Reinventing Government: Status of NPR Recommendations at 10 Federal
Agencies (Letter Report, 09/21/2000, GAO/GGD-00-145).
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on 10
federal agencies' effort to implement National Partnership for
Reinventing Government (NPR) recommendations, focusing on the: (1)
factors influencing NPR's reform efforts; (2) implementation status of
NPR recommendations to the 10 agencies; and (3) effects the 10 agencies
reported they achieved by implementing these recommendations.
GAO noted that: (1) reflecting the widespread interest in reforming
government to improve effectiveness and service quality while limiting
costs, the administration, Congress, and federal agencies have
undertaken a number of important ambitious, and largely consistent
reforms in the last decade; (2) as the administration's core effort to
reform the federal government during most of the last decade, NPR was
one of a number of catalysts that stimulated agencies to become more
effective and efficient; (3) at the same time, Congress has put in place
a statutory framework intended to improve federal program effectiveness
and public accountability by instilling a performance-based approach
into the management of federal agencies; (4) NPR endorsed prior and
existing management reforms and operated in an atmosphere in which other
factors, such as agencies' ongoing efforts and congressional actions,
also influenced the steps taken to address NPR's recommendations; (5) as
a result, NPR's effects cannot be isolated from other reform efforts
that also contributed to improved government performance; (6) of the 72
NPR recommendations covered in GAO's review, the 10 selected agencies
considered almost 90 percent of them to be either fully or partially
implemented; (7) the agencies characterized 33 of the 72 recommendations
as fully implemented, such as the recommendation to authorize federal
tax payment by credit card; (8) the agencies also considered another 30
recommendations as partially implemented because the recommended actions
could not be done all at once and required time to complete them; (9) in
several instances the agencies indicated that they would continue their
efforts related to the recommendations, even when they considered the
recommendation to be fully implemented; (10) the remaining nine
recommendations included eight where agencies had taken some action and
one where no action had been taken; (11) the agencies reported a wide
range of effects, the vast majority of which were positive, in relation
to their efforts to implement NPR's recommendations; (12) agencies had
some measures for over one-half of the 54 recommendations where they had
identified related effects; (13) GAO grouped the positive effects
agencies reported into five categories: (a) enhanced revenue or reduced
costs; (b) improved customer service; (c) improved efficiency,
effectiveness, or mission accomplishment; (d) improved agency processes;
and (e) enhanced stewardship or reduced waste, fraud, and abuse; and
(14) GAO's review of NPR's reforms suggests that successful reform is an
ongoing process and challenges will continue to present themselves.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: GGD-00-145
TITLE: Reinventing Government: Status of NPR Recommendations at
10 Federal Agencies
DATE: 09/21/2000
SUBJECT: Internal controls
Public administration
Performance measures
Cost control
Reengineering (management)
Strategic planning
Productivity in government
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GAO/GGD-00-145
REINVENTING GOVERNMENT
Status of NPR Recommendations at 10 Federal Agencies
United States General Accounting Office
GAO Report to Congressional Requesters
September 2000 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145
United States General Accounting Office General Government Division
Washington, D. C. 20548
Page 1 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
B- 281701 September 21, 2000 The Honorable George Voinovich Chairman,
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Committee on
Governmental Affairs United States Senate
The Honorable Sam Brownback United States Senate
Emerging challenges, including globalization, technological innovations,
demographic shifts, quality of life issues, and changing security threats,
will help shape the United States and its place in the future. The need to
successfully address these challenges is driving public sector managers at
all levels of government to seek new and creative ways to ensure the
economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs.
The administration launched the National Performance Review, now known as
the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR) in March 1993,
when President Clinton announced a 6- month review of the federal government
to be led by Vice President Gore. NPR recognized and supplemented prior and
existing management reforms and was the administration's core effort to
reform the federal government during most of the last decade.
The first NPR report was released in September 1993 and made recommendations
intended to make the government “work better and cost less.”
NPR's report included a range of general and specific recommendations to
reinvent individual agencies' programs and organizations. The report also
included governmentwide recommendations covering procurement, information
technology, and other crosscutting issues. In September 1995, NPR made
additional recommendations that focused on identifying additional programs
that could be reinvented, terminated, or privatized as well as on
reinventing the federal regulatory process. More recently, NPR has focused
on agencies that have the most contact with the public and has encouraged
these agencies to focus on customers, employees, and getting results that
matter to Americans.
B- 281701 Page 2 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
This report is the fifth product we have issued at your request on issues
related to NPR. 1 The other products you requested have (1) discussed
certain aspects of NPR's reform efforts and the need for continuing
attention to improve government performance; (2) highlighted how management
and process improvement initiatives, including those that employ the
principles of quality management, help to achieve missionrelated results;
(3) discussed common elements that are important in implementing and
sustaining successful management improvement efforts- such as top leadership
commitment and accountability, employee involvement, and congressional
involvement and oversight; and (4) answered specific questions on management
reform initiatives, including total quality management, NPR, and the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
As agreed with your offices, this report provides information on NPR's 1993
and 1995 recommendations that related to 10 federal agencies. 2 These
agencies are the Departments of Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban
Development, Commerce's National Weather Service (NWS) and Bureau of the
Census, Health and Human Service's Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA), Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and
Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and the Social Security and
General Services Administrations. These agencies were selected because they
have a high degree of interaction with the public and business. We also
selected the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development at the
request of the Subcommitee.
For this report, we were asked to focus on three objectives. These
objectives are to (1) identify and discuss the factors influencing NPR's
reform efforts, (2) provide information on the implementation status of the
recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies, and (3) provide information about
the effects the 10 agencies reported they achieved by implementing these
recommendations.
1 See Management Reform: Continuing Attention Is Needed to Improve
Government Performance (GAO/ T- GGD- 00- 128, May 4, 2000); Management
Reform: Elements of Successful Improvement Initiatives (GAO/ T- GGD- 00- 26,
Oct. 15, 1999); Managing for Results: Answers to Hearing Questions on
Quality Management (GAO/ GGD- 99- 181R, Sept. 10, 1999); and Management
Reform: Using the Results Act and Quality Management to Improve Federal
Performance (GAO/ T- GGD- 99- 151, July 29, 1999).
2 From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government That Works Better and
Costs Less, report of the National Performance Review, Vice President Al
Gore, September 7, 1993; and Common Sense Government: Works Better and Costs
Less, third report of the National Performance Review, Vice President Al
Gore, September 7, 1995.
B- 281701 Page 3 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
To meet our first objective of identifying and discussing the factors
influencing NPR's reform efforts, we examined the interaction of NPR with
other initiatives and the environment in which agencies were operating while
they were responding to NPR's recommendations. To meet our second objective
of providing information on the implementation status of the recommendations
NPR made to 10 agencies, we asked each of these agencies to identify and
categorize the status of each recommendation as fully or partially
implemented or, if not implemented, whether action had been taken. We asked
the agencies to provide information on the implementation status of all of
the recommendations NPR made to each of these 10 agencies, with the
exception of the Department of Defense (DOD) where, as requested, we focused
on the two recommendations NPR made concerning acquisition reform. The 72
recommendations NPR made to the 10 agencies we studied represent about 16
percent of the 440 agencyspecific recommendations that NPR made in 1993 and
1995. 3
To address our third objective of providing information about the effects
the 10 agencies reported they achieved by implementing these
recommendations, we requested that the agencies identify the effects from
each NPR recommendation and provide verifying documentation if available. To
further verify these effects, we examined available documentation and the
results of our ongoing and completed work related to these NPR
recommendations. We followed up with the agencies to clarify their
responses, update information, and resolve any inconsistencies.
We conducted our work in Washington, D. C., in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. A more detailed description of our
scope and methodology and a list of the 72 NPR recommendations that are
related to the 10 agencies included in our review are contained in appendix
1. Appendix 2 contains a copy of the data collection instrument that we sent
to the agencies to request information on the implementation status and
effects for each of the NPR recommendations.
3 NPR also made an additional 250 crosscutting recommendations that focused
on regulatory issues and government systems such as procurement, personnel,
and information management issues that were not specific to individual
agencies.
