15. Government Performance and Results Act

• Pages: 745-769

745

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS ACT

15

745

Government

Performance and

Results

Act

Citations:

5 U.S.C. §306; 31 U.S.C. §§1105(a)(29), 1115-1119, 3515(a), 9703-

9704; 39 U.S. C. §§2801-2805 (2000); enacted August 3, 1993 by Pub. L.

No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 286.

Lead Agencies:

Office of Management and Budget, Old Executive Office Building, 17th

Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20503; U.S. Govern-

ment Accountability Office, General Government Division, 441 G Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20548.

Overview:

Background. Concerns with government efficiency and shrinking dol-

lars are stimulating federal agencies to improve the performance of their

programs. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)

provides a pathway for addressing these challenges, and is intended to bring

about a fundamental transformation in the way government programs and

operations are managed and administered. The change that GPRA seeks to

bring about would place much greater emphasis within the government on

what programs are actually accomplishing, and how well the accomplish-

ments match programs’ objectives.

The law requires federal agencies to develop strategic plans describing

their overall goals and objectives, annual performance plans containing quan-

tifiable measures of their progress, and performance reports describing their

success in meeting those standards and measures. Enacted during the first

746 GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS ACT

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year of the Clinton Administration, GPRA could loosely be viewed as part of

the Administration’s larger “Reinventing Government” initia tive.

Coverage. Within the federal government, GPRA applies to all federal

entities defined by 5 U.S.C. §105 as being an “agency,” with a few excep-

tions. It covers 14 Cabinet departments, virtually all independent establish-

ments (agencies), and all government corporations. The U.S. Postal Service

is covered by the Act, but under a special provision designed to recognize its

special status.

Main Features. The Act’s features include:

•A requirement for federal departments and agencies to prepare stra-

tegic plans, beginning with an initial plan to be submitted to the

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and to Congress by Sep-

tember 30, 1997.

•A requirement that federal departments and agencies prepare annual

performance plans, setting out specific performance goals for a fis-

cal year, starting with a performance plan for fiscal year 1999.

•A requirement that OMB prepare an annual government-wide per-

formance plan based on the agency annual performance plans. The

government-wide performance plan is to be a part of the President’s

budget and transmitted to Congress. In the agency and government-

wide performance plans, the levels of program performance to be

achieved is to correspond with the program funding level in the bud-

get. The first of these plans was for the fiscal year 1999 budget.

•A requirement that federal departments and agencies submit an an-

nual program performance report to the President and Congress, and

which compares actual performance with the goal levels that were

set in the annual performance plan. The annual report is due six

months after the end of a fiscal year. The first report, covering fiscal

year 1999, is to be submitted by March 31, 2000.

•Provisions giving managers greater flexibility in managing by al-

lowing the waiver of various administrative controls and limitations.

In return, managers are expected to be more accountable for the

performance of their programs and operations.

Purposes. According to GPRA’s proponents, it will help restore the

public’s confidence in government; agency management will be able to ar-

ticulate and communicate missions, goals, and accomplishments better; and

the President and Congress will be better able to decide which government