[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.
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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.
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\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.
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\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.
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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.
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\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.
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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.
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\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.''
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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\
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\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.
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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.
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\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.
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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.
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\34\GAO, Performance Budgeting: Past Initiatives Offer Insights for
GPRA Implementation, GAO/AIMD-97-46 (Washington, D.C.: March 27, 1997),
p. 4.
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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\
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\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.
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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 REPORTINGS
(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.
* * * * * * *
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.
* * * * * * *
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.
* * * * * * *
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.