1.This Act may be cited as the
Government Efficiency, Effectiveness,
and Performance Improvement Act of 2009
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The
term agency
means—
(A)an executive
agency as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, other than the
Government Accountability Office; and
(B)the United States
Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission.
(2)Agency
performance improvement officerThe term agency
performance improvement officer
means an employee of an agency who is a
member of the Senior Executive Service or equivalent service, and who is
designated by the head of the agency to carry out the duties set forth in
section 5 of this Act.
3.
(a)Congress
finds the following:
(1)A lack of efficiency, effectiveness, and
accountability in some Federal programs undermines the confidence of the
American people in the Government and reduces the Federal Government’s ability
to adequately address public needs.
(2)To restore the
confidence of the American people in its Government and to increase the Federal
Government’s ability to adequately address vital public needs, the Federal
Government must continually seek to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and
accountability of Federal programs.
(3)With the passage
of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, Congress directed the
executive branch to seek improvements in the performance and accountability of
Federal programs by having agencies focus on strategic objectives and annual
program results.
(4)The requirements
of the Government Performance and Results Act have produced an infrastructure
of outcome oriented strategic plans, performance measures, and accountability
reporting that serve as a solid foundation for agencies working with Congress
to achieve long-term strategic goals and improve the performance of Federal
programs.
(5)Congressional
policy making, spending decisions, and program oversight have been handicapped
by insufficient attention to program performance and results.
(6)While improvements
have been made in the development of outcome-oriented strategic plans,
performance measures, and accountability reporting for individual programs,
progress is still needed to ensure that programs are periodically evaluated in
a systematic, consistent, and transparent manner, and that performance
information is used to inform congressional decisionmaking in conducting
program authorization, appropriation, and oversight.
(7)Periodic
performance assessments of Federal programs provide critical information on
whether a program is achieving its performance objectives and help Congress and
the executive branch identify the most pressing policy and program issues and
determine if specific operational, financial, or strategic reforms are needed
to increase a program’s efficiency and effectiveness.
(8)Programs
performing similar or duplicative functions that exist within a single agency
or across multiple agencies should be identified and their performance and
results shared among all such programs to improve their performance and
results.
(b)The
purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1)To improve the
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 by implementing a program
assessment process that seeks to assess each Federal program on a periodic
basis with a particular focus on the following:
(A)The clarity of
purpose and objectives of the program.
(B)The quality of the
program design.
(C)The quality of
strategic and performance planning and goals for the program.
(D)The quality of the
management and organizational design of the program.
(E)The effectiveness
of the program in reaching its stated objectives.
(2)To utilize the
information gathered during the assessment process to help agencies make
informed management decisions, improve the effectiveness of agency and program
operations (particularly for those programs that are deemed poorly performing),
and submit evidence-based funding requests.
(3)To provide
congressional policy makers with information needed to conduct more effective
oversight and assist in the improvement of agency operations, and to make
performance-informed and results-based authorization and appropriation
decisions that improve the effectiveness of program operations.
(4)To establish the Performance Improvement
Council as a body that will assist in the development of performance standards
and evaluation methodologies, identify best practices in Federal performance
management practices and facilitate the exchange of information among agencies
on these practices, and coordinate and monitor performance assessment
efforts.
(5)To establish
agency performance improvement officers to supervise the performance management
activities of Federal agencies.
4.Sense of Congress
regarding the need for increased consultation between Congress and Federal
agencies on performance management issuesIt is the sense of Congress that the head of
each Federal agency should make every effort to consult with the committees
with jurisdiction over the agency and other interested members of Congress each
fiscal year regarding the performance plan of the agency (required by section
1115 of title 31, United States Code).
5.
(a)Requirement for
program assessmentsChapter 11 of title 31, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
1120.
(a)The head of each Federal agency, in
collaboration with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall,
to the maximum extent practicable, conduct an assessment of each program of the
agency at least once every 5 fiscal years.