B- 281701 Page 4 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Reflecting the widespread interest in reforming government to improve
effectiveness and service quality while limiting costs, the administration,
Congress, and federal agencies have undertaken a number of important,
ambitious, and largely consistent reforms in the last decade. As the
administration's core effort to reform the federal government during most of
the last decade, NPR was one of a number of catalysts that stimulated
agencies to become more effective and efficient. At the same time, Congress
has put in place a statutory framework intended to improve federal program
effectiveness and public accountability by instilling a performance- based
approach into the management of federal agencies. For example, in 1993,
Congress enacted GPRA to improve federal program effectiveness and public
accountability by promoting a new focus on results, service quality, and
customer satisfaction. NPR endorsed prior and existing management reforms
and operated in an atmosphere in which other factors, such as agencies'
ongoing efforts and congressional actions, also influenced the steps taken
to address NPR's recommendations. As a result, NPR's effects cannot be
isolated from other reform efforts that also contributed to improved
government performance.
Of the 72 NPR recommendations covered in our review, the 10 selected
agencies considered almost 90 percent of them to be either fully or
partially implemented. The agencies characterized 33 of the 72
recommendations as fully implemented, such as the recommendation to
authorize federal tax payment by credit card. The agencies also considered
another 30 recommendations as partially implemented because the recommended
actions could not be done all at once and required time (several years in
some cases) to complete them. For example, the agencies interpreted some of
the NPR recommendations as calling for continuous improvement, such as the
NPR recommendation to the Department of Energy (DOE) to improve contractor
performance. In fact, in several instances the agencies indicated that they
would continue their efforts related to the recommendations, even when they
considered the recommendation to be fully implemented. The remaining nine
recommendations included eight where agencies had taken some action and one
where no action had been taken.
The agencies reported a wide range of effects, the vast majority of which
were positive, in relation to their efforts to implement NPR's
recommendations. Agencies had some measures for over one- half of the 54
recommendations where they had identified related effects. We grouped the
positive effects agencies reported into five categories: (1) enhanced
revenue or reduced costs; (2) improved customer service; (3) improved
efficiency, effectiveness, or mission accomplishment; (4) improved agency
Results in Brief
B- 281701 Page 5 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
processes; and (5) enhanced stewardship or reduced waste, fraud, and abuse.
Our review of NPR's reforms as well as our other related work on federal
management issues suggests that successful reform is an ongoing process and
that the next Congress and administration will face a series of longstanding
management challenges that will continue to demand attention, such as
addressing federal functions and programs that are at a high risk to waste,
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. On the basis of lessons learned from past
reforms, we have identified several elements that are important in
implementing and sustaining management improvement efforts. These include a
demonstrated leadership commitment and persistence; performance management
systems needed to ensure accountability for change; the need for substantive
and rigorous planning to include establishing clear, measurable goals and
baseline data; and congressional oversight and involvement.
In commenting on a draft of this report, the agencies included in our review
generally agreed with how we presented the effects they reported regarding
the 72 recommendations and with our broader observations about management
reform efforts.
As we noted in recent testimony before the Subcommittee, 4 by their very
nature, successful management reform efforts often entail (1) concerted
efforts on the part of agencies, (2) leadership and follow- through on the
part of central management agencies and the administration, and (3) support
and oversight from Congress. The presence of all three of these elements are
critical to the cultural transformation needed for effective implementation
of both governmentwide and agency- specific reforms. The transformation that
the federal management reforms of the 1990s entail will not be an easy one,
and a significant investment of time and resources is needed to create a
government that is better equipped to deliver efficiently, economically, and
effectively on its promises to the American people.
Given the interaction of all of these elements, an attempt to isolate the
specific contributions that any one entity made to successful management
reforms- or to apportion “credit” among entities- is generally
not possible. Thus, it is not surprising that the unique effects of the
NPR's efforts cannot be readily isolated from the critical contributions
that
4 GAO/ T- GGD- 00- 26. NPR's Effects Cannot
Be Isolated From Other Reform Efforts
B- 281701 Page 6 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
agencies, Congress, and others made as well as the effects from the
environment in which these reforms were operating.
As we reported in July 1999, NPR attempted to build upon prior management
reforms and operated in an atmosphere in which other factors, such as
agencies' ongoing efforts and congressional actions, also influenced actions
taken to address NPR's recommendations. 5 For example, the effects of NPR's
1993 recommendation to modernize the IRS are intertwined with the effects of
the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (Restructuring Act) and with
Commissioner Rossotti's own initiatives to modernize the IRS. NPR's
recommendation to modernize IRS included actions to (1) support a new
business vision, (2) realign the missions of IRS' organizations, and (3)
improve taxpayer- focused output measures. Congress remained concerned about
the need to modernize IRS and included requirements in the Restructuring Act
for IRS to (1) adopt a new mission statement to place greater importance on
serving the public and meeting taxpayer needs, (2) develop and implement a
reorganization plan to support IRS' new mission, and (3) carry out other
actions to enhance taxpayers' rights.
Building on the direction set forth in the Restructuring Act and
recommendations from NPR and others, Commissioner Rossotti established a new
mission statement and supporting strategic goals for IRS. Recognizing the
complex and interdependent nature of its longstanding problems, IRS also
initiated a massive modernization effort that encompasses major changes to
its organizational structure, business practices, performance management
system, and information systems. Although, in many ways, IRS remains as
challenged an agency today as it was 2 years ago when the Restructuring Act
was passed, this modernization effort is attempting to improve the agency's
performance in two key mission areas- taxpayer service and compliance. 6 IRS
modernization, however, is a long- term effort that is likely to take
another decade or longer to fully implement.
Three examples from the recommendations that NPR made to DOE also illustrate
the interrelationship between NPR's recommendations and other initiatives.
The 1993 recommendation NPR made to DOE to sell the Alaska
5 NPR's Savings: Claimed Agency Savings Cannot All Be Attributed to NPR
(GAO/ GGD- 99- 120, July 23, 1999). 6 See IRS Modernization: Long- term
Effort Under Way, but Significant Challenges Remain (GAO/ TGGD/ AIMD- 00-
154, May 3, 2000) and IRS Restructuring Act: Implementation Under Way but
Agency Modernization Important to Success (GAO/ T- GGD- 00- 53, Feb. 2,
2000).
B- 281701 Page 7 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Power Administration (APA) was predated by formal proposals that first
appeared in the President's Fiscal Year 1986 Federal Budget of the Reagan
Administration. In November 1995, 2 years after NPR made its recommendation,
Congress passed legislation mandating the sale of APA. Although NPR's
recommendation was one of the components that culminated in the sale of APA,
it built on efforts that began several years before NPR's recommendation.
NPR made two recommendations to DOE that reflected the political environment
following the end of the Cold War. One of NPR's recommendations called for
DOE to redirect energy laboratories to postCold- War priorities by
continuing the reduction of funding for nuclear weapons production,
research, testing programs, and infrastructure. NPR also recommended that
DOE sell uranium no longer needed for national defense purposes. DOE said
that NPR's recommendation was consistent with its existing uranium
disposition program, but that the recommendation was not the program's prime
motivator. Rather, DOE said that the aftermath of the Cold War resulted in
significant quantities of weapons- usable fissile materials (primarily
plutonium and highly enriched uranium) becoming surplus to national defense
needs, both in the United States and Russia.
Congress has sought to reform the fiscal, program, and management
performance of the federal government through a statutory framework that
includes the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 and related financial
management legislation; information technology reform legislation, such as
the Clinger- Cohen Act of 1996 and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; and
GPRA, which was enacted in 1993. At the same time, Congress has taken
legislative action consistent with some NPR reforms and initiated other
improvements targeted to individual agencies.
