While the nature of Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-AK) "executive" experience will be the subject of much debate during the closing months of the Presidential campaign, there is no doubt that she is the only person on a ticket who has signed budgets wtih state and local IT line items. As would be expected, she has employed IT pragmatically in service of her larger policy agenda.

As the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Gov. Palin oversaw a biennial budget around $13 million per year with less than $3 million of that total going to generalized operations expenses. So, on a yearly basis, IT spending in Wasilla, even including public safety expenditures, was only the range of a few hundred thousand dollars (i.e., 2-3%). As governor, Ms. Palin's budgetary responsibility jumped to approximately $8 billion. (See INPUT's state profile for more information.) At this level of spending, the themes that drive a policy agenda can make themselves known even the distant recesses of IT spending.

So where does Gov. Palin stand on some key issues that drove her gubernatorial agenda and could be part of a McCain administration?

(Remember, the last two vice presidents have been key domestic--as well as foreign--policy players in their respective administrations, so it would be no surprise if Gov. Palin's background were to come to the fore in this context.)

On health care she believes more competition in the industry will reduce costs -- an opinion which largely leaves government out of the solution and is in line with McCain's views. She has been an opponent of the certificate of need, a process that gives government the power to determine whether a medical service is necessary. In 2007 she created the Alaska Health Strategies Council to recommend ways to promote access to health care and help lower costs. The council eventually recommended retaining the certificate of need. Palin rejected their recommendation, but has yet to be successful eliminating it as the legislation to do so died. This year during her state of the state speech she proposed three other health related initiatives:

• Review what other fiscally conservative states have done to incentivize employers to provide medical insurance for employees based on the free market
• Pass the health care transparency act, requiring consumers get better information about the prices and quality of their care
• Include in comprehensive health reform personal responsibility so that Alaskans will live healthier lifestyles

On Education she proposed investing more than $1 billion each year under the "Three-Year Education Plan," which would let school districts plan ahead for their needs. And she proposed including $100 million in the capital budget for school construction and deferred maintenance. Palin also wanted to look at successful education programs across the country that can be replicated in Alaska to improve the state's high school graduation rate, which is 61%. She also believes the state is unique, especially its rural areas, and Alaska's Congressional delegation needs to work with the Department of Education to adapt No Child Left Behind standards.

On workforce readiness issues, Palin has taken the approach of many other governors across the nation, calling for the private sector, the state's Department of Labor, post-secondary institutions to work together to ensure students have the skills to meet workforce needs. She also proposed establishing a subcabinet agency be created with the objective of lowering unemployment in areas of the state where it is high.

In terms of technology initiatives, Palin's proposed state budget for fiscal year 2009, included almost $50 million (above and beyond baseline IT spending) -- much of it directed towards health care, education and workforce readiness:

• Student Information System for vocational-technical students
• Replace the Business Services' management information system which monitors Workforce Investment Act job training programs (Opp ID 47597)
• Upgrade the Alaska Labor Exchange System (ALEXsys) (Opp ID 12537)
• Replace the Department of Health and Social Services' Fraud Case Management System (FCM)
• Replace the Electronic Vital Record Registration System (Opp ID 45121)
• Replace eligibility systems used for social services and Medicaid (Opp ID 43879 and Opp ID 43881)

While this election cycle may seem like one of the longest ever, there's still plenty of time for us to get to know more about Sarah Palin and her views on many issues. Her next big test will be the vice presidential debate, where I'm sure we'll learn more about her positions on issues we didn't hear about in her acceptance speech.