Vermont chief performance officer pitches updates to outcomes and program reporting tied to H.67

Justin Kenny, chief performance officer for the state of Vermont, told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee that H.67 — the bill the committee is beginning to refine — should help modernize the legislature’s outcomes and program-performance reporting.

Kenny, who said his office consists of two staff members, described its mission as consultative: the office helps state employees “better solve problems, manage operations, and improve results,” but it has limited authority to require agencies to adopt particular measures. "We truly don't have much authority to require anything of anyone aside from some of the reporting mandates that come from the legislature," Kenny said.

He walked the committee through five core work areas, highlighting training and programmatic reporting. The office runs a catalog of 34 training courses (many recorded and some instructor-led), with roughly 941 unique participants last year, and has added technology-focused offerings — including Excel badges and a SharePoint progression — to address gaps in everyday staff skills. Kenny said those courses and ad hoc monthly sessions have produced measurable improvements in how employees use tools and run processes.

Kenny also described two peer-support structures: a continuous-improvement network of about 1,500 state employees and a tech hub approaching 3,000 members. Those communities of practice, he said, reduce one-off help requests by giving employees access to cross-agency subject-matter expertise.

On reporting, Kenny tied the office’s work to Act 186 of 2014, which created the outcomes report. He said the annual outcomes report remains a useful centralized repository but has not had its indicators reviewed or updated since 2018 and omits topics such as housing and higher education. "There’s nothing on housing. There’s nothing on higher education," Kenny said, urging clearer stewardship and periodic review of which indicators should be included.

Kenny said the programmatic performance-measure report has grown substantially — the office now collects measures from roughly 200–300 programs and nearly 1,000 performance measures — and was separated from the budget process this past year. He described this work as increasingly housed in the chief performance office rather than as a Department of Finance and Management pilot, and said H.67 presents an opportunity to clarify roles and ownership.

Addressing concerns about data collection burdens, Kenny said his team has automated much of the data flow using Microsoft tools and Power BI so dashboards update daily. That automation, he said, is meant to reduce recurring manual work for agencies and make program data easier for the legislature to review.

Committee members asked about the office’s capacity and whether Kenny does technical work himself or routes questions to experts. Kenny said he handles many technical tasks but also leverages the communities of practice to surface subject-matter experts when needed.

The committee did not take formal action on H.67 in this session; members indicated they plan further revisions and follow-up conversations with the chief performance office.