The statutory framework provides the basis for developing fully integrated
information about agencies' missions and strategic priorities,
resultsoriented goals that flow from those priorities, performance data to
show progress in achieving those goals, the relationship of information
technology investments to the achievement of performance goals, and audited
financial information about the costs of achieving results. NPR recognized
the interrelated nature of these reform efforts in its statement that
“The combination of the reinvention initiative's emphasis on results
and the passage of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 is
turning scores of federal agencies Congress Plays an Essential
Role in Governmentwide and Agency- Specific Reform Efforts
B- 281701 Page 8 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
away from procedure and toward performance, serving people better and, at
the same time, reducing the cost of government.” 7
Congress also played an important role in supporting the agencies'
implementation of NPR recommendations. The agencies reported that 19 of the
63 recommendations that were fully or partially implemented were helped, or
directly authorized, by legislation. For example, HCFA said that
congressional support was a key factor in fully implementing NPR's
recommendation to protect the Social Security, Disability, and Medicare
Trust Fund because Congress removed barriers to funding productive oversight
activities. Our 1998 report on HCFA's use of anti- fraud- and- abuse funding
and authorities underscored the important role of Congress in implementing
this reform. 8 In that report, we noted that with the August 21, 1996,
enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,
Congress provided important new resources and tools to fight health care
fraud, abuse, and inappropriate payments.
Legislation was also a key factor in efforts to improve the Department of
Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) multifamily asset management and
disposition programs. In particular, the Multifamily Housing Property
Disposition Reform Act of 1994 granted HUD greater authority and provided
increased flexibility to improve its note and property sales programs.
According to HUD, it has reduced the inventory of HUD- held notes and
property and, in doing so, has significantly reduced expenses to the Federal
Housing Administration fund for managing those properties.
The agencies said they would continue to seek legislation to help implement
eight other recommendations. HCFA, for example, is seeking legislation to
increase its flexibility in contracting for Medicare claims processing.
Among other things, the legislation would allow HCFA to contract for claims
processing with carriers that are not insurance companies, thereby
increasing the pool of available entities with which HCFA could contract.
7 Common Sense Government: Works Better & Costs Less (NPR, Sept. 7, 1995). 8
Medicare: HCFA's Use of Anti- Fraud- and- Abuse Funding Authorities (GAO/
HEHS- 98- 160, June 1, 1998).
B- 281701 Page 9 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
The 10 agencies reported that 33 of the NPR recommendations were fully
implemented and another 30 recommendations were partially implemented, as
shown on table 1. The agencies said that nine recommendations had not been
implemented, including one where no action had been taken. In several
instances the agencies indicated that they would continue their efforts
related to the recommendations, even when they considered the recommendation
to be fully implemented. This illustrates both the continuing nature of
management reforms as well as the long- standing and difficult nature of
some of the problems agencies are attempting to address.
Implementation status Definition Number of recommendations
Fully implemented The entire recommendation and/ or all action items a have
been fulfilled.
33 Partially implemented The recommendation and/ or associated action items
have been
implemented in part but not in total. The recommendation is also partially
implemented if it has either a single associated action item or no
associated action items, but nonetheless requires multiple, significant
steps to implement, and at least one of those steps has been implemented.
30 Not implemented- action taken No part of the recommendation or associated
action items has
been implemented, but some action has been taken to implement the
recommendation and/ or the action items. For example, if legislation has
been introduced that would address the recommendation but has not been
enacted into law, the recommendation is categorized as “not
implemented- action taken.”
8 Not implemented- no action taken No part of the recommendation or
associated action items has
been implemented, and no action has occurred toward the implementation of
the recommendation or the action items.
1 a NPR identified specific action items for many of the recommendations
made in its September 1993 report. For example, NPR identified four actions
that the Department of Defense should take to purchase best value common
supplies and services.
Source: GAO analysis of agencies' responses to the Data Collection
Instrument.
Although no agency in our review reported fully implementing all of the
recommendations that NPR made to it, as shown in table 2, each of the
agencies reported at least one fully implemented recommendation. Table 2
also shows that the recommendations NPR made to these agencies ranged from 2
to 14 per agency. Agencies Reported
That Most of NPR's Recommendations Were Fully or Partially Implemented
Table 1: Implementation Status of NPR Recommendations
B- 281701 Page 10 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
NPR recommendations Agency
Fully implemented Partially
implemented Not
implemented, action taken
Not implemented, no action taken Total
Bureau of the Census 1 1 1 1 4 Department of Defense 1 1 0 0 2 Department of
Energy 5 8 1 0 14 Federal Aviation Administration 6 2 0 0 8 General Services
Administration 4 1 0 0 5 Health Care Financing Administration 1 2 0 0 3
Department of Housing and Urban Development 6 7 0 0 13 Internal Revenue
Service 2 4 2 0 8 National Weather Service 1 0 1 0 2 Social Security
Administration 6 4 3 0 13
Total 33 30 8 1 72
Source: GAO analysis of agencies' responses to the Data Collection
Instrument.
The following provides examples of the reasons that agencies gave for
categorizing the NPR recommendations' status:
Fully Implemented The agencies reported that 33 recommendations had been
fully implemented. Using our criteria (described in table 1), the agencies
determined that the entire recommendation and/ or all of the action items
had been fulfilled. For example:
� NPR recommended that IRS allow taxpayers to make federal tax payments by
credit card as part of its strategy to improve its operations by encouraging
electronic filing and provide the public with added convenience. IRS
considers this recommendation fully implemented because taxpayers can now
use credit cards to pay their taxes in certain situations. IRS has obtained
authority from Congress, issued regulations, competitively solicited
partnerships with private industry, and modified its information systems.
� The recommendation to streamline HUD's field operations was designed to
address criticism by us, HUD's Inspector General, and HUD's customers that
its organizational structure was fragmented, lacked accountability, and
resulted in overlapping authority among headquarters, its 10 regions, and 70
field offices. HUD considers this recommendation fully
Table 2: Implementation Status of NPR Recommendations for Selected Agencies
B- 281701 Page 11 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
implemented because it (1) completed a field reorganization in 1995 that
eliminated a regional tier of management and (2) initiated additional field
reorganizations during 1997 and 1998 to structure its field operations by
function, rather than strictly by program. HUD also said it has
consolidated, centralized, or privatized functions and responsibilities
where needed. Although HUD considers this recommendation fully implemented,
it is too soon to tell whether HUD's reforms will resolve the major
deficiencies that we and others have identified. Our January 1999 update of
high- risk issues expressed concern that organizational and staffing
problems, taken together with other problems, such as weak internal
controls, placed the integrity and accountability of HUD's programs at high
risk. 9 More recently, our work indicates that HUD is making credible
progress toward resolving its material internal control weaknesses, and we
plan to update HUD's high- risk status in January 2001. 10 Among other
things, HUD has developed a standard physical inspection process and has
substantially completed the first ever physical inspection and financial
assessment of HUD's multifamily housing inventory.
Partially Implemented Using the criteria we established for determining the
implementation status (described in table 1), agencies considered
recommendations to be partially implemented when one or more action items or
significant steps had not yet been completed. Some of the 30 recommendations
that the agencies considered partially implemented called for continuous
improvement and others reflected timing factors. For example:
� Regarding the recommendation to improve environmental contract management,
DOE stated that “. . . the overall objective of improving contractor
performance through sharing of lessons learned and ensuring that contractors
perform more efficiently and effectively is an ongoing activity.
Implementation has been accomplished in an iterative process and as lessons
are learned and fed back into procurement strategies, continued improvement
is expected.” Therefore, DOE may never consider this recommendation to
be fully implemented.
� According to FAA, the recommendation to terminate grant funding for the
Airway Science Higher Education Program remains partially implemented
9 High Risk Series: An Update (GAO/ HR- 99- 1, Jan. 1999). 10 Determining
Performance and Accountability Challenges and High Risks (GAO/ OCG- 00- 12,
Aug. 2000).
B- 281701 Page 12 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
because, although funding has been terminated, colleges and universities
have not yet spent all of the funds that had previously been allocated under
the program.
