BILL REQ. #:  H-3134.1 

Read first time 12/12/11.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     AN ACT Relating to implementing lean strategies at state agencies; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1)(a) The legislature recognizes the value to both taxpayers and state government agencies of implementing lean strategies that assist the state in obtaining greater value from its taxpayer investments in government services. Successful lean implementation involves commitment to agency improvement by agency managers and employees, all of whom contribute to nurturing a problem-solving culture in the agency. It allows a continuous improvement process, involving identification and reduction of waste, to become the norm of the agency. These processes lead to the delivery of effective and efficient services to the public.
     (b) The legislature also recognizes that implementing lean strategies during economic downturns, when the imperative to do more with less is urgent, can preserve agency services and programs. At the same time, the legislature recognizes that lean strategies are not designed to focus on reducing the workforce. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that lean strategies be used to enhance and preserve quality in state government and not be used as a strategy for reducing the state workforce.
     (2) Implementation of lean strategies in private sector businesses has proven that such strategies assist these businesses to provide smarter, more efficient services. On a pilot basis, these strategies have also proven successful at the departments of commerce and agriculture.
     (3) It is the intent of the legislature to encourage additional state agencies to implement lean strategies in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency in delivering state services. A state agency director that initiates a lean strategies effort may:
     (a) For the purposes of implementing lean strategies, expend up to two hundred thousand dollars of the moneys appropriated to the agency that have not been appropriated for another specific purpose; and
     (b) Request consultation and assistance in developing its lean strategies from the department of commerce or the department of agriculture.