RD363 - The Virginia Report 2015


Executive Summary:
This report was prepared pursuant to § 2.2-2686 of the Code of Virginia, which requires the Council on Virginia’s Future to develop and submit annually to the General Assembly and the Governor and publish to the public a balanced accountability scorecard containing an assessment related to these questions:

• How is Virginia doing?
• Are we getting results on our highest priorities?
• Are we improving government services and operations?

This report presents a high-level assessment of Virginia’s progress in areas that are important to its quality of life; it is based on and complements information contained in Virginia Performs. It is issued annually to help track progress over time, to highlight challenges, and to provide analytic information for leadership and decision-making.

The main report consists of five chapters, including this introduction. The second chapter, A Profile of Virginia, provides a brief snapshot of the Commonwealth.

The next chapter, How Is Virginia Doing?, is divided into three sections.

• The first, Key Outcome/Indicator Highlights, examines the progress being made toward long-term goals for both Virginia and its state government by reviewing progress on the 49 indicators included in the Scorecard at a Glance.

• A revised section, Are We Getting Results On Our Highest Priorities?, then discusses our expanded focus on the assessment of high-priority issues. The first part of this section discusses Virginia’s progress on key issues as summarized through three issue-focused report cards: Workforce System, State Government Operations, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The second part presents Governor McAuliffe’s Enterprise Strategic Priorities, a significant enhancement to Virginia Performs that will greatly strengthen planning and execution across the enterprise.

• This is followed by another revised section, Are We Improving Government Services and Operations?, which includes a multi-page table containing a summary assessment of agency progress toward key performance objectives.

The fourth chapter, A Regional Perspective, provides a discussion of selected regional indicators and presents newly revised Scorecards at a Glance for the Council’s eight regions.

The final chapter, Council Areas of Emphasis, includes a brief introduction to the Council on Virginia’s Future and a summary of recent developments in the evolution of Virginia Performs.

All levels of Virginia Performs continue to be updated and improved. For instance, societal-level data are updated as new information becomes available, and new measures and links are added when they can help improve assessment. In addition, agencies are now using a revised Planning and Performance component of Virginia Performs for strategic planning and performance reporting. More information on these and other improvements and initiatives will be provided in the Council’s annual Executive Summary, to be published in January 2016.