Facts & awards
National leader in management excellence
Washington State again is ranked tops in the nation in management of state government. Washington tied with two other states receiving the highest overall grade for management - an A minus - from the Pew Center on the States. Learn more about Washington’s top rating for managing public resources.
Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 20+ years
Every year since 1987, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Washington State for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The Certificate of Achievement is a prestigious national award recognizing conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government financial reports.
Washington continues to be a leader in digital government
Washington was the first state to bill and to receive payments over the Internet -- and the first to enable businesses to compute, file and pay taxes over the Internet.
For the past three consecutive years, Washington has been selected for the nation's Digital State Award by the Center for Digital Government, Government Technology magazine, and the Progress and Freedom Foundation in the Digital State survey.
Smaller, more efficient state government
State efficiency efforts and other measures have reduced the size of state government in Washington as a proportion of the state economy. Since 1995, state General Fund expenditures as a percent of total state personal income has declined from 6.8 percent to 5.7 percent.
Since 1997, Washington state agencies and their partners have implemented efficiency measures that increased state revenue or created state savings of $142.2 million - which is equivalent to:
- The combined salaries of 3,000 new teachers for one year, or . . .
- Providing in-home services to 16,000 senior citizens for one year, or . . .
- Immunizing each child born in Washington for eight years (based on an estimate of 100,000 births per year).
