Human Capital Bonds, Part 6

Catching up from the weekend, Minneapolis Star Tribune business columnist Neal St. Anthony interviews local non-profit executive Steve Rothschild in yesterday's newspaper.  The interview touches on many of the themes that I have been developing in this space, such as redesigning government services and the use of human capital bonds.  The interview is a good introduction to the subject.

Human Capital Bonds, a Pilot Project

I attended this event last night, sponsored by the Citizens League on Human Capital Bonds.  I found out that the Minnesota State Legislature did authorize a $10 million pilot project in the 2011 budget.

More to come....

Event: Human Capital Bonds

On August 23rd, the Citizens League is holding an event on human capital bonds in Minneapolis at 6 p.m.  I've signed up, you should, too!

State Government and Reform

My state Representative, Keith Downey (R-Edina), has an opinion piece in this morning's Star Tribune making the important point that it was more than just the budget that the Governor vetoed yesterday.  Vetoed along with the appropriations were some needed basic reforms of how state government conducts its business.  Also, more experimental ideas, such as the human capital bonds, went down in flames.

Here is an idea that I think both right and left can agree on--whatever priorities that we set for government, those priorities should be undertaken in the most efficient manner possible.  If you truly care about the services government provides, we need to develop some 21st century delivery approaches.  Sticking with no longer workable approaches and practices from the 1960's and '70's will only guarantee that the whole system will collapse just that much sooner.

Human Capital Bonds Discussed Again

...in today's Star Tribune.  The idea introduced by my local legislator, state Representative Keith Downey (R-Edina) continues to make its way to the Governor's desk.

Sorry to see my old Pawlenty Administration colleague Jim Schowalter with this not-getting-the-idea quote,
"Selling bonds would cost more than a direct appropriation."

Jim, it's about leveraging the back-end savings, not minimizing the upfront costs.  Just throwing money at a budget item will always be cheaper than real reform.

Human Capital Bonds 5

Star Tribune columnist Lori Sturdevant writes about the Human Capital Bonds concept in the Sunday paper.  She credits Steven Rothschild, former General Mills executive, with developing the idea in Minnesota.  But she also mentions my state representative--Keith Downey (R-Edina)--and his role in getting the idea included in legislation.  We are still a long way from having a bill signed by the Governor, but let's keep rooting for Steven and Keith.

Human Capital Bonds 4

My state representative, Keith Downey (R-Edina) had a big win this week when his "human capital bond" idea was included in the human services budget passed by the state House.  It is only a $20 million pilot-project, and there is no guarantee it will be signed into law, but it's a start.

Bob DeBoer at the Citizens League policy blog (April 7 entry) does yeoman's work in straightening out the Star Tribune article I link to, above.

Further reading:  see the Citizens League Minnesota Journal Nov/Dec 2010 cover story for a primer on the concept of "Human Capital Performance Bonds".

Human Capital Bonds, Part 3 (Bumped)

A third take on Rep. Keith Downey's bill to create "Human Capital Bonds".

Human Capital Bonds, Part 2

Cyndy Brucato of MinnPost writes more about the bill involving "Human Capital Bonds" I discussed earlier.  The bill has the broad backing of groups from across the political spectrum.

Human Capital Bonds

One of the promising ideas for redesigning government goes under the clunky heading "human capital bonds."  In this era of scarce public resources, the concept is to capitalize the human capital we create through our public sector human services efforts.  My local state representative, Keith Downey, is leading the charge.