[Senate Report 111-372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress 
 2d Session                      SENATE                          Report
                                                                111-372
_______________________________________________________________________

                                                       Calendar No. 678
 
                     GPRA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2010

                               __________


                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                               H.R. 2142

TO REQUIRE QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS FOR 
   PURPOSES OF ASSESSING AGENCY PERFORMANCE AND IMPROVEMENT, AND TO 
 ESTABLISH AGENCY PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS AND THE PERFORMANCE 
                          IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL




               December 16, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

               JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas              JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana          GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
JON TESTER, Montana                  LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       MARK KIRK, Illinois

                  Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
                     Kevin J. Landy, Chief Counsel
               Kristine V. Lam, Professional Staff Member
   Benjamin B. Rhodeside, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on 
  Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
                          District of Columbia
  John G. Collins, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Federal 
  Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and 
                         International Security
     Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
        Amanda Wood, Minority Director for Governmental Affairs
                    Lisa M. Nieman, Minority Counsel
                  Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
                                                       Calendar No. 678
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     111-372

======================================================================




                     GPRA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2010

                                _______
                                

               December 16, 2010.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2142]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 2142) to require 
quarterly performance assessments of Government programs for 
purposes of assessing agency performance and improvement, and 
to establish agency performance improvement officers and the 
Performance Improvement Council, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History.............................................14
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis.....................................14
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................20
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.......................21
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported...........22

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993\1\ 
(GPRA) created a thorough and comprehensive framework for 
federal government strategic planning and performance 
reporting. Since its enactment, GPRA has helped improve the 
efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs by requiring 
that agencies establish a system to set goals for program 
performance and measure results. However GPRA needs to be 
improved and updated to take advantage of the latest 
technologies and to apply lessons learned from nearly two 
decades of implementation. H.R. 2142 will modernize and refine 
the requirements established by GPRA in order to produce more 
frequent, relevant data which can then inform decision makers 
and agency operations.
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    \1\P.L. 103-62.
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              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    During the 103rd Congress, this Committee acted on 
concerns--among its members as well as the public--that the 
federal government was not working as well as it should.\2\ 
Sharing the public's frustration and following its previous 
legislative and oversight work to address waste, inefficiency, 
and ineffectiveness in federal programs, the Committee 
considered S. 20, the Government Performance and Results Act 
(GPRA). At the time, the Committee believed that the regular 
and systemic measurement and reporting of program performance, 
compared to pre-established goals, would be valuable to the 
federal government (including Congress) and provide a 
beneficial supplement to the Committee's previous work in the 
area of management improvement.\3\
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    \2\At that time, the Committee was known as the Governmental 
Affairs Committee.
    \3\U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government 
Performance and Results Act, 1993 (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting 
and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103-58), p. 2.
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    GPRA sought to promote greater efficiency, effectiveness, 
and accountability in federal spending by establishing a new 
framework for performance management and budgeting in federal 
agencies. Additionally, GPRA was intended to improve 
congressional decision making by providing objective 
information on the relative efficiency and effectiveness of 
federal programs and spending.\4\ The law requires three types 
of ongoing planning, evaluation, and reporting requirements for 
executive branch agencies: strategic plans, annual performance 
plans, and annual reports on program performance. It also 
requires that agencies consult with Congress when developing a 
strategic plan, and consider views of other interested 
stakeholders. GPRA implementation, combined with other 
statutory efforts in the 1990s addressing long-standing 
management problems,\5\ has provided a powerful framework for 
developing and integrating information about agencies' 
strategic priorities, the results-oriented performance goals 
that flow from those priorities, performance data to show the 
level of achievement of those goals, and the relationship of 
reliable and audited financial information and information 
technology investments to the achievement of those goals.\6\
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    \4\GPRA, 2(a)(1) and 2(b)(5).
    \5\This includes the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 
111-204), as amended by the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 
(P.L. 103-356), and information technology reform legislation, 
including the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-13) and the 
Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-106).
    \6\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004) p. 25.
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    In 2004, after a decade of implementation, Congress asked 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess GPRA. The 
resulting report concluded that the statutory requirements 
under GPRA ``have established a solid foundation of results-
oriented performance planning, measurement, and reporting in 
federal government.''\7\ However, GAO also found serious 
weaknesses in the implementation of GPRA, such as the lack of 
detail in required plans on how performance goals relate to 
strategic goals. Additionally, GAO found that agencies were not 
coordinating their efforts in order to address common 
challenges and achieve common objectives.\8\ GAO noted that 
such mission fragmentation and overlap among agencies makes it 
particularly difficult to address crosscutting national issues, 
such as homeland security, drug control, and the 
environment.\9\ Finally, GAO also found that timing issues may 
hinder the development of useful agency strategic plans. 
Specifically, agencies are often required to update strategic 
plans just before a presidential election and without input 
from a new Congress. If a new president is elected, the updated 
plan is essentially moot and does not have the commitment and 
sustained attention of top leadership within the agency.\10\
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    \7\Ibid., ``Highlights.''
    \8\Ibid., p. 7.
    \9\Ibid., p. 9.
    \10\Ibid., p. 15.
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    H.R. 2142 addresses these weaknesses by amending GPRA to: 
require the Office of Management and Budget to provide 
government-wide priority goals; increase the frequency and 
enhance quality of agency reporting; and improve the 
transparency of performance reporting. The bill also improves 
federal performance management by establishing a Chief 
Operating Officer (COO) within each agency tasked with 
improving the performance of his or her agency. It also 
codifies and strengthens the existing resources for performance 
management, including the Performance Improvement Officers 
(PIOs) within the federal agencies and the interagency 
Performance Improvement Council (PIC).\11\
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    \11\The PIO position and the PIC currently exist in the federal 
government, having been established by Executive Order 13450, Improving 
Government Program Performance, on November 13, 2007, available at 
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/
20071113-9.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010.
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Agency Strategic Plans

    Strategic plans are the starting point and basic 
underpinning for a system of program goal-setting and 
performance measurement that will be established throughout the 
federal government. A multi-year strategic plan articulates the 
fundamental mission (or missions) of an organization, and lays 
out its long-term general goals for implementing that mission, 
including the resources needed to reach these goals.\12\ GPRA 
requires agencies to develop strategic plans with long-term 
outcome-oriented goals and objectives, annual goals linked to 
achieving the long-term goals, and annual reports on the goals 
achieved. Under GPRA, an agency is currently required to 
develop a strategic plan at least every three years to cover 
the following five year period. This reporting timeframe for 
updating strategic plans does not correspond to presidential 
terms. It makes little sense to require an update of a 
strategic plan shortly before a new administration is scheduled 
to take office, as changes in political leadership often result 
in new objectives and can render preexisting plans unuseful.
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    \12\Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and 
Results Act, 1993, (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting and Separate 
Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103-58), p. 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 2142 addresses this issue by modifying the schedule 
for revising agency strategic plans to align with presidential 
terms. The bill requires strategic plans cover a period of no 
less than four years and allows the agency to make adjustments 
to the plan to reflect significant changes in its operating 
environment, with appropriate notification to Congress. This is 
not to mean that an agency should frequently modify its 
existing strategic plans; rather the intent of this change is 
to provide agencies the flexibility to respond to an event that 
significantly changes the operating environment.
    This legislation also amends existing GPRA requirements for 
the contents of an agency strategic plan. As specified in the 
law and subsequent guidance from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) and GAO, an agency's strategic plan must contain 
six key components:
           a comprehensive agency mission statement;
           agency-wide long-term goals and objectives 
        for all major functions and operations;
           approaches or strategies to achieve the 
        goals and objectives and the various resources needed;
           a description of the relationship between 
        the long-term goals and objectives and the annual 
        performance goals;
           an identification of key factors, external 
        to the agency and beyond its control, that could 
        significantly affect the achievement of the strategic 
        goals; and
           a description of how program evaluations 
        were used to establish or revise strategic goals, and a 
        schedule for future program evaluations.\13\
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    \13\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Agencies' Strategic 
Plans Under GPRA: Key Questions to Facilitate Congressional Review, GAO 
Report GGD-10-1-16 (Washington: GAO, 1997), p. 9.
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    H.R. 2142 requires agencies to describe how any goals and 
objectives in its strategic plan contribute to the crosscutting 
federal government priority goals required by this legislation. 
This mandate seeks to ensure that agency goals align with 
broader federal efforts on that mission, and to provide greater 
clarity regarding the impact of employee efforts on overarching 
goals.
    Across the federal government, various agencies operate 
similar or related programs. GAO has found that mission 
fragmentation and program overlap are widespread across the 
government and that addressing this challenge is essential to 
the success of national strategies in areas such as homeland 
security, drug control, and the environment.\14\ Without 
appropriate coordination, such programs may be implemented in a 
fragmented manner which wastes scarce resources, confuses 
citizens, and limits the overall effectiveness of the federal 
effort. H.R. 2142 requires an agency to describe how it is 
working with other agencies to achieve its own goals and 
objectives, as well as the crosscutting priority goals of the 
federal government.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004), p. 92.
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    One of the original goals of GPRA was to strengthen the 
collaboration between Congress and the federal agencies to 
improve government performance. For its part, Congress needs 
more objective information on the relative effectiveness and 
efficiency of federal programs and spending. The Committee 
expressed the importance of Congressional consultation in its 
report on GPRA in 1993: ``particularly during this time of very 
tight budget constraints, it is important that Congress develop 
a clear understanding of what it is getting in the way of 
results from each dollar spent, and how those results would 
change with an increase or decrease in funding. In all 
likelihood, Congress will face difficult, wrenching budget 
decisions for years to come. But even if the budget were 
balanced, and revenues strong, this information would be 
important in the making of wise spending decisions.''\15\
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    \15\Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and 
Results Act, 1993 (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting and Separate 
Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103-58), p. 18.
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    GPRA also established a consultation process so that 
agencies could take Congressional views into account as 
appropriate. However, little evidence exists that agencies have 
formally or significantly considered the input of key 
stakeholders when developing goals and objectives. In waiting 
to consult with relevant congressional stakeholders until a 
strategic plan has been substantially drafted and vetted within 
the executive branch, agencies forego important opportunities 
to learn early on about specific concerns that will be critical 
to successful implementation. Therefore, this Committee again 
strongly emphasizes that Congressional consultations are to 
take place during the development of the plan--not after.
    H.R. 2142 strengthens the Congressional consultation 
process by encouraging agencies to describe how agency goals 
and objectives incorporate the views and suggestions obtained 
through consultations with Congress. This legislation clarifies 
that the agency shall periodically consult with and obtain 
majority and minority views from its authorizing, 
appropriations, and oversight committees when developing or 
making adjustments to its strategic plan. It also requires 
Congressional consultations occur at least once every two 
years; this is to ensure that each Congress has input on the 
goals, objectives, strategies, and performance measures of the 
agency. Moreover, it allows the agency to have an opportunity 
to provide a progress report on its performance and ensures 
that various committees are getting the types of performance 
information they need.