Not Implemented, Action Taken Agencies identified eight recommendations that
had not been implemented, although actions had been taken. For five of the
eight recommendations, the agencies said that they plan to continue their
efforts to implement NPR's suggestions. For example:
� The recommendation that the Social Security Administration (SSA) provide
one- stop service for aliens applying for Social Security cards requires
that SSA and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reach
agreement on the data that INS will provide to SSA and sign a Memorandum of
Understanding. Although NPR made its recommendation in 1995 and both INS and
SSA agreed to implement it, the two agencies have been unable to reach
agreement after nearly 5 years on what information INS will provide to SSA.
Moreover, according to INS, after the memorandum is signed, INS will need
additional time to complete the information system changes and enhancements
necessary to provide the information to SSA.
Two agencies said they do not plan to continue their efforts to implement
three recommendations that had not been implemented, although actions had
been taken. For one of these recommendations, the agency found that the
benefits of implementing the recommendation would have been reduced as the
result of changing circumstances. For example:
� In 1996, the Department of Commerce proposed legislation to expedite
closure of 200 NWS offices, as recommended by NPR. However, by July 28,
2000, NWS had completed the approval process to close 184 offices without
using an expedited process. Because there were only 16 offices remaining
that could have been affected by the legislation, the benefits of
implementing the recommendation had been reduced and NWS said it did not
plan to continue efforts to expedite additional office closures.
Not Implemented, No Action Taken The Census Bureau identified one
recommendation where no action had been taken and external events led them
to reconsider the recommendation.
B- 281701 Page 13 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
� The Census Bureau had planned to implement the NPR recommendation to
“increase entrepreneurship” by entering into a partnership with
a private sector firm to develop a new foreign trade statistics product.
However, the potential private sector partner determined that the market
potential for the product did not meet its standards and elected to
discontinue the project. According to the Census Bureau, although it has not
implemented this recommendation, it remains open to considering future
opportunities to partner with the private sector.
The agencies reported a wide range of effects relating to the 72 NPR
recommendations. Agencies reported having at least some measures for over
one- half of the 54 recommendations with effects, and most of the effects
they identified were positive. We grouped the effects that the agencies
identified into five categories: (1) enhanced revenue or reduced costs; (2)
improved customer service; (3) improved efficiency, effectiveness, or
mission accomplishment; (4) improved agency processes; and (5) enhanced
stewardship or reduced waste, fraud, and abuse.
Agencies reported a variety of effects from most of NPR's recommendations,
and they often cited several effects from the same recommendations. Of the
72 recommendations in our review, agencies reported 1 or more effects for 54
of the recommendations, as shown in table 3. For the remaining 18
recommendations, agencies indicated that 7 recommendations had no effects,
did not directly address the effects for 6 recommendations, and said that it
was too early to determine the effects for 5 recommendations.
Effects reported by agencies Number of recommendations
One or more effect( s) 54 No effects 7 Not directly addressed 6 Too early to
determine 5
Total 72
Source: GAO analysis of agencies' responses to the Data Collection
Instrument.
Although the agencies and NPR focused, at least initially, on tracking
whether recommendations had been implemented, their efforts to measure the
recommendations' effects were inconsistent. Of the 54 recommendations with
reported effects, agencies had measured all of the effects they reported for
only 9 recommendations. Agencies measured Agencies Reported
Effects Related to NPR Recommendations
Agencies Reported a Variety of Effects Related to NPR's Recommendations
Table 3: Effects of NPR Recommendations Reported by Agencies
B- 281701 Page 14 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
some of the effects they reported for 21 recommendations, but had no
measures of the effects from the remaining 24 recommendations.
The agencies listed over 100 effects from these 54 recommendations. Each of
the 10 agencies described at least one positive effect, with the largest
number of positive effects (34) reported by DOE. We grouped the positive
effects the agencies reported into five broad categories, as shown in table
4. For each of these categories, we have provided some examples to
illustrate the types of effects that the agencies reported from NPR's
recommendations.
Reported effects Number of effects
Enhanced revenue or reduced costs 29 Improved customer service 25 Improved
efficiency, effectiveness, or mission accomplishment 23 Improved agency
processes 21 Enhanced stewardship or reduced waste, fraud, or abuse 6
Source: GAO analysis of agencies' responses to the Data Collection
Instrument.
In addition, agencies provided some information about some negative or
uncertain effects. For example, SSA considered both the positive and
negative effects on agency performance from its action to improve its 800-
number telephone service by using staff from the program service centers to
answer more calls. Moving these staff adversely affected the program service
center workloads and increased processing times. As a result, SSA had larger
backlogs in claims processed and increased overtime costs after it shifted
employees from claims processing to telephone service operations. 11
SSA has also cited positive effects from this recommendation to improve its
800- number telephone service and it has established measures of these
effects. One of SSA's performance measures was the percentage of callers who
got through to the 800 number- that is, did not get a busy signal- within 5
minutes of their first try. This measure represented a considerable
improvement from 1991, when SSA's measure was the percentage of 800number
callers who got through within 24 hours of their first try. In fiscal year
1999, according to SSA, it exceeded its goal that 95 percent of its callers
successfully access its 800 number within 5 minutes of their first call.
Although SSA has made progress in achieving goals for its 800- number
11 Social Security Administration: More Cost- Effective Approaches Exist to
Further Improve 800Number Service (GAO/ HEHS- 97- 79, June 11, 1997).
Table 4: Types of Effects Reported by Agencies
B- 281701 Page 15 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
customer service, telephone and information systems limitations have
prevented SSA from developing more meaningful measures that include the time
customers spend on hold waiting to speak to a service representative.
The effect that the agencies most commonly reported was that NPR's
recommendations resulted in enhanced revenue or reduced costs.
� FAA reported, but did not quantify, enhanced revenues from fully
implementing NPR's recommendation to increase charges for certification and
surveillance of foreign repair facilities to ensure full cost recovery.
Legislation was passed in 1994 that enabled FAA to implement the
recommendation and on April 19, 1995, FAA issued regulations updating its
fees to reflect the costs of providing services. FAA said that implementing
the recommendation provided a source of revenue from the foreign- based
users of its services.
� DOD said that it reduced costs by its efforts to implement the NPR
recommendation to outsource non- core Department of Defense functions. The
Department completed 53 competitions involving 5,757 positions between
October 1995 and March 1998. DOD data indicated savings from these
competitions averaged 42 percent and totaled $528 million over the life of
the contracts. However, we found the data were too limited to reach any
conclusions about the precision and consistency of savings estimates, and
limitations exist in DOD databases used to record savings from A- 76
competitions and their usefulness for tracking completed competitions over
time. 12
Agencies reported several examples of improved customer service resulting
from NPR's recommendations. Although agencies sometimes reported improved
service for internal customers or customers in other federal agencies, most
of the reported customer service improvements benefited the American public.
� The Census Bureau reported that it improved customer service by
implementing NPR's recommendation to expand the electronic availability of
census data. According to the Bureau, the recommendation was developed in
response to its customers' growing interest in electronic access to census
data. The Census Bureau opened its Internet site to the public in early 1994
and, since then, has used it as a means for
12 DOD Competitive Sourcing: Results of Recent Competitions (GAO/ NSIAD- 99-
44, Feb. 23, 1999). Agencies Reported That Some
Recommendations Enhanced Revenues or Reduced Costs
Agencies Said They Had Improved Customer Service
B- 281701 Page 16 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
disseminating virtually every number released to the public. The Bureau
reports that its customers are responding positively, as indicated by the
significant growth in the number of times they visit the Census Internet
site, from about 10,000 hits per day in 1994 to more than 850,000 per day in
1999.
� SSA reported that it reduced the public reporting burden by 300,000 hours
annually by eliminating the requirement that certain Social Security
beneficiaries file an annual report of their earnings. SSA accomplished the
customer service initiative by changing its regulations to accept W- 2s and
self- employment tax returns in lieu of separate earnings reports from
beneficiaries.
The agencies made general statements that efficiency and effectiveness
resulted from many NPR recommendations. They generally did not, however,
provide indicators or additional information to explain specifically how the
recommendations enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.
