Managing for Results: Status of the Government Performance and Results Act

GAO discussed federal agencies' implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). GAO noted that: (1) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has initiated 71 pilot projects to implement GPRA planning and reporting mandates; (2) the pilot project participants range from individual programs to entire agencies and cover a broad spectrum of government activities and functions; (3) as of June 1995, 34 of the initial 52 pilots had submitted their required annual program performance reports to OMB; (4) few agencies have requested waivers from nonstatutory administrative requirements to improve their management flexibility; (5) OMB has not yet selected five agencies for managerial flexibility pilot projects; (6) agency components not participating in the pilot projects need to implement GPRA requirements now in order to comply with the 1997 GPRA deadline; (7) agencies need to develop and sustain top management commitment to GPRA, which is compromised by high political appointee turnover and the failure to involve all top managers; (8) agencies must build their capacity to implement GPRA and use the resulting performance information, particularly regarding systematic program evaluation; (9) the federal government must create incentives to implement GPRA and encourage management and accountability to focus on results; (10) agencies need to integrate GPRA into their daily operations; and (11) Congress needs to build a more effective oversight approach, since it requires the improved performance and financial information that GPRA and the Government Management Reform Act will generate.