Agency Performance Plans

    Building on the decisions made as part of the strategic 
planning process, GPRA requires executive agencies to develop 
annual performance plans covering each program activity in the 
agencies' budgets. Each plan should contain an agency's annual 
performance goals and associated measures to gauge its progress 
toward its strategic goals. OMB should then incorporate these 
performance plans to develop an overall federal government 
performance plan that will be submitted with the President's 
budget. The overall plan is intended to present Congress with a 
single cohesive picture of the federal government's annual 
performance goals for a given fiscal year.\16\
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    \16\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004), p. 26.
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    GAO has stated that a clear relationship should exist 
between an agency's long-term strategic goals and mission and 
the performance goals in the annual performance plan.\17\ H.R. 
2142 requires an agency to describe how the performance goals 
contained in its performance plan contribute to the goals and 
objectives established in the agency's strategic plan, as well 
as any overall federal government performance goals. 
Additionally, this legislation requires that an agency's 
performance plan cover a two-year period, including both the 
current fiscal year and the next one. Under existing law, an 
agency's performance plan is only required to cover the next 
fiscal year. Adding the current year requirement will enable an 
agency to update its current year goals, milestones, and 
strategies to reflect actual resources and any changes in the 
operating environment that differ from what was expected when 
the original plan was submitted the previous year. This, in 
turn, will provide a more up-to-date context for evaluating the 
goals for the upcoming fiscal year.
    The key to improving performance accountability is to 
document the results agencies have achieved compared to the 
goals they have established. Therefore, H.R. 2142 requires an 
agency to provide additional information about how the agency 
plans to achieve its performance goals by identifying clearly 
defined milestones, the agency officials responsible for 
ensuring each goal is achieved, and the program activities, 
regulations, policies and other activities that support each 
goal. Without a clear description of the strategies and 
resources an agency plans to use, it will be difficult for 
Congress to assess the likelihood of the agency's success in 
achieving its intended results.\18\ By describing the 
strategies to be used to achieve results and the resources to 
be applied to those strategies, the performance plan can help 
Congress understand and assess the relationship between the 
agency's resources and results.
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    \17\GAO, The Results Act: An Evaluator's Guide to Assessing Agency 
Annual Performance Plans, GAO/GGD-10.1.20 (Washington, D.C.: April 
1998).
    \18\GAO, Agencies' Annual Performance Plans under the Results Act: 
An Assessment Guide to Facilitate Congressional Decisionmaking, GAO/
GGD/AIMD-10.1.18 (Washington, D.C.: February 1998).
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    Credible performance information is essential for 
accurately assessing an agency's progress towards its goals 
and, in cases where goals are not met, identifying 
opportunities for improvement or whether goals need to be 
adjusted. In order to improve the credibility of performance 
data, H.R. 2142 requires an agency to provide additional 
information about how it will ensure the validity and 
reliability of such data.
    Performance plans must also analyze how program activities 
contribute to the agency's mission and goals. Inevitably, some 
program activities may not contribute or have limited 
contributions to an agency's annual performance goals and will 
be designated as low-priority program activities. The Committee 
expects that agencies will take actions to address these low-
priority program activities, which could include retooling the 
program activities where authorized, requesting legislative 
changes to improve the program activities, or proposing their 
termination or consolidation with any similar program 
activities.
    H.R. 2142 requires agencies to provide a performance update 
at least annually, occurring no later than 150 days after the 
end of the fiscal year. However, agencies are encouraged to 
provide more frequent updates that would provide significant 
value to the federal government, Congress, or other key 
stakeholders. This legislation also requires the agency to post 
its performance plan on the agency website concurrent with the 
submission of the budget for the United States Government. This 
is a change from the existing GPRA requirement that the plans 
simply be submitted to the President and Congress.
    H.R. 2142 addresses an omission from the original GPRA law, 
which did not specify how or where agencies should report on 
the performance of any classified activities, even though it 
did allow for a classified annex. To this end, the bill clearly 
requires that agencies provide performance updates for 
classified program activities in the classified appendix of the 
agency performance plan.

Federal Government Performance Plan and Priority Goals

    In its ten year review of GPRA, GAO recommended that 
Congress require the development of a government-wide strategic 
plan in order to provide a framework for identifying long-term 
goals and strategies to address issues that cut across federal 
agencies.\19\ Such a plan would provide a cohesive perspective 
on the long-term goals of the federal government and provide a 
much needed basis for fully integrating, rather than merely 
coordinating, a wide array of federal activities. In the past, 
OMB has noted that the budget serves as a government strategic 
plan. However, this Committee agrees with GAO's assessment that 
the President's Budget focuses on establishing agency budgets 
for the upcoming fiscal year and provides neither a long-term 
nor an integrated perspective on federal government 
activities.\20\ Rather than explicitly requiring such a 
strategic plan, H.R. 2142 enhances the existing requirements 
for a federal government performance plan, establishes the 
development of federal government priority goals, and requires 
agencies to have their own priority goals in order to achieve 
those federal government priority goals. These three important 
measures, alongside requirements for quarterly progress reviews 
and web-based reporting, set up a government-wide strategic and 
planning process.
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    \19\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004), p. 20.
    \20\Ibid., p. 111.
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    Federal Government Performance Plan: GPRA currently 
requires that beginning with the fiscal year 1999 budget 
submission, the annual budget of the U.S. Government include a 
federal government performance plan. The plan was intended to 
present a single cohesive picture of the federal government's 
annual performance goal for the fiscal year. GPRA allows the 
plan to be integrated with the detailed budget estimates, 
appear as an individual part of the main budget document, or be 
submitted separately. Additionally, this Committee intended 
that the performance plan be submitted coincident with the 
principal budget documents so that Congress would have this 
plan available when reviewing the agency budget estimates.\21\ 
Under the law, the Director of OMB (the Director) has 
discretion in determining the best manner and most useful 
format for submitting the performance plan. However, OMB has 
not opted to issue a distinct federal government performance 
plan since fiscal year 1999. In that year, GAO found that the 
federal government performance plan was a derivative document 
that compiled agency-level plans and reflected budget and 
management decisions made throughout the process of formulating 
the President's budget submission.\22\
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    \21\Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and 
Results Act, 1993 (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting and Separate 
Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103-58), p. 27.
    \22\GAO, The Results Act: Assessment of the Government-wide 
Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 1999, GAO/AIMD/GGD-98-159 (Washington, 
D.C.: September 8, 1998), p. 6.
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    H.R. 2142 stresses the importance of a federal government 
performance plan and enhances requirements for the plan to 
address crosscutting program efforts. Focusing broadly on 
government-wide outcomes should be a central and distinguishing 
feature of the federal government performance plan.\23\ The 
bill requires that:
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    \23\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004), p. 94.
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           the plan establish performance goals for 
        each crosscutting federal government priority goal;
           OMB identify the various agencies, 
        organizations, program activities, regulations, tax 
        expenditures, policies and other activities that 
        contribute to each federal government performance goal;
           a lead government official be assigned for 
        each federal government performance goal;
           OMB establish common federal government 
        performance indicators to measure and assess progress 
        across agencies toward shared goals; and
           OMB identify government and cross-agency 
        management challenges and plans to address such 
        challenges.
    Federal Priority Goals: H.R. 2142 also establishes 
requirements for federal government priority goals. 
Unfortunately, GPRA compliance currently is largely an 
independent exercise among agencies, with agency performance 
plans largely focused on goals directly related to agency 
statutory missions. H.R. 2142 requires the Director of OMB to 
work with agencies to develop federal government priority goals 
that aim to improve performance and management across the 
federal government. The crosscutting policy goals are required 
to be outcome-oriented and limited in number to ensure that 
there is ample focus on achieving these goals over time. The 
management-related goals should cover management functions 
where significant improvements are needed across the federal 
government, such as information technology, human capital, and 
financial management. Recognizing that achieving the federal 
government priority goals will require sustained focus over a 
period of time, the goals are required to be long-term in 
nature and updated or revised at least every four years. Under 
H.R. 2142 the Director is able to make adjustments to the goals 
should there be significant changes in the federal government's 
operating environment. However, the Committee expects that many 
of these goals will stay constant over time, including across 
Administrations, since these challenges are not likely to be 
overcome during a four year period.
    Successful strategic planning requires the involvement of 
key stakeholders. This collaboration can serve as a mechanism 
for building consensus and provides a vehicle for the President 
to articulate long-term goals and a road map for achieving 
them.\24\ Therefore, when developing or adjusting the goals, 
and at least once each Congress, the Director is required to 
consult with key congressional committees and obtain both 
majority and minority views on the draft goals.
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    \24\Ibid., p. 105.
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    The federal government priority goals should complement the 
federal government performance plan, effectively functioning as 
a government-wide strategic plan. This legislation also 
addresses the need to increase transparency by providing a 
process for developing the federal government priority goals 
and making them available to the public. H.R. 2142 requires 
that the goals be developed or revised at least once every four 
years and be made publicly available concurrently with the 
submission of the budget of the United States Government in the 
second year of a President's term. At a minimum, the Committee 
expects the goals will be posted on the government-wide 
performance website provided for in this legislation.
    Agency Priority Goals: In order for the federal government 
to make progress towards and eventually achieve its priority 
goals, agencies must align their goals with those of the 
federal government. H.R. 2142 requires the head of each 
agency\25\ to identify agency priority goals from among the 
agency's performance goals. The Director of OMB would have 
authority to determine the total number of agency priority 
goals across the federal government, as well as the number of 
priority goals to be developed by each agency. The Committee 
expects the total number of federal goals will not exceed 100 
and agency goals will not exceed five per agency, while 
acknowledging variation may exist depending on the size and 
mission of a given agency.
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    \25\This legislation limits these agencies to the 24 CFO Act 
agencies, or as otherwise determined by the Director of OMB.
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    As the name implies, agency priority goals should reflect 
the agency's highest priorities, as determined by the head of 
the agency. Such goals should be informed by any federal 
government priority goals to which the agency contributes. The 
priority goals have a two year timeframe, with ambitious but 
achievable performance targets and milestones. These should be 
``stretch'' goals--the agency should set the goal to exceed its 
normal level of performance, but within reasonable reach. 
Although the language of the bill states that the goals are to 
be achievable, the Committee understands that external factors 
may cause agencies to fall short at times and a certain 
percentage of missed goals is acceptable. Since agency will 
likely select some complex and long-term challenges as target 
for improvement, the Committee expects that many priority goals 
will continue from a given two year cycle to the next, with 
updated performance targets and milestones all leading to a 
clearly defined end state. As with each of the agency's other 
performance goals, each priority goal should have a clearly 
identified leader who is responsible for reaching the given 
goal.