� Although the recommendation that NPR made to create a corporation to
manage FAA's air traffic services was not implemented, Congress exempted FAA
from most procurement and personnel laws and regulations. FAA said that it
has used the increased flexibility to promote efficiency. It, however, did
not provide additional information or measures elaborating on its statement
that efficiency has been enhanced, nor did it explain how it has used the
additional flexibility provided by Congress. FAA is currently seeking
additional flexibility under a proposal to create a Performance Based
Organization to manage FAA's air traffic services.
In some cases, the agencies identified recommendations that directly
affected their ability to accomplish critical aspects of their basic mission
and provided examples to illustrate the connection between the
recommendation and mission accomplishment.
� The Census Bureau reported that its efforts to reengineer the 2000 Census,
as recommended by NPR, should positively affect its ability to accomplish
its mission by enhancing the number of people responding to the census. The
Census Bureau listed several improvements it made to enhance the number of
people responding to the census, including more complete addresses, easier
to understand and complete census forms, and strong advertising and
community- based publicity programs. Since then, the Bureau has reported
that the initial response rate to the 2000 Census was 65 percent, or 4
percentage points higher than expected. Agencies Reported
Improvements in Efficiency, Effectiveness, or Mission Accomplishment
B- 281701 Page 17 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Agencies also cited process improvements that NPR had recommended. The
agencies said that these changes helped them prepare to meet future
challenges or better focus on results.
� SSA reported improved agency processes should result from its efforts to
provide payment day cycling for new beneficiaries, as recommended by NPR.
The recommendation is intended to balance SSA's workload by issuing Old Age,
Survivors and Disability Insurance payments evenly at weekly intervals
throughout the month rather than issuing payments on the first 3 days of
each month. SSA's revised processes are being phased in as new beneficiaries
are assigned to additional payment dates. As a result, according to SSA's
actuarial estimates, this process change will have its greatest impact in 15
years when the number of payments made on each of the 4 payment days becomes
level.
� DOE reported improved agency processes resulted from the recommendation
that NPR made to improve environmental contract management. Beginning in
1995, DOE initiated its contract reform initiatives to increase the use of
competition and place greater risk of performance on its contractors by
converting facility contracts, including environmental restoration
contracts, into results- oriented agreements with defined performance
objectives and incentives tied to meeting the objectives. DOE described the
impact of the recommendation on its Westinghouse contract at Savannah River,
as having 21 specific, objective performance measures with 34 percent of the
contractors' incentive fees tied to those measures. We and others reported
problems with DOE's early efforts to make contracts results- oriented.
However, DOE has incorporated lessons learned into its performance
incentives and acknowledges that there is room for further improvements in
both the process for developing the incentives and in the individual
incentives themselves. 13
Agencies reported that a few of NPR's recommendations resulted in enhanced
stewardship of assets or reduced waste, fraud, and abuse.
� According to HUD, the recommendation NPR made to streamline HUD's field
operations resulted in better management oversight, accountability, and
customer service. HUD reorganized its field resources by functions, rather
than strictly by programs, and consolidated functions and
13 Department of Energy: Lessons Learned Incorporated Into Performance-
Based Incentive Contracts (GAO/ RCED- 98- 223, July 29, 1998). Agencies Said
They Improved
Their Processes Some Recommendations Were Reported to Have Enhanced
Stewardship of Assets or Reduced Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
B- 281701 Page 18 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
responsibilities. HUD also eliminated a management tier and consolidated
routine operations into hubs.
� HCFA reported positive effects from its efforts to implement the NPR
recommendation to protect the Social Security, Disability, and Medicare
Trust Fund assets through increased funding for productive oversight
activities. Congress increased funding for federal health care payment
safeguard activities, which has allowed the agency to focus on reducing
fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. The Department of
Health and Human Services' reporting and analysis of improper Medicare
payments has helped lead to the implementation of several initiatives to
identify and reduce improper payments. The estimated Medicare fee- for-
service claim payment error rate dropped from 14 percent in fiscal year 1996
to 8 percent in fiscal year 1999. This drop in erroneous payments was
attributable largely to better claims documentation by providers, although
some of this difference may be attributable to changes in how the error rate
was estimated in different years. The bulk of what remains in the estimate
of erroneous payments is attributable to such practices as miscoding
payments to inappropriately enhance revenues, billing for services that are
not medically necessary, and billing for services never rendered. The error
rate represents an overall national estimate of improper payments, and HCFA
has efforts underway to enhance its estimation methodology so that its
improper payment measures are a more useful management tool.
As the administration's major effort to reform the federal government during
most of the last decade, NPR was one of a number of catalysts that
stimulated agencies to become more effective and efficient. NPR operated
along with other congressional, administration, and agency actions, all of
which concurrently affected federal management reform efforts. Congress
developed a statutory framework to instill a performance- based approach
into the management of federal agencies, and also provided the needed
authorities and resources to help agencies implement some of NPR's
recommendations. However, because the recommendations lacked clear and
measurable performance goals, it is difficult to assess the level of
improvement that agencies achieved.
The issues that provided the impetus for the NPR reform will no doubt
continue to challenge future administrations to seek new and creative ways
to ensure the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs.
Our review of these NPR recommendations, as well as our other related work
on federal management issues, suggests that successful The Need for Reform
Efforts Will Continue
B- 281701 Page 19 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
reinvention is not an end- state, but rather an ongoing process that seeks
continuous improvements in performance, efficiency, and effectiveness. Our
May 2000 testimony before this Subcommittee pointed out that the next
Congress and administration will face a series of long- standing management
problems that will continue to demand attention. 14 A few of these important
management problems are:
� adopting an effective results orientation,
� coordinating crosscutting programs,
� addressing high- risk federal functions and programs,
� developing and implementing modern performance management and human
capital practices,
� strengthening financial management, and
� enhancing computer security. On the basis of the lessons learned from past
reforms, we have identified a number of elements that are particularly
important in implementing and sustaining management improvement efforts that
can be useful in addressing these management issues and sustaining future
reform initiatives. These elements are (1) a demonstrated leadership
commitment and accountability for change; (2) the integration of management
improvement initiatives into programmatic decisionmaking; (3) the need for
substantive and rigorous planning to include establishing clear, measurable
goals and baselines; (4) employee involvement to elicit ideas and build
commitment and accountability; (5) organizational alignment to streamline
operations and clarify accountability; and (6) strong and continuing
congressional involvement.
14 GAO/ T- GGD- 00- 128.
B- 281701 Page 20 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
We obtained written comments on a draft of this report from OMB and the 10
agencies included in our review. 15 GSA, IRS, and FAA also met with us to
provide additional information and discuss their comments. Copies of the
written comments are included in appendixes III through XII. The agencies
generally agreed with how we presented the effects they reported regarding
the 72 recommendations and with our broader observations about management
reform efforts. All of the agencies commented that they plan to continue
their performance improvement efforts and undertake additional reforms in
areas related to the NPR's recommendations. Some agencies also pointed out
that they have made progress since the time they initially reported
information to us. These comments further corroborate our observation from
this and other work we have done showing that significant management reforms
require continuous attention.
Nine of the 10 agencies credited NPR with helping them move towards more
results- focused management and 8 of them noted that NPR has assisted with
ongoing improvement efforts beyond the specific recommendations addressed in
this report. For example, agencies said that NPR had influenced improvements
in customer satisfaction. They also said that NPR had generated a greater
awareness of the need to innovate and continually improve program
operations. Five of these agencies said that they have ongoing efforts to
become more resultsoriented and integrate their efforts into a broader
framework. For example, two agencies noted that they have incorporated their
NPR efforts into their GPRA efforts.
We did not assess the degree to which NPR, in general, facilitated agencies'
efforts to be more results- oriented or improve management. As noted in the
draft, our report, as requested, focused on the 72 recommendations to 10
agencies, which constituted all of the NPR recommendations specifically made
to 9 of the 10. For DOD, we focused on the acquisition reform
recommendations. Some of the agencies' comments presented detailed
information related to each NPR recommendation to them. For our report, we
decided to focus on categories and themes, and therefore we presented
examples from the NPR recommendations to these agencies rather than
cataloging all of the information we obtained about each recommendation.
