Built a Strong Financial Base

n 1991, when Chiles/MacKay took office, Florida was facing the devastating effects of a deep, long-term recession. During this turbulent time, declining state revenues were coupled with growing welfare rolls, high unemployment, and an overall increase in the need for state services.

Governor Chiles, formerly the budget chairman for the U.S. Senate, used his experience to bring fiscal discipline and accountability to the state's finances. He directed a complete review of state government functions and services that resulted in the consolidation of six agencies into three, a slowed growth in the number of new state employees, and a strong reliance on new and innovative technologies to deliver state services.

Governor Chiles consistently developed fiscally responsible budgets throughout his term. Under Chiles' leadership, the budget reserve funds grew from $3.1 million in the Working Capital Trust Fund in FY 1990-91 to an estimated $41.2 billion in FY 1998-99. Florida's bond rating also improved from AA to AA+ because of the state's strong financial management, steady funding of the budget stabilization reserve and healthy economic expansion relative to the region and nation. The Florida Retirement System and rainy day reserve funds are at all-time performance highs, and Florida's ratio of state employees to citizens is the lowest in the Southeast.

Governor Chiles was instrumental in creating the Government Performance and Accountability Act, which established procedures to implement a performance-based budgeting program for all state agencies. The Act called for state agencies to be held accountable for services and products they deliver and for each agency's mission, goals, and objectives to be clearly defined. The Act also required state agencies to be evaluated and progress in achieving goals and objectives assessed. All programs will be performance-budgeted by FY 2001-2002. To date, 22 agencies are operating under performance-based budgeting.

The Chiles/MacKay administration implemented the recommendations of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, improved the overall budget process and provided valuable budgeting information. The administration improved reporting of the budgets to include priority lists of expenditures by state agencies and plans for reduction in the event of revenue shortfalls.


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	n 1991, when Chiles/MacKay took office, Florida was facing the devastating effects of a deep, long-term recession. During this turbulent time, declining state revenues were coupled with growing welfare rolls, high unemployment, and an overall increase in the need for state services. Governor Chiles, formerly the budget chairman for the U.S. Senate, used his experience to bring fiscal discipline and accountability to the state's finances. He directed a complete review of state government functions and services that resulted in the consolidation of six agencies into three, a slowed growth in the number of new state employees, and a strong reliance on new and innovative technologies to deliver state services. Governor Chiles consistently developed fiscally responsible budgets throughout his term. Under Chiles' leadership, the budget reserve funds grew from $3.1 million in the Working Capital Trust Fund in FY 1990-91 to an estimated $41.2 billion in FY 1998-99. Florida's bond rating also improved from AA to AA+ because of the state's strong financial management, steady funding of the budget stabilization reserve and healthy economic expansion relative to the region and nation. The Florida Retirement System and rainy day reserve funds are at all-time performance highs, and Florida's ratio of state employees to citizens is the lowest in the Southeast. Governor Chiles was instrumental in creating the Government Performance and Accountability Act, which established procedures to implement a performance-based budgeting program for all state agencies. The Act called for state agencies to be held accountable for services and products they deliver and for each agency's mission, goals, and objectives to be clearly defined. The Act also required state agencies to be evaluated and progress in achieving goals and objectives assessed. All programs will be performance-budgeted by FY 2001-2002. To date, 22 agencies are operating under performance-based budgeting. The Chiles/MacKay administration implemented the recommendations of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, improved the overall budget process and provided valuable budgeting information. The administration improved reporting of the budgets to include priority lists of expenditures by state agencies and plans for reduction in the event of revenue shortfalls.
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