Establishing Agency-Level Chief Operation Officer

    In 2002, GAO convened a roundtable to discuss the Chief 
Operation Officer (COO) concept and how it might apply within 
federal agencies as one strategy to address certain systemic 
federal governance and management challenges. Participants 
generally agreed that agency COOs could help increase attention 
to management issues and transformational change, integrate 
various key management and transformation efforts, and 
institutionalize accountability for addressing management 
issues and leading transformational change.\26\
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    \26\GAO, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable on the Chief Operating 
Officer (COO) Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal 
Governance Challenges, GAO-03-192SP (Washington, D.C.: October 4, 
2002), p. 8.
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    Two Presidential memoranda--one on October 1, 1993 and an 
update on July 11, 2001--outlined a COO position within the 
federal government.\27\ Both memoranda provided the COO with 
responsibilities to improve the management and performance of 
the agency, and implement the agency mission and goals. H.R. 
2142 keeps those responsibilities and adds others to bring them 
in line with the planning and reporting requirements provided 
in this legislation. H.R. 2142 would codify that the deputy 
head of an agency, or equivalent, shall be an agency's COO and 
given overall responsibility for improving the management and 
performance of the agency. The COO would also assist the head 
of the agency in carrying out the planning and reporting 
requirements of this bill, oversee agency-specific efforts to 
improve management within the agency and across the federal 
government, and coordinate with relevant personnel within and 
external to the agency who have a significant role in 
contributing to the mission and goals of the agency.\28\
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    \27\The White House, Presidential Memorandum, Implementing 
Management Reform in the Executive Branch, (Washington, D.C.: October 
1, 1993), available at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/
direct/memos/2552.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010. The White 
House, Presidential Memorandum, Implementing Government Reform, 
(Washington, D.C.: July 11, 2001), available at http://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/07/20010711-5.html, last 
accessed on November 24, 2010.
    \28\These include officials such as the Chief Acquisition Officer, 
Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Information 
Officer, and other line of business chiefs.
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    Both Presidential Memoranda mentioned above also 
established the President's Management Council (PMC), led by 
the Deputy Director for Management of OMB and composed of 
various agency COOs. The PMC has general responsibilities aimed 
at improving federal government management. Although H.R. 2142 
does not codify the PMC, the Committee expects that the 
management council will continue to exist and continue to be 
responsible for improving management across the federal 
government. The PMC could also play an important role in 
ensuring that relevant agencies and other interagency councils 
effectively coordinate efforts to achieve the federal 
government priority goals.

Establishing Agency-Level Performance Improvement Officer and the 
        Performance Improvement Council

    H.R. 2142 also establishes in statute the position of a 
Performance Improvement Officer (PIO) at each agency. The PIO 
position currently exists in the federal government, having 
been established by Executive Order (E.O.) 13450, Improving 
Government Program Performance, on November 13, 2007.\29\ 
Although the bill codifies parts of the Executive Order into 
statute, it also makes changes to the responsibilities of a PIO 
in order to align the position with planning and reporting 
requirements provided in this legislation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\The White House, Executive Order 13450, Improving Government 
Program Performance, (Washington, D.C.: November 13, 2007), available 
at http://georgewbush-whitehouse. archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/
20071113-9.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 2142 directs the head of each agency to designate a 
senior executive of the agency as the agency PIO. In requiring 
that the PIO be selected from among the agency's senior 
executives, the bill attempts to ensure continuity for this 
position over time in order to help the agency focus on 
achieving its long-term goals. This long-term focus is 
especially important because the tenure of political appointees 
in top leadership positions within an agency usually lasts only 
a few years.
    The bill also establishes in statute a government-wide 
Performance Improvement Council (PIC), comprising the Deputy 
Director for Management of OMB, who serves as the chairperson, 
the PIOs from each of the 24 CFO Act agencies, other agency 
PIOs and other individuals as determined appropriate by the 
chairperson. The PIC was originally established under E.O. 
13450. H.R. 2142 enhances the responsibilities of the PIC, 
directing it to coordinate performance and management 
activities with other interagency management councils.\30\ The 
Committee expects that other interagency management councils 
will take lead responsibility for implementing the management 
improvement-related federal government priority goals (i.e., 
the Chief Financial Officers Council will be responsible for 
the financial management-related goal), with the PIC assisting 
the other councils and monitoring progress toward the goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \30\Examples include the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the 
Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Human Capital Officers 
Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, and the Federal Real 
Property Management Council.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviewing federal government and agency priority goals

    H.R. 2142 attempts to lay out a process for reviewing 
progress towards the federal government priority goals on, at 
minimum, a quarterly basis. For each federal government 
priority goal, the Director of OMB should review the progress 
achieved during the most recent quarter and the likelihood of 
meeting the performance target. As a part of these reviews, the 
Director of OMB and the PIC must categorize the federal 
government priority goals according to the risk of not meeting 
performance targets, and for those at greatest risk, identify 
strategies to improve performance.
    The Director of OMB and the PIC are also required to assess 
whether the agencies, organizations, program activities, 
regulations, tax expenditures, policies and other activities 
are contributing as planned to each federal government 
priority. By looking at the contribution of each underlying 
federal entity and type of federal intervention, the Director 
of OMB and the PIC may be able to identify successful practices 
that could be replicated by other agencies to improve their 
results and contributions to the overall federal government 
priority goal. This assessment process may also reveal federal 
activities that are duplicative or even working at cross-
purposes.
    H.R. 2142 provides an analogous review process at each 
agency required to develop priority goals. For each agency 
priority goal, the head of the agency and the COO, with the 
support of the agency PIO, reviews the progress achieved during 
the most recent quarter and the likelihood of meeting the 
performance target. The reviews should include the designated 
leader for each agency priority goal, and relevant personnel 
within and external to the agency. The reviews should also 
highlight and strategize regarding high risk areas--in other 
word, where there is the greatest risk of not meeting a 
priority goal. Further, the head of the agency, COO, and PIO 
must assess whether the relevant organizations, program 
activities, regulations, policies and other activities are 
contributing as planned to each agency priority.
    This approach is aimed at increasing the use of performance 
information to improve performance and results. Through 
government-wide surveys of federal managers between 1997 and 
2007, GAO found that although federal managers reported they 
had more performance measures in 2007 than in 1997, their 
reported use of the performance information collected by those 
measures had not changed significantly during that ten year 
period.\31\ Agencies are collecting a significant amount of 
information, but are not consistently using that information to 
improve their management and results.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\GAO, Government Performance: Lessons Learned for the Next 
Administration on Using Performance Information to Improve Results, 
GAO-08-1026T (Washington, D.C.: July 24, 2008), ``What GAO Found.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web-based reporting

    This legislation requires OMB to develop a single 
government-wide performance website by 2012 that will feature 
performance information outlined in the bill and provided by 
the agency. The bill further requires that OMB issue guidance 
to agencies on providing performance information for 
publication on this website. In addition, agencies are required 
to produce all strategic plans, performance plans, and 
performance reports in searchable, machine-readable formats 
beginning in fiscal year 2012.
    H.R. 2142 also attempts to reduce unnecessary and 
duplicative printed reports by prohibiting the printing of 
strategic plans, performance plans, and performance reports for 
external release, except when being provided to Congress. The 
public will be able to access these plans and reports on the 
government-wide performance website established in this bill.
    H.R. 2142 additionally requires each agency's COO to 
compile a list of all plans and reports the agency produces for 
Congress, either by law or as directed in congressional 
reports, and identify outdated or duplicative requirements. The 
bill then provides that the President submit to Congress, 
concurrent with the submission of the budget of the United 
States government, a list of the plans and reports that the 
agencies identified as outdated or duplicative and authorizes 
the Director of OMB to concurrently submit a legislative 
proposal to eliminate or consolidate these outdated and 
duplicative plans.

Office of Personnel Management

    GPRA previously required the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM) to develop a strategic planning and performance 
measurement training component for its management training 
program. In a 2007 survey of federal managers, GAO found that 
since 1997, while there has been a significant increase in 
training, only about half of GAO's survey respondents in 2007 
reported receiving any training that would assist in strategic 
planning and performance assessment.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\GAO, Government Performance: Lessons Learned for the Next 
Administration on Using Performance Information to Improve Results, 
GAO-08-1026T (Washington, D.C.: July 24, 2008), p. 16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 2142 calls for the Director of OPM, in consultation 
with the PIC, to identify key skills and competencies related 
to performance management in the federal government. This is an 
important step to ensure that agencies are able to train their 
personnel to effectively use performance measurement building 
capabilities for continued performance planning. It is 
essential to build analytical capacity to use performance 
information and to ensure its quality in order to use that 
performance information in a meaningful fashion to improve 
government. GAO has previously noted the value of providing 
training on setting program performance goals and the use of 
performance information, and recommended that OMB ensure that 
agencies are making adequate investments in such training.\33\ 
This requirement will help ensure that relevant agency 
personnel have access to such training.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \33\GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid 
Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO-04-38 (Washington, D.C.: 
March 10, 2004), pp. 9-10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Implementation

    One reason GPRA differed from prior performance initiatives 
is that it was phased in over time. The federal government 
performance initiatives that preceded GPRA were typically 
implemented government-wide within a single year. GPRA, in 
contrast, provided a multiyear and iterative government-wide 
implementation process that incorporated pilot tests and formal 
evaluations of key concepts. In this manner, GPRA increased the 
potential for integration of planning, budgeting, and 
performance measurement while guarding against the unreasonably 
high expectations that plagued earlier initiatives.\34\ H.R. 
2142 continues this successful aspect of GPRA by providing 
timeframes for implementing this Act, including interim 
planning and reporting activities. In addition, the bill 
requires GAO to evaluate interim activities and recommend 
improvements for full implementation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \34\GAO, Performance Budgeting: Past Initiatives Offer Insights for 
GPRA Implementation, GAO/AIMD-97-46 (Washington, D.C.: March 27, 1997), 
p. 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congressional oversight and legislation

    H.R. 2142 reiterates a clause from GPRA that nothing in 
this Act shall be construed as limiting Congress' ability to 
establish, amend, suspend, or annul, any federal government or 
agency goals. In addition, the bill provides for several GAO 
reviews of this Act's implementation over time. The Committee 
expects that in addition to identifying needed improvements and 
making recommendations to enhance implementation, GAO will 
identify in these reports promising practices found at certain 
agencies that could be replicated at other agencies to improve 
their results and performance management.

