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

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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).
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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
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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).
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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 itemsa 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
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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
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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).
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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.
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• 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
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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 800-

number 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 800-

Number Service (GAO/HEHS-97-79, June 11, 1997).

Table 4: Types of Effects Reported by

Agencies
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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

Appendix I 28

Scope and

Methodology

Appendix II 33

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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