The Deputy Director for Management of OMB raised two concerns. OMB pointed
out that NPR had a broader scope than the subject of this report
15 Comments related to the Bureau of Census and the National Weather Service
are contained in the Department of Commerce letter in appendix IV. Agency
Comments and
Our Evaluation
B- 281701 Page 21 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
and suggested that we give greater recognition to the significant influence
that NPR had on government reform. We state in the report that NPR was one
of a number of catalysts that stimulated agencies to become more efficient
and effective. However, NPR's effects cannot be isolated from other reform
efforts that also contributed to improved government performance. OMB also
raised a concern about a section in the draft report regarding the lack of
clear and measurable goals. To clarify our point, we decided to address this
issue in the section regarding the effects that agencies reported, rather
than in a section about the importance of clear and measurable goals for
management reform efforts. The information reported to us demonstrated that,
consistent with NPR's database on implementation of its recommendations, the
agencies tracked implementation steps taken in response to NPR's action
items. They could not always report measurable results of having taken those
implementation steps. Therefore, we deleted the section about the importance
of clear and measurable goals for management reform efforts.
Where applicable we made changes to this report to reflect relevant
information provided by the agencies in their comments. These changes are
annotated in appendixes III through XII along with our discussion of some
specific comments.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days from
the date of this letter. At that time, we will provide copies to Senator
Richard J. Durbin, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, and to
Senator Fred Thompson, Chairman, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Ranking
Minority Member, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. We will also send
copies to the Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Director of the Office of Management
and Budget; the Honorable Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation; the
Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable David J.
Barram, Administrator of GSA; the Honorable William S. Cohen, Secretary of
Defense; the Honorable Bill Richardson, Secretary of Energy; the Honorable
Andrew Cuomo, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the Honorable
Kenneth S. Apfel, Commissioner of Social Security; the Honorable Donna E.
Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services; and the Honorable Charles
O. Rossotti, Commissioner of Internal Revenue. We will also make copies
available to others on request.
The major contributors to this report were Bill Reinsberg, Justin Brown,
Katharine Cunningham, and Susan Ragland.
B- 281701 Page 22 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Please contact me or Ms. Ragland on (202) 512- 8676 if you have any
questions on the material in this report.
J. Christopher Mihm Associate Director Federal Management and Workforce
Issues
Page 23 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Page 24 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Contents 1 Letter 28 Appendix I Scope and Methodology
33 Appendix II Sample Data Collection Instrument
36 GAO Comments 38 Appendix III Comments From the
Office of Management and Budget
40 GAO Comments 52 Appendix IV Comments From the
Department of Commerce
53 GAO Comment 54 Appendix V Comments From the
Department of Defense 55 GAO Comments 56 Appendix VI Comments From the
Department of Energy Appendix VII Comments From the General Services
Administration
57
Contents Page 25 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
GAO Comment 58 59 GAO Comments 68 Appendix VIII Comments From the
Department of Health and Human Services
69 GAO Comment 72 Appendix IX Comments From the
U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
73 GAO Comment 75 Appendix X Comments From the
U. S. Department of Transportation
76 GAO Comment 77 Appendix XI Comments From the
Internal Revenue Service
78 GAO Comment 80 Appendix XII Comments From the
Social Security Administration
Table 1: Implementation Status of NPR Recommendations
9 Table 2: Implementation Status of NPR
Recommendations for Selected Agencies 10 Tables
Table 3: Effects of NPR Recommendations Reported by Agencies
13
Contents Page 26 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Table 4: Types of Effects Reported by Agencies 14 Table I. 1: NPR
Recommendations Included in Our
Review 31
Abbreviations
APA Alaska Power Administration DOD Department of Defense DOE Department of
Energy FAA Federal Aviation Administration GPRA Government Performance and
Results Act GSA General Services Administration HCFA Health Care Financing
Administration HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development INS
Immigration and Naturalization Service IRS Internal Revenue Service NPR
National Performance Review NWS National Weather Service SSA Social Security
Administration
Page 27 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix I Scope and Methodology
Page 28 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
The former and current Chairmen of the Subcommittee on Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs, requested that we review the
implementation status and effects of the National Performance Review's (NPR)
recommendations at selected agencies.
NPR made 254 recommendations covering 27 federal agencies in its 1993 report
and an additional 186 agency- specific recommendations in its 1995 report. 1
In consultation with the Subcommittee, we selected 10 federal agencies and
reviewed the 72 recommendations made to them. These recommendations
represent about 16 percent of the 440 agency- specific recommendations that
NPR made in 1993 and 1995. 2
We conducted our work at the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Housing and
Urban Development; the Social Security, Federal Aviation, General Services,
and Health Care Financing Administrations; the Internal Revenue and National
Weather Services; and the Bureau of the Census. These agencies were selected
because they have a high degree of interaction with the public and business.
We also selected the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development
as requested by the Subcommittee. We reviewed all of the recommendations NPR
made to each of these agencies, with the exception of the Department of
Defense (DOD) where, as requested, we focused on NPR's recommendations for
acquisition reform. Table I. 1, presented at the end of this appendix, lists
the NPR recommendations we reviewed.
To obtain information on the status and effects of the recommendations, we
developed data collection instruments (DCI) 3 containing a standardized set
of questions to be answered for each of the 72 recommendations and sent them
to the agencies in our review to be completed. To obtain information on the
status of the recommendations, we asked the agencies to identify and
categorize the status of each recommendation as fully or partially
implemented, or if not implemented, whether any action had been taken. The
DCIs asked the agencies to provide the implementation status of the
recommendations using the following four categories:
1 From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government That Works Better and
Costs Less, report of the National Performance Review, Vice President Al
Gore, September 7, 1993; and Common Sense Government: Works Better and Costs
Less, third report of the National Performance Review, Vice President Al
Gore, September 7, 1995.
2 NPR also made an additional 250 crosscutting recommendations that focused
on regulatory issues and government systems such as procurement, personnel,
and information technology issues that were not specific to individual
agencies.
3 A sample DCI is presented in appendix II.
Appendix I Scope and Methodology
Page 29 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. Fully Implemented. The entire recommendation and/ or all action items
have been fulfilled.
2. Partially Implemented. The recommendation and/ or associated action items
have been implemented in part but not in total. The recommendation is also
partially implemented if it has either a single associated action item or no
associated action item, but nonetheless requires multiple, significant steps
to implement, and at least one of those steps has been implemented.
3. Not Implemented- Action Taken. No part of the recommendation or
associated action items has been implemented, but some action has been taken
to implement the recommendation and/ or the action items.
4. Not Implemented- No Action Taken. No part of the recommendation or
associated action items has been implemented, and no action has occurred
toward the implementation of the recommendation or the action items.
To obtain information on the effects of the recommendations, we asked
agencies to describe the effects that the recommendations had on the
agencies' efficiency and effectiveness and what steps the agencies took to
implement the recommendations. We asked the agencies to identify key factors
that helped or enhanced the implementation of the recommendations; key
factors that hindered or detracted from the implementation of the
recommendations; and whether legislation was required to implement the
recommendations. We also requested the agencies to provide any available
documentation to support their statements about the effects of the
recommendations.
We received the completed DCIs from the agencies between January 1999 and
July 1999. Since then we have followed up with the agencies to clarify and
update our information in cases where we had indications, on the basis of
ongoing work and other research, that changes had occurred.
Each of the 10 agencies in our review responded for all of the
recommendations made to them. We reviewed the completed DCIs and any
accompanying documentation. To facilitate our analysis, we developed a
database to sort agency responses and categorize them across several
dimensions. Where necessary, we have contacted agencies to clarify
responses, request additional information, and update the initial responses.
Appendix I Scope and Methodology
Page 30 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
We relied on the information from the agencies and knowledge and information
from our completed and ongoing work. We also reviewed NPR's database on the
completion status of the recommendations and compared that information with
the agencies' responses to the DCI. We cannot generalize our results to all
440 agency- specific recommendations NPR made because of the small number of
recommendations we reviewed and the methods used to select them.
