On January 4th, 2011, the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 became law. The acronym refers to the Government Performance and Results Act. When GPRA 1993 was enacted, it was regarded as a watershed for the federal government. For the first time, Congress established requirements in statute for most agencies to set goals, measure performance, and report the information to Congress for potential use. Agencies submitted this information in three major products: multi-year strategic plans, annual plans, and annual reports. This book provides an overview and background on GPRA 1993 and its modernization changes in 2010. The law was especially intended to address the needs of Congress in its policy making, oversight, and budgeting work, and the needs of agency program managers.

Statement of Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller Gen. of the U.S. The federal government is the world's largest and most complex entity, with about $3.5 trillion in outlays in FY 2010 that fund a broad array of programs and operations. GAO's long-term simulations of the federal budget show absent policy change growing deficits accumulating to an unsustainable increase in debt. While the spending side is driven by rising health care costs and demographics, other areas should also be scrutinized. In addition, there are significant performance and management challenges that the federal government needs to confront.This testimony discusses the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA), as the administration begins implementing the act. It is based on GAO's past and ongoing work on GPRA implementation, as well as recently issued reports (1) identifying opportunities to reduce potential duplication in government programs, save tax dollars, and enhance revenue; and (2) updating GAO's list of government operations at high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or the need for transformation. Figures. This is a print on demand report.

This book discusses the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010 as the administration begins its implementation. The act offers many important opportunities to focus attention on successfully improving the effectiveness of government programs and operations, and addresses significant fiscal, performance, and management challenges facing the federal government. The federal government is the world's largest and most complex entity, with about $3.5 trillion in outlays in the fiscal year of 2010 that fund a broad array of programs and operations. Long-term simulations of the government's financial condition underscore the need to begin addressing the long-term federal fiscal outlook.

Government Performance: GPRA Modernization Act Provides Opportunities to Help Address Fiscal, Performance, and Management Challenges

" The federal government faces significant and long-standing fiscal, management, and performance challenges. The act's implementation offers opportunities for Congress and the executive branch to help address these challenges. This report is the latest in a series in which GAO, as required by the act, reviewed the act's initial implementation. GAO assessed the executive branch's (1) progress in implementing the act and (2) effectiveness in using tools provided by the act to address key governance challenges. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed the act, related OMB guidance, and past and recent GAO work related to federal performance management and the act; and interviewed OMB staff. In addition, to determine the extent to which agencies are using performance information and several of the act's requirements to improve agency results, GAO surveyed a stratified random sample of 4,391 federal managers from 24 agencies, with a 69 percent response rate which allows GAO to generalize these results. "

GPRAMA is a significant enhancement of GPRA, which was the centerpiece of a statutory framework that Congress put in place during the 1990s to help resolve long-standing management problems in the federal government and provide greater accountability for results. GPRA sought to focus federal agencies on performance by requiring agencies to develop long-term and annual goals-contained in strategic and annual performance plans-and measure and report on progress towards those goals on an annual basis.