Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The House passes amendments to the Government Performance and Results Act. The bill will require quarterly assessments of performance of agency high priority performance goals and put the job of "performance improvement officer" into law, along with the "

According to the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, this bill “eliminates waste, promotes high-performing, results-oriented government.”

The House of Representatives today [June 16, 2010] unanimously passed the “Government Efficiency, Effectiveness and Performance Improvement Act of 2009,” legislation that compels federal agencies to assess the effectiveness of federal programs and to identify areas where productivity and efficiency can be improved. The bill, which amends the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), requires each federal agency to establish measurable guidelines for making improvements to inefficient programs and to determine priorities and goals for improvement.
 
H.R. 2142 sponsored by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Rep. Dennis Moore (R-KS), requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make part of the president’s budget submission available on OMB’s website.  The bill also requires OMB to identify a list of the programs under scrutiny each fiscal year, publicize the final list by May 1 and highlight the criteria and methodology that will be used to assess the efficiency of each program under review.
 
“This bill is a significant step forward in preventing waste, fraud and abuse in federal agencies and in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs,” said Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY).  “I applaud Congressman Cuellar for his hard work on this important legislation and his commitment to holding the federal government accountable to the American people.”
 
“This clear-cut plan will rein in spending and reduce government waste by shining a light on how federal agencies perform. Better information yields better results, and this bipartisan legislation represents the biggest leap forward in reducing the nation’s deficit by measuring results,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) who sponsored the legislation. “Americans know it’s time to stop unnecessary, wasteful spending, and this commonsense concept will save taxpayer dollars and ensure our government is more effective and accountable. I commend my bipartisan colleagues for supporting this bill.”
 
H.R. 2142 was first reported out of the Government Management, Organization and Procurement Subcommittee on May 12, 2010 and was subsequently passed by the full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 20, 2010 (committee report).  The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.