1.This Act may be cited as the
LESS Government
Act
.
2.
(a)The Congress finds the following:
(1)Nearly 100 major United States
corporations, and many government entities around the world, have reduced waste
in their operations and improved the quality of the goods and services they
provide by implementing a continuous process improvement methodology known as
lean six sigma.
(2)Use of this
methodology has resulted in average cost reductions greater than 25 percent
while also improving the quality of goods and services.
(3)The piloted use of
lean six sigma within the Department of Defense and several other departments
and agencies has demonstrated that it can successfully be applied across the
Federal Government.
(4)Continuous process
improvement is essential for Federal agencies to be successful in setting and
meeting performance goals and is a key component that is missing from current
statutory requirements for performance improvement efforts.
(5)Clear direction
and authority from Congress is needed to ensure this innovative management
process from the private sector is applied across the Federal Government to
achieve waste reduction and optimal efficiency.
(b)Congressional
statement of policyIt shall
be the policy of the United States—
(1)to reduce waste
and improve the effectiveness of the Federal Government through the use of
continuous process improvement methods;
(2)to require each
Federal agency to implement the necessary capabilities to fully
institutionalize such methods within such agency to reduce waste while
maintaining or improving the level of services provided by the Federal
Government; and
(3)to return savings
from such methods to the United States Treasury to reduce the deficit.
3.Continuous
process improvement
(a)Continuous
process improvement definedSection 1101 of title 31, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(3)continuous process
improvement
means a management methodology (commonly referred to as
lean six sigma) that combines tools to improve process speed, reduce waste, and
incorporate requirements with data driven project analysis to provide products
and services with improved quality at lower
cost.
.
(b)Agency
performance reportingSubsection (c) of section 1116 of such
title is amended—
(1)in paragraph
(6)(E), by striking ; and
;
(2)in paragraph (7),
by striking the period and inserting ; and
; and
(3)by inserting at
the end the following new paragraph:
(8)describe the implementation of continuous
process improvement, including information on each of the following:
(A)The extent to
which employees have received continuous process improvement training
appropriate to the position of such employee, and its relation to the
deployment goals in a typical application of continuous process
improvement.
(B)A description of
the application of continuous process improvement in cost-reduction projects,
including any performance or quality improvements and cost savings realized as
a result of such application.
(C)A comparison of the implementation results
to the goal of a 25 percent cost reduction per
project.
.
(c)Subsection (c) of
section 1122 of such title is amended—
(1)in paragraph (8),
by striking ; and
;
(2)in paragraph (9),
by striking the period and inserting ; and
; and
(3)by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
(10)a description of the results of the
government-wide implementation of continuous process improvement.
.
(d)Chief Operating
Officer requirementSubsection (b) of section 1123 of such title
is amended—
(1)in paragraph (3),
by striking ; and
;
(2)in paragraph (4),
by striking the period and inserting ; and
; and
(3)by inserting at
the end the following new paragraph:
(5)implement continuous process improvement
within the
agency.
.
(e)Performance
Improvement Officer requirementParagraph (2) of section 1124(a)
of such title is amended—
(1)in subparagraph
(E), by striking ; and
;
(2)in subparagraph
(F), by striking the period and inserting ; and
; and
(3)by inserting at
the end the following new subparagraph:
(G)advise and assist the head of the agency
and the Chief Operating Officer on implementing the continuous process
improvement within the
agency.
.
(f)Performance
Improvement CouncilSubsection (b) of section 1124 of such title
is amended—
(1)in paragraph
(1)—
(A)by redesignating
subparagraphs (C) and (D) as (D) and (E), respectively; and
(B)by inserting after
subparagraph (B), the following new subparagraph:
(C)an appropriate expert designated by the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to paragraph
(4);
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
(4)Designation of
expert on continuous process improvementThe Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall appoint a highly-qualified expert on continuous process
improvement to serve as a member of the Performance Improvement Council to
advise on the implementation of continuous process improvement across
agencies.
.
4.Center of
excellence for continuous process improvement
(a)Chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
1126.Center of
Excellence for continuous process improvement
(a)The Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall designate a center of excellence for
continuous process improvement training, from within the Department of Defense.
(b)The
Director shall ensure that the center designated under subsection (a) provides
agencies with a common set of approaches to training and deployment of
continuous process
improvement.
.
(b)The
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall designate the center of
excellence required under section 1126(a) of title 31, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a), not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(c)Technical and
conforming amendmentThe
table of contents for chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 1125 the following new item:
1126. Center of excellence for continuous
process
improvement.
.
5.Preparation and
submission of appropriations requests to the PresidentParagraph (1) of section 1108(b) of title
31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
The head of each agency shall include information on the results of
cost-reduction projects using continuous process improvement in each relevant
appropriation request for the agency, and an explanation of how any savings
from such implementation have impacted the agency’s request.
.
6.Except as otherwise
expressly provided under this Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act
shall take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.