U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

99–010 

" ! SENATE 

111TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2010

111–372 

Calendar No. 678 

GPRA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2010 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 2142 

TO REQUIRE QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS FOR PURPOSES OF ASSESSING AGENCY 

PERFORMANCE AND IMPROVEMENT, AND TO ESTABLISH AGENCY PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS AND THE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL 

DECEMBER 16, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

MARK KIRK, Illinois 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

KEVIN J. LANDY, Chief Counsel 

KRISTINE V. LAM, Professional Staff Member 

BENJAMIN B. RHODESIDE, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Oversight of 

Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia 

JOHN G. COLLINS, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Federal Financial 

Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security 

BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

AMANDA WOOD, Minority Director for Governmental Affairs 

LISA M. NIEMAN, Minority Counsel 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 678 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–372 

GPRA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2010 

DECEMBER 16, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 2142] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 2142) to require quarterly performance assessments of Government programs for purposes of assessing agency performance and improvement, and to establish 

agency performance improvement officers and the Performance Improvement Council, having considered the same, reports favorably 

thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 14 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 14 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 20 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 21 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 22 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 1 (GPRA) 

created a thorough and comprehensive framework for federal government strategic planning and performance reporting. Since its 

enactment, GPRA has helped improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs by requiring that agencies establish a system to set goals for program performance and measure results. 


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2 At that time, the Committee was known as the Governmental Affairs Committee. 

3 U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and Results Act, 

1993 (to S. 20), Together with Dissenting and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103–58), p. 2. 4GPRA, 2(a)(1) and 2(b)(5). 

5This includes the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 111–204), as amended by the 

Government Management Reform Act of 1994 (P.L. 103–356), and information technology reform legislation, including the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104–13) and the ClingerCohen Act of 1996 (P.L. 104–106). 6GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving 

Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004) p. 25. 7 Ibid., ‘‘Highlights.’’ 

However GPRA needs to be improved and updated to take advantage of the latest technologies and to apply lessons learned from 

nearly two decades of implementation. H.R. 2142 will modernize 

and refine the requirements established by GPRA in order to 

produce more frequent, relevant data which can then inform decision makers and agency operations. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

During the 103rd Congress, this Committee acted on concerns— 

among its members as well as the public—that the federal government was not working as well as it should.2 Sharing the public’s 

frustration and following its previous legislative and oversight 

work to address waste, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness in federal 

programs, the Committee considered S. 20, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). At the time, the Committee believed that the regular and systemic measurement and reporting of 

program performance, compared to pre-established goals, would be 

valuable to the federal government (including Congress) and provide a beneficial supplement to the Committee’s previous work in 

the area of management improvement.3

GPRA sought to promote greater efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in federal spending by establishing a new framework 

for performance management and budgeting in federal agencies. 

Additionally, GPRA was intended to improve congressional decision 

making by providing objective information on the relative efficiency 

and effectiveness of federal programs and spending.4 The law requires three types of ongoing planning, evaluation, and reporting 

requirements for executive branch agencies: strategic plans, annual 

performance plans, and annual reports on program performance. It 

also requires that agencies consult with Congress when developing 

a strategic plan, and consider views of other interested stakeholders. GPRA implementation, combined with other statutory efforts in the 1990s addressing long-standing management problems,5 has provided a powerful framework for developing and integrating information about agencies’ strategic priorities, the resultsoriented performance goals that flow from those priorities, performance data to show the level of achievement of those goals, and the 

relationship of reliable and audited financial information and information technology investments to the achievement of those goals.6

In 2004, after a decade of implementation, Congress asked the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess GPRA. The resulting report concluded that the statutory requirements under 

GPRA ‘‘have established a solid foundation of results-oriented performance planning, measurement, and reporting in federal government.’’ 7 However, GAO also found serious weaknesses in the implementation of GPRA, such as the lack of detail in required plans 


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8 Ibid., p. 7. 9 Ibid., p. 9. 10 Ibid., p. 15. 11The PIO position and the PIC currently exist in the federal government, having been established by Executive Order 13450, Improving Government Program Performance, on November 

13, 2007, available at http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/ 

20071113-9.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010. 12 Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and Results Act, 1993, (to S. 

