WASHINGTON: Proponents of a Senate bill directing federal agencies to post their strategic plans and performance records online are working to get the proposal passed during the lame-duck session. Supporters want to push the bill through after the November elections and before the new Congress convenes in January, according to Capital Hill sources.
The bill requires each federal agency to designate a “chief operating officer” and a “performance improvement officer.” They’ll be charged with slashing duplicative programs and saving money. Those officials also would be held responsible for considering taxpayer savings through better coordination of administrative functions common to every agency, including purchasing.
The bill requires federal agencies to post performance data on a single public Web site on a quarterly, rather than a yearly, basis. It also sets an ambitious first-year goal of an overall 10 percent reduction in the cumulative number of little used or outdated reports mandated by previous administrations and Congresses, according to a statement from one of its sponsors. The Web site would be managed by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The proposed Government Performance and Results Modernization Act (S. 3853) was introduced Sept. 28 by Sens. Tom Carper, (D-Del.); Mark Warner, (D-Va.); and Daniel Akaka, (D-Hawaii). It’s currently a substitute amendment to a similar House bill, H.R. 2142--the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness and Performance Improvement Act.
The public Web site “has already been in the works in putting together a Performance.gov type site,” one source said, referring to a site that's now password-protected. “The transparency and info it provides will be much like Recovery.gov or the IT dashboard.” -- from Government Video
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