Inherently governmental functions

    This Committee notes that while H.R. 2142 seeks to 
modernize and refine key aspects of GPRA, the statutory 
foundation established by GPRA remains intact. The enactment of 
GPRA marked a key moment in federal government performance 
management initiatives by elevating management to a priority 
for both the Executive Branch and Congress. This Committee was 
the prime mover behind the development and passage of GPRA in 
1993, and the Committee has taken great care to protect GPRA 
provisions proven to be beneficial and effective over the 
years. This bill makes targeted amendments to specific parts of 
GPRA, while leaving many GPRA provisions, and the accompanying 
Congressional intent, intact and unchanged. The Committee 
recognizes that the Congressional intent behind GPRA provisions 
left unchanged or modified for technical and conforming reasons 
(including where the Committee extended existing GPRA standards 
to apply to new components established by H.R. 2142 that did 
not exist in 1993) will continue to apply as it has since the 
enactment of GPRA in 1993.
    For example, the Committee chose not to change the language 
and accompanying Congressional intent of the GPRA provisions 
that declare the preparation of an agency strategic plan, 
annual performance plan, or annual program performance report, 
to be an inherently governmental function. The GPRA Committee 
Report defines this as a ``function that is so intimately 
related to the public interest as to mandate performance by 
Government employees,'' while clearly stating that although 
GPRA specifies government employees are solely to be 
responsible for the final plan or report, this does not limit 
agencies from being assisted by non-federal parties, such as 
contractors or grantees, in the preparation of these plans and 
reports.\35\ Thus, the 1993 GPRA standards addressing the issue 
of inherently governmental functions have simply been extended 
to apply to the inherently governmental provisions in H.R. 
2142, located in section 306(e) of title 5, United States Code, 
as well as sections 1115(f), 1116(e), and 1120(c) of title 31, 
United States Code.''\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and 
Results Act, 1993 (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting and Separate 
Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103-58), p. 25.
    \36\For technical and conforming reasons, the Committee extended 
existing inherently governmental GPRA standards to the new federal 
government and agency priority goals created by this bill in section 31 
U.S.C. Sec. 1120(c), as well as the new section 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1116(e), 
which updates agency performance `reports' to be referred to as agency 
performance `updates,' in accordance with H.R. 2142.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. Legislative History

    Representative Henry Cuellar introduced H.R. 2142 in the 
House of Representatives on April 28, 2009. The House passed 
H.R. 2142 on June 16, 2010 by voice vote.
    On June 17, 2010, H.R. 2142 was received in the Senate, 
read twice, and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs. On September 29, 2010 the Committee 
considered the measure, and Senator Carper offered an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute, which was adopted by voice vote. 
The Committee then adopted the bill as amended by voice vote 
and ordered it favorably reported to the Senate. Members 
present for the vote on the substitute amendment, and the vote 
on the bill as amended, were Senators Lieberman, Collins, 
Akaka, Carper, Pryor, Tester, Burris, Kaufman, and Brown.

                    IV. Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    This section provides the short title of the bill, the GPRA 
Modernization Act of 2010.

Section 2. Strategic planning amendments

    This section requires federal agencies to post their 
strategic plan on the agency's website no later than the first 
Monday in February in the second year of a Presidential term. 
This section also revises the schedule for agency strategic 
plans to align with presidential terms.
    In addition, this section sets out requirements for the 
contents of an agency's strategic plan, including a 
comprehensive mission statement and general goals and 
objectives. The agency is also required to describe in its 
strategic plan how any goals and objectives in its plan 
contribute to the crosscutting federal government priority 
goals added by section 5 of the bill and to describe how the 
goals and objectives incorporate the views and suggestions 
obtained through Congressional consultations.
    Strategic plans are required to cover a period of no less 
than four years and this section allows the agency to make 
adjustments to the plan to reflect significant changes in its 
operating environment, with appropriate notification of 
Congress. In addition, this section requires the agency to 
consult with and obtain majority and minority views from the 
relevant authorizing, appropriations, and oversight committees 
when developing or making adjustments to its strategic plan; 
these congressional consultations are required to occur at 
least once every two years. The agency must also consider the 
views of other key stakeholders.

Section 3. Performance planning amendments

    This section amends section 1115 of title 31, U.S. Code, 
which is re-titled ``Federal Government and Agency Performance 
Plans.''
    This section expands on the existing GPRA requirement for a 
federal government performance plan. It requires the Director 
of OMB to coordinate with agencies to develop the plan, which 
(1) establishes performance goals for each federal government 
priority goal; (2) identifies the various agencies, 
organizations, program activities, regulations, tax 
expenditures, policies, and other activities that contribute to 
each federal government performance goal; (3) identifies a lead 
government official for each federal government performance 
goal; (4) establishes common federal government performance 
indicators to measure and assess progress; and (5) identifies 
government-wide and cross-agency major management challenges 
and plans to address such challenges.
    This section also requires the agency to post its 
performance plan on the agency website concurrent with the 
submission of the budget for the United States Government. The 
agency performance plan is to include performance goals for 
both the fiscal year in which the plan is submitted as well as 
the next fiscal year.
    In addition, this section requires the agency to describe 
how the performance goals contained in the plan contribute to 
the goals and objectives established in the agency's strategic 
plan, as well as any federal government performance goals 
contained in the federal government performance plan. The 
agency is required to identify which, if any, performance goals 
are designated as agency priority goals. It must also explain 
how the agency plans to achieve its performance goals, 
including by identifying clearly defined milestones; agency 
officials--referred to as goal leaders--responsible for 
ensuring each goal is achieved; the human, capital and 
information resources required to meet the performance goals; 
and the organizations program activities, regulations, policies 
and other activities that support each goal. The agency must 
also describe how it is collaborating and coordinating with 
other agencies to achieve its performance goal as well as 
relevant federal government performance goals.
    This section amends an existing requirement and directs 
agencies to develop a balanced set of performance indicators to 
measure or assess progress toward each performance goal, 
including customer service, efficiency, output, and outcome 
indicators. It also requires agencies to provide additional 
information about how it will ensure the validity and 
reliability of its performance data. Further, it requires the 
agency to identify its major management challenges and identify 
how it plans to address those challenges.
    This section also requires the agency to identify low-
priority program activities based on an analysis of the program 
activities' contribution to the agency's mission and goals.
    If an agency, in consultation with the Director of OMB, 
determines that it is not feasible to express the performance 
goals for a particular program activity in an objective, 
quantifiable, and measurable form, this section allows the 
Director of OMB to authorize an alternative form. Such an 
alternative program must include detailed information that 
would allow for an accurate, independent determination of 
whether the program activity's performance is a minimally 
effective program or a successful program.
    This section also provides new definitions for terms added 
by this bill, including ``crosscutting,'' ``customer service 
measure,'' ``efficiency measure,'' and ``milestone.''

Section 4. Performance reporting amendments

    This section amends section 1116 of title 31, United States 
Code, which is re-titled ``Agency Performance Reporting.''
    This section requires the head of the agency to make agency 
performance updates available on the agency's public website. 
It also requires the agency to provide a performance update at 
least annually, occurring no later than 150 days after the end 
of the fiscal year, with agencies encouraged to provide more 
frequent updates for performance indicators that provide 
significant value to the federal government, Congress, or other 
key stakeholders, at a reasonable level of administrative 
burden. Among other things, these updates are required to 
include a review of the agency's success in achieving its 
performance goals, along with results for the five preceding 
fiscal years; and information about the reliability and 
validity of the data used to measure the agency's progress 
towards its performance goals. Agencies are also required to 
provide performance updates for classified program activities 
in the classified appendix of the agency performance plan.
    Finally, where an agency has not met its performance goals, 
this section requires that the head of the agency submit a 
performance improvement plan to OMB; where there have been 
unmet performance goals for two consecutive years, the agency 
head is required to submit additional information to Congress 
and to describe additional funding the agency will obligate to 
achieve the relevant goals.

Section 5. Federal government and agency priority goals

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding 
a new subsection 1120, ``Federal Government and Agency Priority 
Goals.''
    This section requires the Director of OMB to coordinate 
with agencies to develop federal government priority goals, 
with the aim of improving performance and management across the 
federal government.
    This section also provides the process for developing the 
federal government priority goals and making them available to 
the public. At a minimum, the goals are required to be posted 
on the government-wide performance website provided under the 
new section 1122 of title 31, United States Code, created by 
section 7 of this bill. The bill provides flexibility for the 
Director of OMB to make adjustments to the goals during the 
four-year timeframe should there be significant changes in the 
federal government's operating environment. When developing or 
adjusting the goals, and at least once per Congress, the 
Director of OMB is also required to consult with key 
congressional committees and obtain both majority and minority 
views on the draft goals.
    Further, this section requires the head of each of the 24 
CFO Act agencies (or those otherwise determined by the Director 
of OMB) to identify agency priority goals from among the 
agency's performance goals. This section provides the Director 
of OMB the authority to determine the total number of agency 
priority goals across the federal government, as well as the 
number of priority goals to be developed by each agency.

Section 6. Quarterly priority progress reviews and use of performance 
        information

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding 
a new subsection 1121, ``Quarterly Priority Progress Reviews 
and Use of Performance Information.''
    This section lays out a process for reviewing progress 
towards the federal government priority goals on a quarterly 
basis at minimum. The Director of OMB, with the support of the 
PIC, is required to review with the appropriate lead government 
official the progress achieved during the most recent quarter, 
overall trend data, and the likelihood of meeting the 
performance target, among other things. Officials from relevant 
agencies, organizations and program activities are to be 
included in the review, and the reviews are to assess whether 
the agencies, organizations, program activities, regulations, 
tax expenditures, policies and other activities are 
contributing as planned to each federal government priority. In 
addition, the Director of OMB, with the support of the PIC, is 
required to categorize the federal government priority goals by 
their risk of not meeting their performance targets, and for 
those at greatest risk, identify strategies to improve 
performance.
    This section also requires that, at each agency, the head 
of the agency and the agency's COO, with the support of the 
agency PIO, conduct an analogous quarterly review to review 
priority goals with the appropriate goal leaders.

