Owing to high levels of poverty, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) rely heavily on need-based federal programs to provide basic services. Two federal agencies publish measures used by some federal programs to determine poverty status and allocate need-based assistance: the Census Bureau...

The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to increase its military presence on Guam from about 15,000 in 2009 to more than 39,000 by 2020 at a cost of more than $13 billion. The growth will create temporary construction jobs and permanent civilian jobs with the military, with contractors, and in the Guam community. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DOD and the government of Guam have (1) pl...

Between 2000 and 2002, almost 60,000 mass layoffs of 50 or more workers occurred resulting in nearly 7 million workers losing their jobs. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 authorizes the Department of Labor to award national emergency grants to affected states and local areas to provide employment and training assistance to workers affected by major economic dislocations, such as plant cl...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information about: (1) welfare-to-work formula and competitive grants awarded to, or declined by, states for fiscal year (FY) 1998; (2) how selected grantees are planning to use these funds; and (3) how selected grantees plan to meet welfare-to-work requirements to better integrate the states' workforce development services with other human service...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed benefit payments by Medigap policies between 1988 and 1994, focusing on trends in Medigap insurers' aggregate loss ratio performance.GAO found that: (1) the Medigap market grew from $7.3 billion to $12.1 billion between 1988 and 1993; (2) Medigap insurers' aggregate loss ratios were stable from 1988 to 1991, but these ratios decreased about 10 perc...

GAO reviewed U.S. economic assistance to its insular areas, focusing on the extent that the United States has: (1) ensured coordination between the various agencies that provide assistance; and (2) developed goals and strategies for its assistance programs.GAO found that: (1) although the overall U.S. policy is to support the economic development of insular areas, the United States does not have s...

GAO reported on the results of its followup review of Guam's progress in improving the administration of its income tax program.GAO found that, although Guam has attempted corrective action in areas noted in a prior report, problems still exist. Identification of nonfilers remains a problem and automation of the tax program remains incomplete. Therefore, GAO believes that Guam could further improv...

GAO was asked to review the Island-Wide Power System on Guam, which is jointly operated by the Navy and the Guam Power Authority. The Navy and the Authority entered into a formal agreement providing for the pooling of power generation and transmission facilities and prorated cost sharing. The Power Pool Agreement, as orginally formulated, was to be a short-term arrangement to permit the Authority...

The principal U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands have had long-standing problems in their financial management systems. The Department of the Interior's U.S. Government Comptrollers are presently responsible for auditing all significant aspects of governmental operations and federal programs in...

This document refers to a Congressional request for GAO's views on S. 3060, 95th Congress, a bill which, if enacted, would be cited as the "National Workers' Compensation Standards Act of 1978."...