(b)In conducting an
assessment of a program under subsection (a), the head of a Federal agency, in
collaboration with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,
shall—
(1)coordinate to
determine the programs to be assessed; and
(2)assess the program’s purpose, strategic
plan and objectives, organizational design, management, efficiency, and
effectiveness in achieving its performance objectives, and such other matters
as the head of the agency considers appropriate, and identify the program’s
strengths and weaknesses and factors impeding or contributing to program
successes.
(c)Draft list of
programs To be assessedThe
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall—
(1)) make available,
as part of the President’s budget submission and through the Office of
Management and Budget website, and provide to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate—
(A)a draft list of
programs to be assessed during the coming fiscal year; and
(B)the criteria and
methodology that will be used to assess the programs;
(2)provide a
mechanism for interested persons, including members and committees of Congress,
to comment on the programs being assessed and the criteria and methodology that
will be used to assess the programs; and
(3)along with the
head of each agency, place a special emphasis on the advantages of assessing
during the same fiscal year any programs that are performing similar functions,
serve similar populations, have similar purposes, or share common objectives,
for purposes of identifying common challenges, exemplary goals and practices,
common measures of performance, and potential opportunities for the integration
and consolidation of Federal functions.
(d)Final list of
programs To be assessedBy May 1 of each year, the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall make available, through the Office of
Management and Budget website, and provide to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate—
(1)a final list of
programs to be assessed during the coming fiscal year; and
(2)the criteria and
methodology that will be used to assess the programs.
(e)Coordination and
establishment of assessment teamsIn conducting an assessment of a program
under subsection (a), the head of the relevant agency shall collaborate with
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish assessment
teams to assess the program’s purpose, strategic plan and objectives,
organizational design, management, efficiency, and effectiveness in achieving
its performance objectives, and such other matters as the head of the agency
considers appropriate, and identify the program’s strengths and weaknesses and
factors impeding or contributing to program successes.
(f)(1)The results of the
assessments conducted during a fiscal year shall be submitted by the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget in a report to Congress at the same time
that the President submits the next budget under section 1105 of this title
after the end of that fiscal year.
(2)The assessment report for each
program shall—
(A)include—
(i)a brief summary of the program
purposes, objectives, and performance goals, as well as key findings of the
assessment;
(ii)an assessment of the clarity of
the program’s purpose and the soundness of the program’s organizational design
and approach to achieving specific long-term goals;
(iii)an assessment of the quality of
the program’s measurable long-term and annual performance measures, and the
extent to which necessary performance data are collected;
(iv)an assessment of the extent to
which managers are held accountable for achieving program results, and the
extent to which strong financial management tools are in place;
(v)an assessment of the program’s
efficiency and effectiveness in achieving long-term and annual performance
objectives; and
(vi)a summary of how the program’s
strengths and weaknesses are impeding or contributing to its failures or
successes, including the reasons for any substantial variation from the
targeted level of performance of the program;
(B)describe the extent to which any
trends, developments, or emerging conditions affect the need to change the
mission of the program or the way that the program is being carried out;
(C)identify, within any program assessed,
the best practices conducted in the program for allocating resources in an
efficient and effective manner that resulted in positive outcomes, and the key
reasons why such practices resulted in positive outcomes;
(D)include recommendations for program
modifications to improve the results that each program achieves, with a special
focus on opportunities that might exist for the consolidation and integration
of programs and authorities, along with an explanation of each change and a
description of its effect on program operations, costs, and
effectiveness;
(E)describe any significant limitations
in the assessments; and
(F)be available in a searchable, online
database through the Office of Management and Budget website.
(g)(1)Following the submission
of any assessment report, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,
acting through the Deputy Director for Management, shall work with the relevant
agency to develop an improvement plan that responds to the assessment report
and that identifies follow-up actions to improve the performance of the program
covered by the assessment report.
(2)Within 90 days after submission of an
assessment report, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall
make the improvement plan relating to the report available, through the Office
of Management and Budget website, and submit copies of the improvement plan to
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
(3)Each improvement plan for a program
shall include management, organizational, or operational reforms the agency
will implement to improve the performance of the program.
