Major Element of Blue Dog Blueprint to Become Law
December 21, 2010
Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2142, "The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010," clearing the bill for the President's signature. The legislation, championed by Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, will bring increased transparency and accountability to the federal government by implementing the same results oriented approach that has improved the value and efficiency of state-level programs across the country.
"No one can afford to waste money- especially not the government and especially not now," said Cuellar. "It's time that we put a new system in place to review the results of each federal program and evaluate its effectiveness. Better information yields better decisions. This legislation will help Congress invest in what works, fix what doesn't and eliminate the wasteful overlap."
"This is exactly the type of bipartisan legislation the American people want to see coming out of Washington," said Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications. "Performance based budgeting is a proven, commonsense tool that will bring a more businesslike, results-oriented approach to the federal government. I applaud the Blue Dogs for their hard work in seeing this bill all the way through."
Specifically, "The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010" would:
- Require that federal agencies assess performance on a quarterly basis to ensure federal taxpayer dollars are being spent in an effective manner.
- Make these assessment reports available on a single public website so that both Congress and the American people have access to critical information on federal agencies' strengths and weaknesses.
- Require each agency to designate a Chief Operating Officer who will be held accountable for agency results.
- Require the federal budget office to identify duplicative and outdated agency reporting and reduce the number of annual written reports by ten-percent.
- Require action if an agency's programs have not met performance goals for a fiscal year.
"No one can afford to waste money- especially not the government and especially not now," said Cuellar. "It's time that we put a new system in place to review the results of each federal program and evaluate its effectiveness. Better information yields better decisions. This legislation will help Congress invest in what works, fix what doesn't and eliminate the wasteful overlap."
"This is exactly the type of bipartisan legislation the American people want to see coming out of Washington," said Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications. "Performance based budgeting is a proven, commonsense tool that will bring a more businesslike, results-oriented approach to the federal government. I applaud the Blue Dogs for their hard work in seeing this bill all the way through."
Specifically, "The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010" would:
- Require that federal agencies assess performance on a quarterly basis to ensure federal taxpayer dollars are being spent in an effective manner.
- Make these assessment reports available on a single public website so that both Congress and the American people have access to critical information on federal agencies' strengths and weaknesses.
- Require each agency to designate a Chief Operating Officer who will be held accountable for agency results.
- Require the federal budget office to identify duplicative and outdated agency reporting and reduce the number of annual written reports by ten-percent.
- Require action if an agency's programs have not met performance goals for a fiscal year.
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