Over the past several years, the State of Mississippi has taken important steps to use evidence in order to get better results from state spending and, in turn, achieve better outcomes for the people of Mississippi. That includes defining tiers of evidence to focus funding on what works; creating comprehensive program inventories that categorize the level of evidence relating to each program’s effectiveness; and reinvigorating the state’s use of evidence-based budgeting (also known as performance-based budgeting), including using a set of questions to guide funding decisions called the “Seven Elements of Quality Program Design.”
To learn more, we’re joined by someone who has been closely involved in these efforts, Toby Barker (@toby_barker). First elected to the legislature in 2007 at the age of 25, today his is the Chairman of Performance-Based Budgeting Committee, which launched in 2016. He also sits on several other committees, including Appropriations. He is a Republican state representative whose district covers Central Hattiesburg.
More information: Mississippi is part of the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative, which Toby Barker references in the interview. For more information, see the Gov Innovator podcast interview with Gary VanLandingham of Results First. [click here]. Also see the initiative’s Guide to Evidence-Based Budget Development.