(4)The head of the relevant agency, in
collaboration with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall
oversee the implementation of improvement plans for programs in the
agency.
(5)The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall make improvement plans available in a searchable,
electronic form through the Office of Management and Budget website. The plans
shall be updated periodically to reflect the status of follow-up
actions.
(h)Criteria for
more frequent assessmentsThe Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall make every effort to assess programs more
frequently than required under subsection (a) in cases in which programs are
determined to be of higher priority, special circumstances exist, improvements
have been made, or it is determined that more frequent assessment is
warranted.
(i)Each year, following the release of assessment
reports, the Inspector General of each agency shall submit to Congress, and
post on the website of the Inspector General, a report on the agency’s
implementation of the requirements of this section and on the strengths,
weaknesses, and limitations of the agency’s assessment process, as well as the
quality of the agency’s assessment reports and improvement plans.
(j)Government
Accountability Office evaluations and reports
(1)
(A)After the end of each
of the first, second, and third fiscal years with respect to which the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget submits one or more assessment reports
under subsection (f), the Comptroller General of the United States shall
evaluate the implementation of this section, with emphasis on the matters
specified in subparagraph (B).
(B)The matters to be evaluated under subparagraph (A) are
as follows, with respect to the fiscal year covered by the evaluation:
(i)The criteria and
methodology used to conduct program assessments.
(ii)The limitations
of the assessment process.
(iii)The quality of assessment reports and improvement plans.
(iv)Agency efforts to
implement follow-up actions identified in program improvement plans.
(v)The level of
engagement between congressional stakeholders and executive branch
agencies.
(vi)The use of data
produced through the assessment process.
(vii)The
effectiveness of assessment teams, agency performance improvement officers, and
the Performance Improvement Council in improving agency performance management
efforts.
(2)The Comptroller General shall submit to
Congress a report on the results of each evaluation conducted under paragraph
(1). The report shall include a list of recommendations on ways to improve the
assessment process and the operations of agency performance improvement
officers and the Performance Improvement Council.
(k)(1)With respect to program
assessments conducted during a fiscal year that contain classified information,
the President shall submit on the same date as the report is submitted under
subsection (g)—
(A)a copy of each such assessment
(including the classified information), to the appropriate committees of
jurisdiction of the House of Representatives and the Senate; and
(B)consistent with statutory law
governing the disclosure of classified information, an appendix containing a
list of each such assessment and the committees to which a copy of the
assessment was submitted under subparagraph (A), to the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(2)Upon request from the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives or the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall, consistent with
statutory law governing the disclosure of classified information, provide to
the Committee a copy of—
(A)any assessment described in
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) (including any evaluation not listed in any
appendix submitted under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph); and
(B)any appendix described in subparagraph
(B) of paragraph (1).
(3)In this subsection, the term
classified information
refers to matters described in section
552(b)(1)(A) of title 5.
(l)Inherently
governmental functionsThe functions and activities authorized or
required by this section shall be considered inherently Governmental functions
and shall be performed only by Federal employees.
(m)The
requirements of this section shall terminate on September 30,
2019.
.
(b)Not
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement
the requirements of section 1120 of title 31, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a), including guidance on a definition of the term
program
.
(c)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
1120. Program
assessment.
.
6.Strategic planning
amendments
(a)Change in
deadline for strategic planSubsection (a) of section 306 of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by striking No later than September 30,
2007,
and inserting Not later than September 30 of each year
following a year in which an election for President occurs, beginning with
September 30, 2009,
.
(b)Change in period
of coverage of strategic planSubsection (b) of section 306 of
title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b)Each strategic plan shall cover the
four-year period beginning on October 1 of the year following a year in which
an election for President
occurs.
.