Section 7. Transparency of federal government programs, priority goals, 
        and results

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding 
a new subsection 1122, ``Transparency of Programs, Priority 
Goals, and Results.''
    This section requires OMB to develop a single government-
wide performance website by October 1, 2012 and update the 
information presented on the website at least quarterly. The 
website is required to include information on each program 
identified by the agencies, including a description of the 
purposes of each program and how the program contributes to the 
mission and goals of the agency, as well as the level of 
funding for each program for the current and previous two 
fiscal years.
    This section also requires the head of each agency to 
develop agency priority goals and to provide information about 
those priority goals for the website, including a description 
of how the goal will be achieved; the performance indicators to 
be used in assessing progress; the accuracy and reliability of 
the data used to measure progress towards the goals; and the 
results achieved. The Director of OMB is also to make 
information on federal government priority goals available on 
the website.

Section 8. Agency chief operating officers

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding 
a new subsection 1123, ``Chief Operating Officers,'' 
establishing in statute the position of COO at each agency.
    This section designates the deputy head of agency, or 
equivalent, at each agency as the agency's COO, with overall 
responsibility for improving the management and performance of 
the agency. Additional responsibilities include advising and 
assisting the head of agency in carrying out the planning and 
reporting requirements of this bill; overseeing agency-specific 
efforts to improve management within the agency and across the 
federal government; and coordinating with relevant personnel 
within and external to the agency who have a significant role 
in contributing to the mission and goals of the agency.

Section 9. Agency performance improvement officers and the performance 
        improvement council

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding 
a new subsection 1124, ``Performance Improvement Officers and 
the Performance Improvement Council,'' which establishes in 
statute the position of Performance Improvement Officer at each 
agency and a Performance Improvement Council.
    This section directs the head of each agency, in 
consultation with the agency COO, to designate a senior 
executive at the agency as the agency PIO and describes the 
functions of the PIO. These functions include to advise or 
assist the agency head and COO in selecting agency goals; 
overseeing the implementation of the agency strategic planning, 
performance planning, and reporting requirements; conducting 
regular reviews of agency performance; and developing and using 
performance measures in personnel performance appraisals within 
the agency. The PIO is also responsible for ensuring that 
agency progress toward the achievement of all goals is 
communicated to leaders, managers, and employees in the agency 
and Congress, and is made available on the agency's public 
website.
    This section also establishes a Performance Improvement 
Council to be chaired by the OMB Deputy Director for Management 
and which is to include the PIO from each CFO Act agency, and 
other PIOs and individuals as determined appropriate by the 
chairperson. This section further sets out the responsibilities 
of the PIC, including assisting the Director of OMB to improve 
the performance of the federal government and achieve federal 
government priority goals and implement the planning, 
reporting, and use of performance information requirements 
related to federal government priority goals. The PIC is also 
to work to resolve specific government-wide or crosscutting 
performance issues; facilitate the exchange among agencies of 
practices that have led to performance improvements within 
specific programs, agencies or across agencies; and develop 
recommendations to streamline and improve performance 
management policies and requirements.
    This section also directs the Administrator of General 
Services to provide administrative and other support for the 
PIC to implement this section.

Section 10. Format of performance plans and reports

    This section requires agencies to produce all strategic 
plans, performance plans, and performance reports in 
searchable, machine-readable formats beginning in fiscal year 
2012. Additionally, this section prohibits agencies from 
incurring expenses to print such plans and reports for external 
release, except for when providing such documents to the 
Congress. Instead, such plans and reports are to be made 
available on the government-wide performance website 
established by this bill. This section further requires the 
Director of OMB to issue guidance to agencies, not later than 
June 1, 2012, to provide concise and timely performance 
information for publication on the website.

Section 11. Reducing duplicative and outdated agency reporting

    This section amends title 31, United States Code, to 
provide a process to eliminate or consolidate duplicative and 
outdated agency plans and reports.
    This section requires each agency's COO to compile a list 
of all plans and reports the agency produces for Congress, 
either by law or as directed in congressional reports, and to 
identify those plans and reports that are outdated or 
duplicative of other required plans and reports. Each agency's 
COO is then to provide this information to the Director of OMB. 
This section further requires that the President is to include 
in each budget of the United States Government the list of 
duplicative or outdated plans. In addition, the section 
authorizes the Director of OMB to submit proposed legislation 
to Congress to eliminate or consolidate such plans and reports.
    Finally, this section requires that during the first year 
of implementation of this section, each agency's list of 
outdated and duplicative plans and reports must comprise at 
least 10 percent of all plans and reports identified. In 
subsequent years, the Director of OMB will determine the 
minimum percentage to be listed by agencies as outdated or 
duplicative.

Section 12. Performance management skills and competencies

    This section requires the Director of OPM, in consultation 
with the PIC, to identify key skills and competencies related 
to performance management in the federal government not later 
than one year after the enactment date of this Act. Not later 
than two years after the enactment of this Act, the Director of 
OPM must incorporate such skills and competencies into relevant 
position classifications and agency training.

Section 13. Technical and conforming amendments

    This section provides for several technical and conforming 
amendments to title 5 and title 31, United States Code.

Section 14. Implementation of this Act

    This section provides timeframes for implementing this Act, 
including interim planning and reporting activities. The 
Director of OMB, in coordination with agencies, is required to 
develop interim federal government priority goals and 
performance plans consistent with the requirements of this Act 
beginning with the submission of the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget of 
the United States Government. Also by the time the fiscal year 
2013 budget is required to be submitted (February 6, 2012), 
agencies are required to make adjustments to their strategic 
plans to bring them in line with the requirements of this Act. 
Agencies must also begin making performance reporting updates 
consistent with the requirements of this Act beginning in 
fiscal year 2012 and, for fiscal year 2013, submit performance 
plans consistent with the requirements of this Act.
    This section also provides that the quarterly priority 
progress reviews required under section 6 of this Act. Agency 
reviews of their progress achieved toward priority goals will 
begin for agencies with the first full quarter beginning on or 
after the date of enacting of this Act for the priority goals 
contained in the Analytical Perspectives volume of the Fiscal 
Year 2011 Budget of the United States Government. Reviews of 
progress achieved toward the federal government priority goals 
are required to begin with the quarter ending June 20, 2012.
    This section further requires the Director of OMB to 
prepare guidance for agencies regarding the implementation of 
this Act.

Section 15. Congressional oversight and legislation

    This section provides that nothing in this Act is to be 
construed as limiting the ability of Congress to establish, 
amendment, suspend, or annual a goal of the federal government 
or an agency and requires several GAO reviews. These include 
reviews of this Act's implementation over time.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill. The 
Congressional Budget Office states that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of 
state, local, or tribal governments. The enactment of this 
legislation will not have significant regulatory impact.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                  November 9, 2010.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2142, the GPRA 
Modernization Act of 2010.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2142--GPRA Modernization Act of 2010

    H.R. 2142 would amend the Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which requires federal agencies to 
define their missions and evaluate their performance. 
Specifically, the legislation would require federal agencies to 
expand their efforts to track and improve performance by: 
providing the Congress and the public with additional 
information on their current plans; incorporating their 
management goals and improvement plans into the GPRA 
performance evaluation process; and providing information on 
their performance via the Internet. In addition, the 
legislation would require training for employees who analyze 
and evaluate government programs, a report by the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO), and a study by the Office of 
Personnel Management regarding the evaluation of government 
programs.
    Some provisions of H.R. 2142 would codify current policies 
and executive orders, including requirements that chief 
operating officers in each agency manage the performance and 
improvement process, appoint Performance Improvement Officers, 
and create and evaluate the Performance Improvement Council. 
Because those provisions of the bill are being carried out 
under current policies and executive orders, CBO estimates that 
implementing them would result in no additional federal costs.
    GPRA requires all federal agencies to prepare performance 
plans annually and strategic plans every three years. Based on 
information from GAO, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), and the Department of the Treasury, CBO estimates that 
the federal government spends between $50 million and $100 
million annually to comply with current GPRA requirements.
    Under the bill, CBO expects that most agencies' 
administrative workload would increase to carry out some of the 
requirements. In particular, additional costs would accrue from 
expanding public reporting on agencies' plans and performance, 
incorporating management goals and improvement plans into GPRA, 
and providing additional training for employees. We estimate 
that additional spending among the 23 major federal agencies 
would vary significantly but average around $1 million a year 
each to implement those new requirements. In total, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 2142 would expand GPRA 
requirements and increase spending $75 million governmentwide 
over the 2011-2015 period, assuming the availability of 
appropriated funds.
    The legislation would affect direct spending by agencies 
not funded through annual appropriations, such as the 
Bonneville Power Administration and the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures 
apply. However, CBO estimates that any change in spending by 
those agencies would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 2142 
would not affect revenues.
    Finally, implementing H.R. 2142 eventually could lead to 
more effective management of government agencies at a reduced 
cost. Additionally, placing more reporting online could result 
in lower costs in the future. All such savings would be 
discretionary, would depend on amounts provided in future 
appropriation acts, and would be small over the next five 
years.
    H.R. 2142 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    On June 7, 2010, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
2142, the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance 
Act of 2010, as ordered reported by the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform on May 20, 2010. Both versions 
of the legislation would change the Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993, but in different ways. CBO's cost 
estimates reflect those differences.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
H.R. 2142, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is 
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES

