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Federalism: Opportunities Exist to Improve Coordination and Consultation with State and Local Governments

GAO-20-560 Published: Aug 07, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 08, 2020.
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Fast Facts

Federal programs in education, health care, and other areas are often implemented through a complex partnership between federal, state, and local governments. An Executive Order on federalism requires federal agencies to consult with state and local officials when formulating policy that affects them.

State and local associations said that coordinating with agencies could be challenging—e.g., intergovernmental affairs contacts were hard to find.

Guidance from the Office of Management and Budget calls for agencies to designate a federalism official, but the OMB didn't ensure this happened. We recommended ensuring compliance with OMB guidance.

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Highlights

What GAO Found

Federal agencies' intergovernmental affairs activities advance agency objectives that require coordination with state and local governments. Most of the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies GAO surveyed reported undertaking similar information-sharing and coordination activities, such as serving as liaisons, conducting outreach, and hosting and attending events.

The agencies GAO surveyed also reported taking varied approaches to structuring their intergovernmental affairs operations to conduct these activities. Of the 20 agencies with agency-wide intergovernmental affairs offices, half focused on intergovernmental affairs as their sole function while the other half included multiple functions, such as congressional or legislative affairs.

How Agencies Organized Their Intergovernmental Affairs Operations

How Agencies Organized Their Intergovernmental Affairs Operations

Most agencies also reported that intergovernmental affairs activities and responsibilities were dispersed across their agencies. Regional and program offices perform intergovernmental affairs functions at some agencies, while others have an agency-wide office for them. Responsibilities for consulting with state and local governments under Executive Order (E.O.) 13132 also varied. The order requires that each federal agency designate an official to implement the order. Fourteen agencies reported having such an official; 10 did not report having one.

Representatives from state and local associations GAO interviewed reported interacting with federal agency intergovernmental affairs offices for outreach and information-sharing purposes. They also cited coordination and consultation challenges, such as difficulty identifying intergovernmental affairs contacts, limited federal agency knowledge of state and local government, and inconsistent consultation on proposed regulations.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has primary responsibility for implementing E.O. 13132 and related implementation guidance, including a requirement for the designation of a federalism official. However, OMB could not identify any oversight steps it had taken to ensure federal agencies' designation of a federalism official consistent with its guidance for implementation of the executive order. Taking steps to ensure federal agencies' designation of a federalism official could help ensure that agencies have an accountable process in place for appropriately consulting with state and local governments.

Why GAO Did This Study

Federal programs fulfilling national goals in education, health care, transportation infrastructure, and homeland security, among other issues, are implemented through a complex partnership between federal, state, and local governments. E.O. 13132, Federalism, outlines principles and criteria to guide the formulation and implementation of policies and the appropriate division of responsibilities between levels of government.

GAO was asked to review intergovernmental affairs activities at executive branch agencies. This report (1) identifies intergovernmental affairs offices' key responsibilities and activities at selected federal agencies and how these offices are organized, and (2) assesses state and local government officials' interaction with intergovernmental affairs offices, including their reported strengths and challenges. GAO examined relevant policies and executive orders and surveyed officials from the 24 CFO Act agencies. GAO also interviewed a nongeneralizable sample of individuals from 10 associations representing state and local government officials.

Recommendations

GAO is recommending that OMB ensure that federal agencies implement its guidance on agency adherence to E.O. 13132 requirements, particularly related to designating a federalism official. OMB neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Management and Budget The Director of OMB should take steps to ensure that federal agencies implement its guidance on agency adherence to E.O. 13132 requirements, particularly related to designating a federalism official. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In a letter to GAO dated June 29, 2021, OMB stated that to facilitate increased agency compliance with the requirement to designate a federalism official under E.O. 13132, OMB will take steps to ensure agencies are adhering to this requirement. The letter further stated that, among other things, OMB will provide a written notice to the agencies reminding them of this obligation. We will continue to update this recommendation as we obtain additional information from OMB regarding their plans and the relevant supporting documentation on the notice to federal agencies referenced in OMB's letter to GAO. We followed up with OMB multiple times over the past several months--most recently, May 11, 2022. We are awaiting their response. We will be seeking an update from OMB in July 2023, as part of SI's effort to meet with OMB to address all open recommendations.

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Topics

Intergovernmental issuesIntergovernmental relationsLocal governmentsPolicies and proceduresState governmentsTribal governmentsPublic officialsFederal agenciesCompliance oversightInformation sharing