7.Improving
Government Performance
(a)Improving
government performanceChapter 11 of title 31, United States
Code, as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
1121.Improving
government performance
(a)Duties of agency
performance improvement officersSubject to the direction of the
head of the agency, each agency performance improvement officer shall—
(1)supervise the
performance management activities of the agency, including development of the
agency’s strategic plans, annual performance plans, and annual performance
reports as required by law;
(2)advise the head of
the agency, with respect to a program administered in whole or in part by the
agency, whether—
(A)the performance
plans required under section 1115 of this title and the strategic plans
required under section 306 of title 5 are—
(i)sufficiently
aggressive toward full achievement of the purposes of the program; and
(ii)realistic in
light of authority and resources provided for the operation of the program;
and
(B)means for
measurement of progress toward achievement of the goals are sufficiently
rigorous and accurate;
(3)convene relevant
agency personnel regularly throughout each year to—
(A)assess the
performance of programs administered in whole or in part by the agency;
and
(B)consider means to
improve the performance and efficiency of programs;
(4)assist the head of
the agency in the development and use within the agency of performance measures
in personnel performance appraisals, and, as appropriate, other agency
personnel and planning processes; and
(5)assist the head of
the agency in overseeing the implementation of the improvement plans required
under section 1120 of this title.
(b)Establishment
and Operation of Performance Improvement Council
(1)The Director shall
establish, within the Office of Management and Budget for administrative
purposes only, a Performance Improvement Council, in accordance with this
section.
(2)The Performance
Improvement Council shall consist exclusively of—
(A)the Deputy
Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, who shall serve
as Chair;
(B)such agency
performance improvement officers as determined appropriate by the Chair;
and
(C)such other
full-time or permanent part-time employees of an agency as determined
appropriate by the Chair with the concurrence of the head of the agency
concerned.
(3)The Chair or the
Chair’s designee shall convene and preside at the meetings of the Performance
Improvement Council, determine its agenda, direct its work, and establish and
direct subgroups of the Performance Improvement Council, as appropriate to deal
with particular subject matters, that shall consist exclusively of members of
the Performance Improvement Council.
(4)To assist in
implementing the requirements of sections 1115, 1116, 1117, 1120, and 9703 of
this title and section 306 of title 5, the Performance Improvement Council
shall—
(A)develop and submit
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or when appropriate to
the President through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, at
times and in such formats as the Chair may specify, recommendations
concerning—
(i)performance
management policies and requirements; and
(ii)criteria for
evaluation of program performance;
(B)facilitate the
exchange among agencies of information on performance management, including
strategic and annual planning and reporting, to accelerate improvements in
program performance;
(C)monitor the
assessments of Federal programs required under section 1120 of this
title;
(D)to facilitate
keeping the public informed, and with such assistance of heads of agencies and
agency performance improvement officers as the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget may require, develop an Internet website that provides
the public with information on how well each agency performs and that serves as
a comprehensive source of information on—
(i)agency strategic
plans;
(ii)annual
performance plans and annual performance reports;
(iii)program
assessment reports required under section 1120 of this title;
(iv)the status of the
implementation of improvement plans required under section 1120 of this title;
and
(v)consistent with
the direction of the head of the agency concerned after consultation with the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, any publicly available reports
by the agency’s Inspector General concerning agency program performance;
(E)monitor
implementation by agencies of the policy set forth in sections 1115, 1116,
1117, 1120, and 9703 of this title and section 306 of title 5 and report
thereon from time to time as appropriate to the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, or when appropriate to the President through the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, at such times and in such
formats as the Chair may specify, together with any recommendations of the
Council for more effective implementation of such policy; and
(F)obtain information
and advice, as appropriate, in a manner that seeks individual advice and does
not involve collective judgment or consensus advice or deliberation,
from—
(i)State, local,
territorial, and tribal officials; and
(ii)representatives
of entities or other individuals.
(5)(A)To the extent permitted
by law, the Office of Management and Budget shall provide the funding and
administrative support the Council needs, as determined by the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, to implement this section.
(B)The heads of agencies shall provide,
as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, such information and
assistance as the Chair may request to implement this
section.
.
(b)Not
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement
the requirements of section 1121 of title 31, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a).
(c)Conforming and
clerical amendments
(1)Section 1115(g) of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking 1119
and
inserting 1121
.
(2)The table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
1121. Improving Government
Performance.
.