                     PART 1--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY


                           CHAPTER 3--POWERS


SEC. 306. AGENCY STRATEGIC PLANS

    (a) [No later than September 30, 1997] Not later than the 
first Monday in February of any year following the year in 
which the term of a President commences under section 101 of 
title 3, the head of each agency shall [submit to the Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget] make available on the 
public website of the agency a strategic plan and notify the 
President and [to the] Congress of its availability[ a 
strategic plan for program activities]. Such plan shall 
contain--
          (1) a comprehensive mission statement covering the 
        major functions and operations of the agency;
          (2) general goals and objectives, including outcome-
        oriented goals, for the major functions and operations 
        of the agency;
          (3) a description of how any goals and objectives 
        contribute to the federal government priority goals 
        required by section 1120(a) of title 31;
          ([3]4) a description of how the goals and objectives 
        are to be achieved, including--
                  (A) a description of the operational 
                processes, skills and technology, and the 
                human, capital, information, and other 
                resources required to [meet] achieve those 
                goals and objectives; and
                  (B) a description of how the agency is 
                working with other agencies to achieve its 
                goals and objectives as well as relevant 
                federal government priority goals;
          (5) a description of how the goals and objectives 
        incorporate views and suggestions obtained through 
        congressional consultations required under subsection 
        (d);
          ([4]6) a description of how the performance goals 
        [included] provided in the plan required by section 
        1115(a) of title 31 [shall be related], including the 
        agency priority goals required by section 1120(b) of 
        title 31, if applicable, contribute to the general 
        goals and objectives in the strategic plan;
          ([5]7) an identification of those key factors 
        external to the agency and beyond its control that 
        could significantly affect the achievement of the 
        general goals and objectives; and
          ([6]8) a description of the program evaluations used 
        in establishing or revising general goals and 
        objectives, with a schedule for future program 
        evaluations to be conducted.
    (b) The strategic plan shall cover a period of not less 
than [5] 4 years following the fiscal year in which the plan is 
submitted. As needed, the head of the agency may make 
adjustments to the strategic plan to reflect significant 
changes in the environment in which the agency is operating, 
with appropriate notification of Congress. [The strategic plan 
shall be updated and revised at least every three years, except 
that the strategic plan for the Department of Defense shall be 
updated and revised at least every four years.]
    (c) The performance plan required by section 1115(b) of 
title 31 shall be consistent with the agency's strategic plan. 
A performance plan may not be submitted for a fiscal year not 
covered by a current strategic plan under this section.
    (d) When developing or making adjustments to a strategic 
plan, the agency shall consult periodically with the Congress, 
including majority and minority views from the appropriate 
authorizing, appropriations, and oversight committees, and 
shall solicit and consider the views and suggestions of those 
entities potentially affected by or interested in such a plan. 
The agency shall consult with the appropriate committees of 
Congress at least once every 2 years.
    (e) The functions and activities of this section shall be 
considered to be inherently governmental functions. The 
drafting of strategic plans under this section shall be 
performed only by federal employees.
    (f) For purposes of this section the term `agency' means an 
Executive agency defined under section 105, but does not 
include the Central Intelligence Agency, the Government 
Accountability Office, [the Panama Canal Commission,] the 
United States Postal Service, and the Postal Regulatory 
Commission.

                      TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE

                    Subtitle II--The Budget Process

   CHAPTER 11--THE BUDGET AND FISCAL, BUDGET, AND PROGRAM INFORMATION


SEC. 1105. BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.

    (a) On or after the first Monday in January but not later 
than the first Monday in February of each year, the President 
shall submit a budget of the United States Government for the 
following fiscal year. Each budget shall include a budget 
message and summary and supporting information. The President 
shall include in each budget the following:

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (37) the list of plans and reports, as provided for 
        under section 1125, that agencies identified for 
        elimination or consolidation because the plans and 
        reports are determined outdated or duplicative of other 
        required plans and reports.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1115. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PERFORMANCE PLANS

    (a) Federal Government Performance Plans.--In carrying out 
the provisions of section 1105(a)(28), the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget shall [require each agency to 
prepare an annual performance plan covering each program 
activity set forth in the budget of such agency. Such plan 
shall--] coordinate with agencies to develop the federal 
government performance plan. In addition to the submission of 
such plan with the budget of the United States Government, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall ensure 
that all information required by this subsection is 
concurrently made available on the website provided under 
section 1122 and updated periodically, but not less than 
annually. The federal government performance plan shall--
          (1) establish federal government performance goals to 
        define the level of performance to be achieved during 
        the year in which the plan is submitted and the next 
        fiscal year for each of the federal government priority 
        goals required under section 1120(a) of this title;
          (2) identify the agencies, organizations, program 
        activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies, 
        and other activities contributing to each federal 
        government performance goal during each fiscal year;
          (3) for each federal government performance goal, 
        identify a lead government official who shall be 
        responsible for coordinating the efforts to achieve the 
        goal;
          (4) establish common federal government performance 
        indicators with quarterly targets to be used in 
        measuring or assessing--
                  (A) overall progress toward each federal 
                government performance goal; and
                  (B) the individual contribution of each 
                agency, organization, program activity, 
                regulation, tax expenditure, policy, and other 
                activity identified under paragraph (2);
          (5) establish clearly defined quarterly milestones; 
        and
          (6) identify major management challenges that are 
        Government-wide or crosscutting in nature and describe 
        plans to address such challenges, including relevant 
        performance goals, performance indicators, and 
        milestones.
    (b) Agency Performance Plans.--Not later than the first 
Monday in February of each year, the head of each agency shall 
make available on a public website of the agency, and notify 
the President and the Congress of its availability, a 
performance plan covering each program activity set forth in 
the budget of such agency. Such plan shall--
          (1) establish performance goals to define the level 
        of performance to be achieved by a program activity 
        during the year in which the plan is submitted and the 
        next fiscal year;
          (2) express such goals in an objective, quantifiable, 
        and measurable form unless authorized to be in an 
        alternative form under subsection ([b]c);
          (3) describe how the performance goals contribute 
        to--
                  (A) the general goals and objectives 
                established in the agency's strategic plan 
                required by section 306(a)(2) of title 5; and
                  (B) any of the federal government performance 
                goals established in the federal government 
                performance plan required by subsection (a)(1);
          (4) identify among the performance goals those which 
        are designated as agency priority goals as required by 
        section 1120(b) of this title, if applicable;
          ([3]5) provide a description of how the performance 
        goals [and objectives] are to be achieved, including--
                  (A) the operational processes, training, 
                skills and technology, and the human, capital, 
                information, and other resources and strategies 
                required to meet those performance goals [and 
                objectives];
                  (B) clearly defined milestones;
                  (C) an identification of the organizations, 
                program activities, regulations, policies, and 
                other activities that contribute to each 
                performance goal, both within and external to 
                the agency;
                  (D) a description of how the agency is 
                working with other agencies to achieve its 
                performance goals as well as relevant federal 
                government performance goals; and
                  (E) an identification of the agency officials 
                responsible for the achievement of each 
                performance goal, who shall be known as goal 
                leaders;
          ([4]6) establish a balanced set of performance 
        indicators to be used in measuring or assessing [the 
        relevant outputs, service levels, and outcomes of each 
        program activity] progress toward each performance 
        goal, including, as appropriate, customer service, 
        efficiency, output, and outcome indicators;
          ([5]7) provide a basis for comparing actual program 
        results with the established performance goals; [and]
          ([6]8) [describe] a description of how the agency 
        will ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data 
        used to measure progress towards its performance goals, 
        including an identification of--
                  (A) the means to be used to verify and 
                validate measured values;
                  (B) the sources for these data;
                  (C) the level of accuracy required for the 
                intended use of the data;
                  (D) any limitations to these data at the 
                required level of accuracy; and
                  (E) how the agency will compensate for such 
                limitations if needed to reach the required 
                level of accuracy;
          (9) describe major management challenges the agency 
        faces and identify--
                  (A) planned actions to address such 
                challenges;
                  (B) performance goals, performance 
                indicators, and milestones to measure progress 
                toward resolving such challenges; and
                  (C) the agency official responsible for 
                resolving such challenges; and
          (10) identify low-priority program activities based 
        on an analysis of their contribution to the mission and 
        goals of the agency and include an evidence-based 
        justification for designating a program activity as 
        low-priority.
    ([b]c) Alternative Form.--If an agency, in consultation 
with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
determines that it is not feasible to express the performance 
goals for a particular program activity in an objective, 
quantifiable, and measurable form, the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget may authorize an alternative form. 
Such alternative form shall--
          (1) include separate descriptive statements of--
                  (A)(i) a minimally effective program; and
                  (ii) a successful program; or
                  (B) such alternative as authorized by the 
                Director of the Office of Management and 
                Budget, with sufficient precision and in such 
                terms that would allow for an accurate, 
                independent determination of whether the 
                program activity's performance meets the 
                criteria of the description; or
          (2) state why it is infeasible or impractical to 
        express a performance goal in any form for the program 
        activity.
    ([c]d) Treatment of Program Activities.--For the purpose of 
complying with this section, an agency may aggregate, 
disaggregate, or consolidate program activities, except that 
any aggregation or consolidation may not omit or minimize the 
significance of any program activity constituting a major 
function or operation for the agency.
    ([d]e) Appendix.--An agency may submit with its annual 
performance plan an appendix covering any portion of the plan 
that--
          (1) is specifically authorized under criteria 
        established by an Executive order to be kept secret in 
        the interest of national defense or foreign policy; and
          (2) is properly classified pursuant to such Executive 
        order.
    ([e]f) Inherently Governmental Functions.--The functions 
and activities of this section shall be considered to be 
inherently governmental functions. The drafting of performance 
plans under this section shall be performed only by federal 
employees.
    ([f]g) Chief Human Capital Officers.--With respect to each 
agency with a Chief Human Capital Officer, the Chief Human 
Capital Officer shall prepare that portion of the annual 
performance plan described under subsection [(a)(3)](b)(5)(A).
    ([g]h) Definitions.--For purposes of this section and 
sections 1116 through [1119] 1125, and sections 9703 and 9704, 
the term--
          (1) `agency' has the same meaning as such term is 
        defined under section 306(f) of title 5;
          (2) `crosscutting' means across organizational (such 
        as agency) boundaries;
          (3) `customer service measure' means an assessment of 
        service delivery to a customer, client, citizen, or 
        other recipient, which can include an assessment of 
        quality, timeliness, and satisfaction among other 
        factors;
          (4) `efficiency measure' means a ratio of a program 
        activity's inputs (such as costs or hours worked by 
        employees) to its outputs (amount of products or 
        services delivered) or outcomes (the desired results of 
        a program);
          (5) `major management challenge' means programs or 
        management functions, within or across agencies, that 
        have greater vulnerability to waste, fraud, abuse, and 
        mismanagement (such as issues identified by the 
        Government Accountability Office as high risk or issues 
        identified by an Inspector General) where a failure to 
        perform well could seriously affect the ability of an 
        agency or the government to achieve its mission or 
        goals;
          (6) `milestone' means a scheduled event signifying 
        the completion of a major deliverable or a set of 
        related deliverables or a phase of work;
          ([2]7) `outcome measure' means an assessment of the 
        results of a program activity compared to its intended 
        purpose;
          ([3]8) `output measure' means the tabulation, 
        calculation, or recording of activity or effort and can 
        be expressed in a quantitative or qualitative manner;
          ([4]9) `performance goal' means a target level of 
        performance expressed as a tangible, measurable 
        objective, against which actual achievement can be 
        compared, including a goal expressed as a quantitative 
        standard, value, or rate;
          ([5]10) `performance indicator' means a particular 
        value or characteristic used to measure output or 
        outcome;
          ([6]11) `program activity' means a specific activity 
        or project as listed in the program and financing 
        schedules of the annual budget of the United States 
        Government; and
          ([7]12) `program evaluation' means an assessment, 
        through objective measurement and systematic analysis, 
        of the manner and extent to which federal programs 
        achieve intended objectives.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1116. [PROGRAM] AGENCY PERFORMANCE REPORTINGS