Appendix I Scope and Methodology
Page 31 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Agency/ NPR code Recommendation text Bureau of Census
DOC09 Expand the electronic availability of census data DOC13 Use sampling
to minimize cost of the decennial census DOC2- 07 Reengineer Census 2000
DOC2- 08 Increase entrepreneurship at the Census Bureau
Department of Defense
DOD03 Purchase best value common supplies and services DOD04 Outsource non-
core department of defense functions
Department of Energy
DOE01 Improve environmental contract management DOE02 Incorporate land- use
planning in clean- up DOE03 Make field facility contracts outcome- oriented
DOE04 Increase electrical power revenues and study rates DOE05 Strengthen
the federal energy management program DOE06 Redirect energy laboratories to
post- Cold- War priorities DOE07 Save costs through private power
cogeneration DOE08 Support the sale of the Alaska Power Administration DOE2-
01 Terminate the clean coal technology program when ongoing projects are
completed DOE2- 02 Privatize the naval petroleum reserves in Elk Hills,
California DOE2- 03 Sell uranium no longer needed for national defense
purposes after rendering it suitable for
commercial power reactors DOE2- 04 Significantly reduce costs in DOE's
applied research programs DOE2- 05 Improve program effectiveness and
efficiencies in the environmental management of nuclear waste
cleanups DOE2- 06 Strategically align headquarters and field operations
Federal Aviation Administration
DOT02 Streamline the enforcement process DOT04 Establish a corporation to
provide air traffic control services DOT07 Examine user fees for
international over- flights DOT08 Increase FAA fees for inspection of
foreign repair facilities DOT09 Contract for level I air traffic control
towers DOT10 Establish a public- private consortium to develop an
aeronautical telecommunications network DOT20 Reduce the annual essential
air service subsidies DOT21 Terminate grant funding for Federal Aviation
Administration higher education programs
General Services Administration
GSA01 Separate policymaking from service delivery and make the General
Services Administration a fully competitive, revenue- based organization
GSA2- 01 Consider various forms of privatization GSA2- 02 Encourage agencies
to franchise activities to avoid duplication and maximize efficiency GSA2-
03 Give agencies expanded authority to acquire services and assets GSA2- 04
Involve employee unions in designing and implementation reinvention details
Health Care Financing Administration
HHS07 Protect Social Security, Disability, and Medicare trust fund assets by
removing barriers to funding productive oversight activities HHS14 Amend the
Health Care Financing Administration's contracting authority to allow for
competitive
contracting HHS2- 01 Strengthen Medicare program integrity
Table I. 1: NPR Recommendations Included in Our Review
Appendix I Scope and Methodology
Page 32 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Agency/ NPR code Recommendation text Department of Housing and Urban
Development
HUD01 Reinvent public housing HUD02 Improve multi- family asset management
and disposition HUD03 Improve single- family asset management and
disposition HUD04 Create an assisted- housing/ rent subsidy demonstration
project HUD05 Establish a new housing production program HUD06 Streamline
HUD field operations HUD07 Refinance section 235 mortgages HUD08 Reduce
section 8 contract rent payments HUD09 Consolidate section 8 certificates
and vouchers HUD10 Reduce operating subsidies for vacancies HUD2- 01
Consolidate 60 programs into 3 HUD2- 02 Transform public housing HUD2- 03
Reinvigorate the Federal Housing Administration
Internal Revenue Service
TRE04 Foster federal/ state cooperative initiatives by the IRS TRE05
Simplify employer wage reporting TRE09 Modernize the IRS TRE15 Increase IRS
collections through better compliance efforts TRE16 Improve agency
compliance with employment tax reporting requirements TRE17 Authorize
federal tax payment by credit card TRE2- 01 Implement the small business and
simplified tax and wage reporting system TRE2- 02 Relieve duplicate filing
burden on employers
National Weather Service
DOC2- 06 Expedite closure of National Weather Service field offices DOC2- 10
Privatize portions of the National Weather Service
Social Security Administration
HHS06 Improve Social Security Administration disability claims processing to
better serve people with disabilities and safeguard trust fund assets HHS08
Coordinate collection and dissemination of Social Security Administration
death information to
protect federal program assets HHS09 Take more aggressive actions to collect
outstanding debts owed to the Social Security Trust Fund HHS11 Redesign SSA
service delivery and make better use of technology to provide improved
access and
services to customers SSA2- 01 Provide payment day cycling for new
beneficiaries SSA2- 02 Improve 1- 800 telephone service SSA2- 03 Increase
direct deposit/ electronic benefit transfer services SSA2- 04 Promote
“one- stop” benefit application SSA2- 05 Stop collecting
attorney fees SSA2- 06 Expand employer electronic wage reporting SSA2- 07
Improve the disability adjudication process SSA2- 08 Provide “one-
stop” service for aliens applying for Social Security cards SSA2- 09
Reduce burden associated with reporting wages
Appendix II Sample Data Collection Instrument
Page 33 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix II Sample Data Collection Instrument
Page 34 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix II Sample Data Collection Instrument
Page 35 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix III Comments From the Office of Management and Budget
Page 36 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1. Note: GAO comments
supplementing those in the report text appear at the end of this appendix.
Appendix III Comments From the Office of Management and Budget
Page 37 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 3. See comment 2.
Appendix III Comments From the Office of Management and Budget
Page 38 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) noted in its response that the
72 recommendations we reviewed were part of the broader context of NPR's
other recommendations and efforts to achieve its goal of a government that
works better, costs less, and gets results Americans care about. As noted in
our overall analysis of agency comments in this report, our review (as
requested) focused specifically on the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10
agencies in 1993 and 1995. This is the fifth product on issues related to
NPR that we have issued in response to this request. In addition, we have
reported on the savings claimed by NPR on reinvention labs; agencies'
downsizing; and, more generally, agencies' improvement initiatives.
Collectively, these products provide a broad body of work on NPR and
management reforms that exceed the scope of this review.
2. Although we state that NPR was one of a number of catalysts that
stimulated agencies to become more efficient and effective, OMB noted in its
response that NPR had a significant influence in government reform that
deserves greater recognition in our report. Our report discusses in detail
the reported status of NPR recommendations and the effects of the
implementation of those recommendations. Moreover, OMB acknowledged that
Congress, agency heads, and agency employees also have an important role in
reforms. Our statement that NPR's effects cannot be isolated from other
reform efforts is not intended to understate the importance of NPR. Rather,
the statement is intended to recognize that various factors, including
agencies' ongoing efforts and congressional actions, contributed to what
agencies accomplished in areas related to NPR's recommendations. In some
cases, for example, NPR and the agencies worked effectively with
congressional stakeholders to obtain legislation needed to implement a
recommendation.
3. In responding to a section in the draft report on the need for
recommendation- specific goals, the Deputy Director for Management said that
although we looked to the recommendations, we apparently did not consider
the specific action items that accompanied the recommendations NPR made in
1993- which are specific and measurable. We did consider these action items
in doing our analysis and agree that they are generally specific and that
their accomplishment can be measured. However, all of the recommendations we
reviewed did not have related action items. Further, by focusing on
implementation steps, the action items often did not show progress toward
the results that the recommendations were intended to achieve- the overall
point we were attempting to make in our draft report. As we note in this
report, agencies were generally able to report on the status of the action
items- the specific implementation steps- but were much less able to show
the measurable results of those GAO Comments
Appendix III Comments From the Office of Management and Budget
Page 39 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
steps. To more clearly convey this point, the report now raises this issue
only in context of the effects of NPR's recommendations, rather than in a
context of the need to set goals for improvement efforts. Therefore, we
deleted the section on goals and revised the text of the section on the
effects agencies reported to better reflect our message.
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 40 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 41 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 42 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 2. See comment 1.
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 43 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 44 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 3. Now on p. 12.
