http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-090427pagano_briefs,0,7158694.story

Give smart planning a chance
April 27, 2009

Since 2002, at the request of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Center on the States and Governing magazine, I have led a team at the University of Illinois at Chicago to grade all 50 states on how well they manage their infrastructure. With advice from experts in engineering, planning, and budgeting, we designed a set of management "criteria" that, if implemented effectively, ought to produce good results.

The first key ingredient is a transparent, thorough and realistic capital planning process that prioritizes projects based on objective assessments of infrastructure conditions and current and future needs. The plan should be fully vetted by experts and the general public, not just by politicians.

The second criterion is what we call the "on time and under budget" dimension. If states can't effectively control contractors and make them accountable for the efficient use of tax and fee dollars, then they earn low grades.

The third criterion -- maintain existing infrastructure at an appropriate level ? is most states' Achilles heel. States, and the voters, have little understanding of the full value of a fixed asset, that is, its construction costs plus lifetime maintenance costs. Cutting ribbons makes for fun photo-ops. Less sexy are ongoing upkeep projects, such as repairing underground pipes, filling potholes and painting bridges.

Rep. Kathleen Ryg's (D- Vernon Hills) House Bill 2359 moves Illinois toward the path of sensible, efficient, and effective infrastructure management. Should the elements of the bill be fully implemented, Illinois' infrastructure grade, currently ranked at a deplorable 41, according to the 2008 grades assigned by our Government Performance Project (and dead last among the largest 10 states), could improve substantially.

--Michael A. Pagano Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs University of Illinois at Chicago