    (a) [Not later than 150 days after the end of an agency's 
fiscal year, t]The head of each agency shall [prepare and 
submit to the President and the Congress, a report on agency 
performance for the previous fiscal year] make available on a 
public website of the agency an update on agency performance.
    (b)(1) Each [program performance report] update shall [set 
forth the performance indicators] compare actual performance 
achieved with the performance goals established in the agency 
performance plan under section 1115(b) [along with the actual 
performance achieved compared with the performance goals 
expressed in the plan for that fiscal year] and shall occur no 
less than 150 days after the end of the fiscal year, with more 
frequent updates of actual performance on indicators that 
provide data of significant value to the government, Congress, 
or program partners at a reasonable level of administrative 
burden.
    (2) If performance goals are specified in an alternative 
form under section 1115([b]c), the results [of such a program] 
shall be described in relation to such specifications, 
including whether the performance failed to meet the criteria 
of a minimally effective or successful program.
    [(c) The report for fiscal year 2000 shall include actual 
results for the preceding fiscal year, the report for fiscal 
year 2001 shall include actual results for the two preceding 
fiscal years, and the report for fiscal year 2002 and all 
subsequent reports shall include actual results for the three 
preceding fiscal years.]
    ([d]c) Each [report] update shall--
          (1) review the success of achieving the performance 
        goals [of the fiscal year] and include actual results 
        for the five preceding fiscal years;
          (2) evaluate the performance plan for the current 
        fiscal year relative to the performance achieved toward 
        the performance goals [in the fiscal year covered by 
        the report] during the period covered by the update;
          (3) explain and describe where a performance goal has 
        not been met (including when a program activity's 
        performance is determined not to have met the criteria 
        of a successful program activity under section 1115([b] 
        c)(1)(A)(ii) or a corresponding level of achievement if 
        another alternative form is used)--
                  (A) why the goal was not met;
                  (B) those plans and schedules for achieving 
                the established performance goal; and
                  (C) if the performance goal is impractical or 
                infeasible, why that is the case and what 
                action is recommended;
          (4) describe the use and assess the effectiveness in 
        achieving performance goals of any waiver under section 
        9703 of this title;
          (5) include a review of the performance goals and 
        evaluation of the performance plan relative to the 
        agency's strategic human capital management; [and]
          (6) describe how the agency ensures the accuracy and 
        reliability of the data used to measure progress 
        towards its performance goals, including an 
        identification of--
                  (A) the means to be used to verify and 
                validate measured values;
                  (B) the sources for these data;
                  (C) the level of accuracy required for the 
                intended use of the data;
                  (D) any limitations to these data at the 
                required level of accuracy; and
                  (E) how the agency has compensated for such 
                limitations if needed to reach the required 
                level of accuracy; and
          ([6]7) include the summary findings of those program 
        evaluations completed during the fiscal year covered by 
        the report.
    (d) If an agency performance update includes any program 
activity or information that is specifically authorized under 
criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in 
the interest of national defense or foreign policy and is 
properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order, the head 
of the agency shall make such information available in the 
classified appendix provided under section 1115(e).
    [(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each agency 
performance report shall contain an assessment by the agency 
head of the completeness and reliability of the performance 
data included in the report. The assessment shall describe any 
material inadequacies in the completeness and reliability of 
the performance data, and the actions the agency can take and 
is taking to resolve such inadequacies.
    [(2) If an agency performance report is incorporated into a 
report submitted under section 3516, the requirements of 
section 3516(e) shall apply in lieu of paragraph (1).]
    ([f]e) The functions and activities of this section shall 
be considered to be inherently governmental functions. The 
drafting of agency performance [reports] updates under this 
section shall be performed only by federal employees.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1120. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PRIORITY GOALS

    (a) Federal Government Priority Goals_.
          (1) The Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget shall coordinate with agencies to develop 
        priority goals to improve the performance and 
        management of the federal government. Such federal 
        government priority goals shall include--
                  (A) outcome-oriented goals covering a limited 
                number of crosscutting policy areas; and
                  (B) goals for management improvements needed 
                across the federal government, including
                          (i) financial management;
                          (ii) human capital management;
                          (iii) information technology 
                        management;
                          (iv) procurement and acquisition 
                        management; and
                          (v) real property management;
          (2) The federal government priority goals shall be 
        long-term in nature. At a minimum, the federal 
        government priority goals shall be updated or revised 
        every 4 years and made publicly available concurrently 
        with the submission of the budget of the United States 
        Government made in the first full fiscal year following 
        any year in which the term of the President commences 
        under section 101 of title 3. As needed, the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget may make 
        adjustments to the federal government priority goals to 
        reflect significant changes in the environment in which 
        the federal government is operating, with appropriate 
        notification of Congress.
          (3) When developing or making adjustments to federal 
        government priority goals, the Director of the Office 
        of Management and Budget shall consult periodically 
        with the Congress, including obtaining majority and 
        minority views from--
                  (A) the Committees on Appropriations of the 
                Senate and the House of Representatives;
                  (B) the Committees on the Budget of the 
                Senate and the House of Representatives;
                  (C) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                  (D) the Committee on Oversight and Government 
                Reform of the House of Representatives;
                  (E) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
                  (F) the Committee on Ways and Means of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                  (G) any other committees as determined 
                appropriate.
          (4) The Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget shall consult with the appropriate committees of 
        Congress at least once every 2 years.
          (5) The Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget shall make information about the federal 
        government priority goals available on the website 
        described under section 1122 of this title.
          (6) The federal government performance plan required 
        under section 1115(a) of this title shall be consistent 
        with the federal government priority goals
    (b) Agency Priority Goals_.
          (1) Every 2 years, the head of each agency listed in 
        section 901(b) of this title, or as otherwise 
        determined by the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget, shall identify agency priority goals from 
        among the performance goals of the agency. The Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine 
        the total number of agency priority goals across the 
        government, and the number to be developed by each 
        agency. The agency priority goals shall--
                  (A) reflect the highest priorities of the 
                agency, as determined by the head of the agency 
                and informed by the federal government priority 
                goals provided under subsection (a) and the 
                consultations with Congress and other 
                interested parties required by section 306(d) 
                of title 5;
                  (B) have ambitious targets that can be 
                achieved within a 2-year period;
                  (C) have a clearly identified agency 
                official, known as a goal leader, who is 
                responsible for the achievement of each agency 
                priority goal;
                  (D) have interim quarterly targets for 
                performance indicators if more frequent updates 
                of actual performance provides data of 
                significant value to the government, Congress, 
                or program partners at a reasonable level of 
                administrative burden; and
                  (E) have clearly defined quarterly 
                milestones.
          (2) If an agency priority goal includes any program 
        activity or information that is specifically authorized 
        under criteria established by an Executive order to be 
        kept secret in the interest of national defense or 
        foreign policy and is properly classified pursuant to 
        such Executive order, the head of the agency shall make 
        such information available in the classified appendix 
        provided under section 1115(e).
    (c) The functions and activities of this section shall be 
considered to be inherently governmental functions. The 
development of federal government and agency priority goals 
shall be performed only by federal employees.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1121. QUARTERLY PRIORITY PROGRESS REVIEWS AND USE OF PERFORMANCE 
                    INFORMATION

    (a) Use of Performance Information To Achieve Federal 
Government Priority Goals.--Not less than quarterly, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with the 
support of the Performance Improvement Council, shall--
          (1) for each federal government priority goal 
        required by section 1120(a) of this title, review with 
        the appropriate lead government official the progress 
        achieved during the most recent quarter, overall trend 
        data, and the likelihood of meeting the planned level 
        of performance;
          (2) include in such reviews officials from the 
        agencies, organizations, and program activities that 
        contribute to the accomplishment of each federal 
        government priority goal;
          (3) assess whether agencies, organizations, program 
        activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies, 
        and other activities are contributing as planned to 
        each federal government priority goal;
          (4) categorize the federal government priority goals 
        by risk of not achieving the planned level of 
        performance; and
          (5) for the federal government priority goals at 
        greatest risk of not meeting the planned level of 
        performance, identify prospects and strategies for 
        performance improvement, including any needed changes 
        to agencies, organizations, program activities, 
        regulations, tax expenditures, policies or other 
        activities.
    (b) Agency Use of Performance Information To Achieve Agency 
Priority Goals.--Not less than quarterly, at each agency 
required to develop agency priority goals required by section 
1120(b) of this title, the head of the agency and Chief 
Operating Officer, with the support of the agency Performance 
Improvement Officer, shall--
          (1) for each agency priority goal, review with the 
        appropriate goal leader the progress achieved during 
        the most recent quarter, overall trend data, and the 
        likelihood of meeting the planned level of performance;
          (2) coordinate with relevant personnel within and 
        outside the agency who contribute to the accomplishment 
        of each agency priority goal;
          (3) assess whether relevant organizations, program 
        activities, regulations, policies, and other activities 
        are contributing as planned to the agency priority 
        goals;
          (4) categorize agency priority goals by risk of not 
        achieving the planned level of performance; and
          (5) for agency priority goals at greatest risk of not 
        meeting the planned level of performance, identify 
        prospects and strategies for performance improvement, 
        including any needed changes to agency program 
        activities, regulations, policies, or other activities.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 1122. TRANSPARENCY OF PROGRAMS, PRIORITY GOALS, AND RESULTS

