PROGRAM ASSESSMENT AND RESULTS ACT, H.R. 3826

Introduced 2/25/04

The Program Assessment and Results Act (PAR Act), H.R. 3826, was
introduced on 2/25/04 by Rep. Russell Platts, Chairman, House Government
Reform Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management,
and Rep. Tom Davis, Chairman, House Government Reform Committee.

The PAR Act, if signed into law, will amend the Government Performance
and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and will require the Director of Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a review of each program
activity at least once every 5 fiscal years.

Other key provisions include requiring the Director of OMB to:

-   Take into account the advantages of reviewing during the same fiscal
    year any program activities that are performing similar functions or
    have similar purposes.

-   Make every effort to review program activities more frequently than
    every 5 years in cases where program activities are determined to be
    of higher priority, special circumstances exist, improvements have
    been made or the head of an agency and the Director of OMB determine
    that more frequent review is warranted.

Rep.Platt\'s statement accompanying the bill said they do not seek to
codify the use of OMB\'s Program Assessment and Rating Tool (PART),
specifically. The primary objective of the bill is to establish a
requirement for program reviews.

Rep. Platt's also stated during introduction of the PAR Act that
Zero-Based Budgeting, the Planning-Programming-Budgeting System and
Reinventing Government have come and gone with little lasting effect and
that it is time to strengthen GPRA to address the shortfall they see in
program evaluation.

Rep. Platts believes that GPRA amended by the Part Act will have a
lasting effct on how the Government manages its programs.

The PART is in its second year at OMB and seeks to tie funding sources
to outcomes at the program level.

Introduction of the bill followed hearings by Rep. Platts\' subcommittee
on 2/4 and 2/11/04.

Clay Johnson, OMB Deputy Director for Management, testified at the
second hearing.

Rep. Platts is clearly in favor of the type of reviews being conducted
under OMB\'s PART. One of his objectives is to show a more definitive
relationship between OMB PART reviews and strategic plans prepared under
GPRA

Deputy Director Johnson said they support legislation that would
establish a generic requirement for program reviews.

PAR Act provisions are in line with key discussion points of both
hearings.

It appears that passage of the PAR Act could be expedited.

Also, it appears it is likely there will be continued focus on IT
performance measurement and program management from a content standpoint
as set forth in two recent GAO reports. Both reports were discussed
during a hearing on IT investment management conducted on 3/3/04 by Rep.
Adam Putnam, Chairman, House Government Reform Subcommittee on
Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the
Census

-   Information Technology Management, Governmentwide Strategic
    Planning, Performance Measurement, and Investment Management Can Be
    Further Improved, GAO-04---49, January 2004.

<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0449.pdf>

-   Executive Guide, Information Technology Investment Management, A
    Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity, GAO-04-394G,
    March 2004.

<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04394g.pdf>

If there are questions or for further information, please contact John
Ray at <john.ray@gsa.gov> or (202) 501-3473