIO in 2015 after serving as an executive with Expedia.
Annette Dunn, formerly IT director for the Iowa Department of Transportation, is now the state’s CIO. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Dunn to the state CIO post in late July. Dunn replaces Robert von Wolffradt, who resigned as Iowa’s state CIO in January.