    (a) Transparency of Agency Programs.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than October 1, 2012, the 
        Office of Management and Budget shall--
                  (A) ensure the effective operation of a 
                single website;
                  (B) at a minimum, update the website on a 
                quarterly basis; and
                  (C) include on the website information about 
                each program identified by the agencies.
          (2) Information.--Information for each program 
        described under paragraph (1) shall include--
                  (A) an identification of how the agency 
                defines the term program', consistent with 
                guidance provided by the Director of the Office 
                of Management and Budget, including the program 
                activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, 
                or consolidated to be considered a program by 
                the agency;
                  (B) a description of the purposes of the 
                program and the contribution of the program to 
                the mission and goals of the agency; and
                  (C) an identification of funding for the 
                current fiscal year and previous 2 fiscal 
                years.
    (b) Transparency of Agency Priority Goals and Results.--The 
head of each agency required to develop agency priority goals 
shall make information about each agency priority goal 
available to the Office of Management and Budget for 
publication on the website, with the exception of any 
information covered by section 1120(b)(2) of this title. In 
addition to an identification of each agency priority goal, the 
website shall also consolidate information about each agency 
priority goal, including
          (1) a description of how the agency incorporated any 
        views and suggestions obtained through congressional 
        consultations about the agency priority goal;
          (2) an identification of key factors external to the 
        agency and beyond its control that could significantly 
        affect the achievement of the agency priority goal;
          (3) a description of how each agency priority goal 
        will be achieved, including--
                  (A) the strategies and resources required to 
                meet the priority goal;
                  (B) clearly defined milestones;
                  (C) the organizations, program activities, 
                regulations, policies, and other activities 
                that contribute to each goal, both within and 
                external to the agency;
                  (D) how the agency is working with other 
                agencies to achieve the goal; and
                  (E) an identification of the agency official 
                responsible for achieving the priority goal;
          (4) the performance indicators to be used in 
        measuring or assessing progress;
          (5) a description of how the agency ensures the 
        accuracy and reliability of the data used to measure 
        progress towards the priority goal, including an 
        identification of--
                  (A) the means used to verify and validate 
                measured values;
                  (B) the sources for the data;
                  (C) the level of accuracy required for the 
                intended use of the data;
                  (D) any limitations to the data at the 
                required level of accuracy; and
                  (E) how the agency has compensated for such 
                limitations if needed to reach the required 
                level of accuracy;
          (6) the results achieved during the most recent 
        quarter and overall trend data compared to the planned 
        level of performance;
          (7) an assessment of whether relevant organizations, 
        program activities, regulations, policies, and other 
        activities are contributing as planned;
          (8) an identification of the agency priority goals at 
        risk of not achieving the planned level of performance; 
        and
          (9) any prospects or strategies for performance 
        improvement.
    (c)   Transparency of Federal Government Priority Goals and 
Results.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
shall also make available on the website--
          (1) a brief description of each of the federal 
        government priority goals required by section 1120(a) 
        of this title;
          (2) a description of how the federal government 
        priority goals incorporate views and suggestions 
        obtained through congressional consultations;
          (3) the federal government performance goals and 
        performance indicators associated with each federal 
        government priority goal as required by section 1115(a) 
        of this title;
          (4) an identification of the lead government official 
        for each federal government performance goal;
          (5) the results achieved during the most recent 
        quarter and overall trend data compared to the planned 
        level of performance;
          (6) an identification of the agencies, organizations, 
        program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, 
        policies, and other activities that contribute to each 
        federal government priority goal;
          (7) an assessment of whether relevant agencies, 
        organizations, program activities, regulations, tax 
        expenditures, policies, and other activities are 
        contributing as planned;
          (8) an identification of the federal government 
        priority goals at risk of not achieving the planned 
        level of performance; and
          (9) any prospects or strategies for performance 
        improvement.
    (d) Information on Website.--The information made available 
on the website under this section shall be readily accessible 
and easily found on the Internet by the public and members and 
committees of Congress. Such information shall also be 
presented in a searchable, machine-readable format. The 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 
guidance to ensure that such information is provided in a way 
that presents a coherent picture of all federal programs, and 
the performance of the federal government as well as individual 
agencies.

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SEC. 1123. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS

    (a)   Establishment.--At each agency, the deputy head of 
agency, or equivalent, shall be the Chief Operating Officer of 
the agency.
    (b)   Function.--Each Chief Operating Officer shall be 
responsible for improving the management and performance of the 
agency, and shall--
          (1) provide overall organization management to 
        improve agency performance and achieve the mission and 
        goals of the agency through the use of strategic and 
        performance planning, measurement, analysis, regular 
        assessment of progress, and use of performance 
        information to improve the results achieved;
          (2) advise and assist the head of agency in carrying 
        out the requirements of sections 1115 through 1122 of 
        this title and section 306 of title 5;
          (3) oversee agency-specific efforts to improve 
        management functions within the agency and across 
        government; and
          (4) coordinate and collaborate with relevant 
        personnel within and external to the agency who have a 
        significant role in contributing to and achieving the 
        mission and goals of the agency, such as the Chief 
        Financial Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief 
        Acquisition Officer/Senior Procurement Executive, Chief 
        Information Officer, and other line of business chiefs 
        at the agency.

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SEC. 1124. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS AND THE PERFORMANCE 
                    IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL

    (a) Performance Improvement Officers.--
          (1) Establishment.--At each agency, the head of the 
        agency, in consultation with the agency Chief Operating 
        Officer, shall designate a senior executive of the 
        agency as the agency Performance Improvement Officer.
          (2) Function.--Each Performance Improvement Officer 
        shall report directly to the Chief Operating Officer. 
        Subject to the direction of the Chief Operating 
        Officer, each Performance Improvement Officer shall--
                  (A) advise and assist the head of the agency 
                and the Chief Operating Officer to ensure that 
                the mission and goals of the agency are 
                achieved through strategic and performance 
                planning, measurement, analysis, regular 
                assessment of progress, and use of performance 
                information to improve the results achieved;
                  (B) advise the head of the agency and the 
                Chief Operating Officer on the selection of 
                agency goals, including opportunities to 
                collaborate with other agencies on common 
                goals;
                  (C) assist the head of the agency and the 
                Chief Operating Officer in overseeing the 
                implementation of the agency strategic 
                planning, performance planning, and reporting 
                requirements provided under sections 1115 
                through 1122 of this title and sections 306 of 
                title 5, including the contributions of the 
                agency to the federal government priority 
                goals;
                  (D) support the head of agency and the Chief 
                Operating Officer in the conduct of regular 
                reviews of agency performance, including at 
                least quarterly reviews of progress achieved 
                toward agency priority goals, if applicable;
                  (E) assist the head of the agency and the 
                Chief Operating Officer 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 assessments; and
                  (F) ensure that agency progress toward the 
                achievement of all goals is communicated to 
                leaders, managers, and employees in the agency 
                and Congress, and made available on a public 
                website of the agency.
    (b) Performance Improvement Council._
          (1) Establishment.--There is established a 
        Performance Improvement Council, consisting of--
                  (A) the Deputy Director for Management of the 
                Office of Management and Budget, who shall act 
                as chairperson of the Council;
                  (B) the Performance Improvement Officer from 
                each agency defined in section 901(b) of this 
                title;
                  (C) other Performance Improvement Officers as 
                determined appropriate by the chairperson; and
                  (D) other individuals as determined 
                appropriate by the chairperson.
          (2) Function.--The Performance Improvement Council 
        shall--
                  (A) be convened by the chairperson or the 
                designee of the chairperson, who shall 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;
                  (B) assist the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget to improve the 
                performance of the federal government and 
                achieve the federal government priority goals;
                  (C) assist the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget in implementing the 
                planning, reporting, and use of performance 
                information requirements related to the federal 
                government priority goals provided under 
                sections 1115, 1120, 1121, and 1122 of this 
                title;
                  (D) work to resolve specific Government-wide 
                or crosscutting performance issues, as 
                necessary;
                  (E) facilitate the exchange among agencies of 
                practices that have led to performance 
                improvements within specific programs, 
                agencies, or across agencies;
                  (F) coordinate with other interagency 
                management councils;
                  (G) seek advice and information as 
                appropriate from nonmember agencies, 
                particularly smaller agencies;
                  (H) consider the performance improvement 
                experiences of corporations, nonprofit 
                organizations, foreign, State, and local 
                governments, government employees, public 
                sector unions, and customers of government 
                services;
                  (I) receive such assistance, information and 
                advice from agencies as the Council may 
                request, which agencies shall provide to the 
                extent permitted by law; and
                  (J) 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 
                chairperson may specify, recommendations to 
                streamline and improve performance management 
                policies and requirements.
          (3) Support.--
                  (A) In general.--The Administrator of General 
                Services shall provide administrative and other 
                support for the Council to implement this 
                section.
                  (B) Personnel.--The heads of agencies with 
                Performance Improvement Officers serving on the 
                Council shall, as appropriate and to the extent 
                permitted by law, provide at the request of the 
                chairperson of the Performance Improvement 
                Council up to 2 personnel authorizations to 
                serve at the direction of the chairperson.

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SEC. 1125. ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY AGENCY REPORTING

    (a) Agency Identification of Unnecessary Reports.--
Annually, based on guidance provided by the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget, the Chief Operating Officer at 
each agency shall--
          (1) compile a list that identifies all plans and 
        reports the agency produces for Congress, in accordance 
        with statutory requirements or as directed in 
        congressional reports;
          (2) analyze the list compiled under paragraph (1), 
        identify which plans and reports are outdated or 
        duplicative of other required plans and reports, and 
        refine the list to include only the plans and reports 
        identified to be outdated or duplicative;
          (3) consult with the congressional committees that 
        receive the plans and reports identified under 
        paragraph
          (2) to determine whether those plans and reports are 
        no longer useful to the committees and could be 
        eliminated or consolidated with other plans and 
        reports; and
          (4) provide a total count of plans and reports 
        compiled under paragraph (1) and the list of outdated 
        and duplicative reports identified under paragraph (2) 
        to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    (b) Plans and Reports.--
          (1) First year.--During the first year of 
        implementation of this section, the list of plans and 
        reports identified by each agency as outdated or 
        duplicative shall be not less than 10 percent of all 
        plans and reports identified under subsection (a)(1).
          (2) Subsequent years.--In each year following the 
        first year described under paragraph (1), the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine 
        the minimum percent of plans and reports to be 
        identified as outdated or duplicative on each list of 
        plans and reports.
    (c) Request for Elimination of Unnecessary Reports.--In 
addition to including the list of plans and reports determined 
to be outdated or duplicative by each agency in the budget of 
the United States government, as provided by section 
1105(a)(37), the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget may concurrently submit to Congress legislation to 
eliminate or consolidate such plans and reports.

                                  
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