[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2898 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2898
To require the review of Government programs at least once every 5
years for purposes of evaluating their performance.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 5, 2004
Mr. Fitzgerald introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the review of Government programs at least once every 5
years for purposes of evaluating their performance.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Program Assessment and Results
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) inefficiency and ineffectiveness in Federal programs
undermines the confidence of the American people in the
Government and reduces the Federal Government's ability to
adequately address vital public needs;
(2) insufficient information on program performance
seriously disadvantages Federal managers in their efforts to
improve program efficiency and effectiveness;
(3) congressional policy making, spending decisions, and
program oversight are handicapped by insufficient attention to
program performance and results;
(4) programs performing similar or duplicative functions
that exist within a single agency or across multiple agencies
should be identified and their performance and results shared
among all such programs to improve their performance and
results;
(5) advocates of good government continue to seek ways to
improve accountability, focus on results, and integrate the
performance of programs with decisions about budgets;
(6) with the passage of the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993, the Congress directed the executive branch
to seek improvements in the effectiveness, efficiency, and
accountability of Federal programs by having agencies focus on
program results; and
(7) the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993
provided a strong framework for the executive branch to monitor
the long-term goals and annual performance of its departments
and agencies.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to improve the Government Performance and Results Act
of 1993 by implementing a program assessment and evaluation
process that attempts to determine the strengths and weaknesses
of Federal programs with a particular focus on the results
produced by individual programs;
(2) to use the information gathered in the assessment and
evaluation process to build on the groundwork laid in the
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to help the
executive branch make informed management decisions and
evidence-based funding requests aimed at achieving positive
results; and
(3) to provide congressional policy makers the information
needed to conduct more effective oversight, to make better-
informed authorization decisions, and to make more evidence-
based spending decisions that achieve positive results for the
American people.
SEC. 4. PROGRAM ASSESSMENT.
(a) Requirement for Program Assessments.--Chapter 11 of title 31,
United States Code, as amended by the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993, is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``Sec. 1120. Program assessment
``(a) Assessment.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget to the maximum extent practicable shall conduct, jointly with
agencies of the Federal Government, an assessment of each program at
least once every 5 fiscal years.
``(b) Assessment Requirements.--In conducting an assessment of a
program under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget and the head of the relevant agency shall--
``(1) coordinate to determine the programs to be assessed;
and
``(2) evaluate the purpose, design, strategic plan,
management, and results of the program, and such other matters
as the Director considers appropriate.
``(c) Criteria for Identifying Programs to Assess.--The Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall develop criteria for
identifying programs to be assessed each fiscal year. In developing the
criteria, the Director shall take into account the advantages of
assessing during the same fiscal year any programs that are performing
similar functions, have similar purposes, or share common goals, such
as those contained in strategic plans under section 306 of title 5. To
the maximum extent possible, the Director shall assess a representative
sample of Federal spending each fiscal year.
``(d) Criteria for More Frequent Assessments.--The Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall make every effort to assess
programs more frequently than required under subsection (a) in cases in
which programs are determined to be of higher priority, special
circumstances exist, improvements have been made, or the head of the
relevant agency and the Director determine that more frequent
assessment is warranted.
``(e) Publication.--At least 90 days before completing the
assessments under this section to be conducted during a fiscal year,
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall--
``(1) make available in electronic form through the Office
of Management and Budget website or any successor website, and
provide to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of
the Senate--
``(A) a list of the programs to be assessed during
that fiscal year; and
``(B) the criteria that will be used to assess the
programs; and
``(2) provide a mechanism for interested persons to comment
on the programs being assessed and the criteria that will be
used to assess the programs.
``(f) Report.--(1) The results of the assessments conducted during
a fiscal year shall be submitted in a report to Congress at the same
time that the President submits the next budget under section 1105 of
this title after the end of that fiscal year.
``(2) The report shall--
``(A) include the performance goals for each program
assessment;
``(B) specify the criteria used for each assessment;
``(C) describe the results of each assessment, including
any significant limitation in the assessments;
``(D) describe significant modifications to the Federal
Government performance plan required under section 1105(a)(28)
of this title made as a result of the assessments; and
``(E) be available in electronic form through the Office of
Management and Budget website or any successor website.
``(g) Classified Information.--(1) With respect to program
assessments conducted during a fiscal year that contain classified
information, the President shall submit on the same date as the report
is submitted under subsection (f)--
``(A) a copy of each such assessment (including the
classified information), to the appropriate committees of
jurisdiction of the House of Representatives and the Senate;
and
``(B) consistent with statutory law governing the
disclosure of classified information, an appendix containing a
list of each such assessment and the committees to which a copy
of the assessment was submitted under subparagraph (A), to the
Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
``(2) Upon request from the Committee on Government Reform of the
House of Representatives or the Committee on Governmental Affairs of
the Senate, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall,
consistent with statutory law governing the disclosure of classified
information, provide to the Committee a copy of--
``(A) any assessment described in subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) (including any assessment not listed in any
appendix submitted under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph);
and
``(B) any appendix described in subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (1).
``(3) In this subsection, the term `classified information' refers
to matters described in section 552(b)(1)(A) of title 5.
``(h) Inherently Governmental Functions.--The functions and
activities authorized or required by this section shall be considered
inherently Governmental functions and shall be performed only by
Federal employees.
``(i) Termination.--This section shall not be in effect after
September 30, 2013.''.
(b) Guidance.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement the requirements of
section 1120 of title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection
(a), including guidance on a definition of the term ``program''.
(c) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--
(1) Section 1115(g) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``1119'' and inserting ``1120''.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``1120. Program assessment.''.
SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLANNING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Change in Deadline for Strategic Plan.--Subsection (a) of
section 306 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``No
later than September 30, 1997,'' and inserting ``Not later than
September 30 of each year following a year in which an election for
President occurs, beginning with September 30, 2005,''.
(b) Change in Period of Coverage of Strategic Plan.--Subsection (b)
of section 306 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
``(b) Each strategic plan shall cover the 4-year period beginning
on October 1 of the year following a year in which an election for
President occurs.''.
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