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 45 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 46 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 47 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 48 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 49 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 50 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 51 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IV Comments From the Department of Commerce
Page 52 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Department of Commerce sent us additional information on the
recommendation NPR made to increase access to Census data. This report notes
that the recommendation is fully implemented and describes it as an example
of improved customer service. The additional information provided by
Commerce gives further support for categorizing the recommendations' status
as fully implemented and is consistent with our characterization of the
recommendation as an example of improved customer service reported by the
agencies we reviewed.
2. The example of increased access to Census data was also included in a
draft section on the need for recommendation- specific goals. As we note in
this report, agencies were generally able to report on the status of the
action items- the specific implementation steps- but were much less able to
show the measurable results of those steps. To more clearly convey this
point, the report now raises this issue only in context of the effects of
NPR's recommendations, rather than in a context of the need to set goals for
improvement efforts. Therefore, we deleted the section on goals, including
the Census example, and revised the text of the section on the effects
agencies reported to better reflect our message.
3. Commerce noted that in 1997, NPR designated the National Weather Service
(NWS) as a high- impact agency with significant public contact, and that NWS
developed five new goals for performance improvement. We support agencies'
efforts to set goals: substantive and rigorous planning that includes clear,
measurable goals and baselines is an important element in implementing and
sustaining management improvement efforts. We did not specifically address
NWS' goals as a high- impact agency in this report because our review (as
requested) focused specifically on the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10
agencies in 1993 and 1995. GAO Comments
Appendix V Comments From the Department of Defense
Page 53 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1. Note: GAO comments
supplementing those in the report text appear at the end of this appendix.
Appendix V Comments From the Department of Defense
Page 54 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. DOD stated that it partially concurred with our draft report and offered
an additional example of an NPR recommendation illustrating enhanced revenue
or reduced costs reported by agencies- the recommendation NPR made to DOD to
purchase best- value supplies and equipment. DOD also noted in its response
that it established 12 NPR High Impact Agency year 2000 acquisition goals,
and that 10 of those goals were incorporated into the overall GPRA annual
performance plan. We believe that goal setting is an important part of
successful reform efforts. However, as noted in our overall analysis of
agency comments in the body of this report, our review focused specifically
on the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies. DOD's goal- setting
efforts under the High Impact agency initiatives were beyond the scope of
our review. GAO Comment
Appendix VI Comments From the Department of Energy
Page 55 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 2. See comment 1.
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
Appendix VI Comments From the Department of Energy
Page 56 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Department of Energy (DOE) agrees that our report accurately reflects
the status information reported to us in March 1999. DOE's response
indicated that since then, it has continued to make progress on many of the
partially implemented recommendations that NPR made in 1993 and 1995.
Moreover, DOE indicates that in some cases, the NPR recommendations helped
to form long- term goals and will need to be evaluated in future years.
DOE's comments underscore a key point of this report- that successful
reforms require continuing attention to ensure progress.
2. DOE discussed how it has benefited from other aspects of NPR, in addition
to the NPR recommendations. As noted in our overall analysis of agency
comments in this report, our review (as requested) focused specifically on
the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies in 1993 and 1995. This is the
fifth product on issues related to NPR that we have issued in response to
this request. In addition, we have reported on the savings claimed by NPR;
reinvention labs; agencies' downsizing; and, more generally, agencies'
improvement initiatives. Collectively, these products provide a broad body
of work on NPR and management reforms that exceed the scope of this review.
This work on selected NPR initiatives, as well as our other related work on
federal management issues, suggests an overriding theme- that successful
reinvention is not an end state, but rather an ongoing process that seeks
continuous improvements in performance, efficiency, and effectiveness. GAO
Comments
Appendix VII Comments From the General Services Administration
Page 57 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
See comment 1.
Appendix VII Comments From the General Services Administration
Page 58 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The General Services Administration (GSA) commented that it accomplished
significant reforms subsequent to the recommendations NPR made in 1993 and
1995. GSA said that NPR encouraged broad changes, beyond the recommendations
we reviewed, through strategies such as promoting reinvention labs and a
changing view of GSA's mission. As noted in our overall analysis of agency
comments in this report, our review (as requested) focused specifically on
the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies in 1993 and 1995. GAO Comment
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 59 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 60 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1.
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 61 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 62 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 63 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 64 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 65 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 66 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 2. Now on page 18.
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 67 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services
Page 68 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) enclosed an updated
status review that provides additional information on the actions that it
took related to its NPR recommendations, thereby providing an update and
additional support for the implementation status that it originally reported
to us in January 1999. HCFA's response also discusses its plans to undertake
additional reforms in areas related to the NPR recommendations, and its
continuing performance improvement efforts that go beyond the scope of the
NPR recommendations discussed in this report. These comments further
corroborate our observation that significant management reforms require
continuous attention.
2. We agree with HCFA that proper and sufficient documentation is a key
element in reducing the error rate for improper Medicare payments. We
clarified the example in the report by also specifying other elements that
contribute to much of the remaining estimate of erroneous payments, such as
billing for services that are not medically necessary or for services that
were never received. We also point out that the error rate estimates may
differ because of changes in estimation methodologies, and recognize that
HCFA has efforts under way to enhance its estimation methodology. GAO
Comments
Appendix IX Comments From the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Page 69 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1. Note: GAO comments
supplementing those in the report text appear at the end of this appendix.
Appendix IX Comments From the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Page 70 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IX Comments From the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Page 71 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix IX Comments From the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Page 72 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commented that NPR
provided the impetus for a broader agenda for change, which became the HUD
2020 Management Reform Plan, initiated in June 1997 by the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development. HUD enclosed a copy of the most recent 2020
progress review, which lists several actions HUD has completed as part of
that reform. As noted in our overall analysis of agency comments in this
report, our review (as requested) focused specifically on the 72
recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies in 1993 and 1995. We have reported
separately, and in greater detail, on HUD's efforts under its 2020
Management Reform reforms. 1
1 HUD Management: Information on HUD's 2020 Management Reform Plan (GAO/
RCED- 98- 86, Mar. 1998). GAO Comment
Appendix X Comments From the U. S. Department of Transportation
Page 73 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
Appendix X Comments From the U. S. Department of Transportation
Page 74 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1.
Appendix X Comments From the U. S. Department of Transportation
Page 75 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commented that NPR went beyond
the specific recommendations it made to FAA by helping to create a results-
driven environment for FAA to pursue its mission. As stated in this report,
NPR was one of a number of catalysts that stimulated agencies to become more
efficient and effective. NPR recognized that it could contribute to improved
agency performance by promoting a focus on results consistent with the
statutory framework provided by Congress. GAO Comment
Appendix XI Comments From the Internal Revenue Service
Page 76 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Note: GAO comments supplementing those in the report text appear at the end
of this appendix.
See comment 1.
Appendix XI Comments From the Internal Revenue Service
Page 77 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) noted in its comments that our report
covered only the recommendations that NPR made in 1993 and 1995, and that
NPR has provided ongoing support to IRS' continuing efforts to improve
service. We are aware that NPR undertook other actions designed to stimulate
improved performance; however, our review (as requested) focused
specifically on the 72 recommendations NPR made to 10 agencies in 1993 and
1995. Our work on selected NPR initiatives, as well as our other related
work on federal management issues, suggests an overriding theme- that
successful reinvention is not an end state, but rather an ongoing process
that seeks continuous improvements in performance, efficiency, and
effectiveness. GAO Comment
Appendix XII Comments From the Social Security Administration
Page 78 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
See comment 1. Note: GAO comments
supplementing those in the report text appear at the end of this appendix.
Appendix XII Comments From the Social Security Administration
Page 79 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Appendix XII Comments From the Social Security Administration
Page 80 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
1. The Social Security Administration (SSA) agreed with our statement that
NPR was one of the catalysts that stimulated agencies to become more
effective and efficient. To underscore that point, SSA provided examples of
NPR's efforts to help improve customer service and program integrity.
Although we recognize that improving customer service was another of NPR's
initiatives, this report focused on the implementation of the agencyspecific
recommendations NPR made to selected agencies in 1993 and 1995, as
requested. GAO Comment
Page 81 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Page 82 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
Page 83 GAO/ GGD- 00- 145 Reinventing Government NPR
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