20), Together with Dissenting and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103–58), p. 15. 

on how performance goals relate to strategic goals. Additionally, 

GAO found that agencies were not coordinating their efforts in 

order to address common challenges and achieve common objectives.8 GAO noted that such mission fragmentation and overlap 

among agencies makes it particularly difficult to address crosscutting national issues, such as homeland security, drug control, 

and the environment.9 Finally, GAO also found that timing issues 

may hinder the development of useful agency strategic plans. Specifically, agencies are often required to update strategic plans just 

before a presidential election and without input from a new Congress. If a new president is elected, the updated plan is essentially 

moot and does not have the commitment and sustained attention 

of top leadership within the agency.10

H.R. 2142 addresses these weaknesses by amending GPRA to: require the Office of Management and Budget to provide governmentwide priority goals; increase the frequency and enhance quality of 

agency reporting; and improve the transparency of performance reporting. The bill also improves federal performance management by 

establishing a Chief Operating Officer (COO) within each agency 

tasked with improving the performance of his or her agency. It also 

codifies and strengthens the existing resources for performance 

management, including the Performance Improvement Officers 

(PIOs) within the federal agencies and the interagency Performance Improvement Council (PIC).11

Agency Strategic Plans 

Strategic plans are the starting point and basic underpinning for 

a system of program goal-setting and performance measurement 

that will be established throughout the federal government. A 

multi-year strategic plan articulates the fundamental mission (or 

missions) of an organization, and lays out its long-term general 

goals for implementing that mission, including the resources needed to reach these goals.12 GPRA requires agencies to develop strategic plans with long-term outcome-oriented goals and objectives, 

annual goals linked to achieving the long-term goals, and annual 

reports on the goals achieved. Under GPRA, an agency is currently 

required to develop a strategic plan at least every three years to 

cover the following five year period. This reporting timeframe for 

updating strategic plans does not correspond to presidential terms. 

It makes little sense to require an update of a strategic plan shortly before a new administration is scheduled to take office, as 

changes in political leadership often result in new objectives and 

can render preexisting plans unuseful. 

H.R. 2142 addresses this issue by modifying the schedule for revising agency strategic plans to align with presidential terms. The 

bill requires strategic plans cover a period of no less than four 

years and allows the agency to make adjustments to the plan to reflect significant changes in its operating environment, with approVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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13 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Agencies’ Strategic Plans Under GPRA: Key Questions to Facilitate Congressional Review, GAO Report GGD–10–1–16 (Washington: GAO, 1997), 

p. 9. 14GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004), p. 92. 

priate notification to Congress. This is not to mean that an agency 

should frequently modify its existing strategic plans; rather the intent of this change is to provide agencies the flexibility to respond 

to an event that significantly changes the operating environment. 

This legislation also amends existing GPRA requirements for the 

contents of an agency strategic plan. As specified in the law and 

subsequent guidance from the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) and GAO, an agency’s strategic plan must contain six key 

components: 

• a comprehensive agency mission statement; 

• agency-wide long-term goals and objectives for all major 

functions and operations; 

• approaches or strategies to achieve the goals and objectives and the various resources needed; 

• a description of the relationship between the long-term 

goals and objectives and the annual performance goals; 

• an identification of key factors, external to the agency and 

beyond its control, that could significantly affect the achievement of the strategic goals; and 

• a description of how program evaluations were used to establish or revise strategic goals, and a schedule for future program evaluations.13

H.R. 2142 requires agencies to describe how any goals and objectives in its strategic plan contribute to the crosscutting federal government priority goals required by this legislation. This mandate 

seeks to ensure that agency goals align with broader federal efforts 

on that mission, and to provide greater clarity regarding the impact of employee efforts on overarching goals. 

Across the federal government, various agencies operate similar 

or related programs. GAO has found that mission fragmentation 

and program overlap are widespread across the government and 

that addressing this challenge is essential to the success of national 

strategies in areas such as homeland security, drug control, and 

the environment.14 Without appropriate coordination, such programs may be implemented in a fragmented manner which wastes 

scarce resources, confuses citizens, and limits the overall effectiveness of the federal effort. H.R. 2142 requires an agency to describe 

how it is working with other agencies to achieve its own goals and 

objectives, as well as the crosscutting priority goals of the federal 

government. 

One of the original goals of GPRA was to strengthen the collaboration between Congress and the federal agencies to improve government performance. For its part, Congress needs more objective 

information on the relative effectiveness and efficiency of federal 

programs and spending. The Committee expressed the importance 

of Congressional consultation in its report on GPRA in 1993: ‘‘particularly during this time of very tight budget constraints, it is important that Congress develop a clear understanding of what it is 

getting in the way of results from each dollar spent, and how those 

results would change with an increase or decrease in funding. In 


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15 Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and Results Act, 1993 (to S. 

20), Together with Dissenting and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103–58), p. 18. 16GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004), p. 26. 17GAO, The Results Act: An Evaluator’s Guide to Assessing Agency Annual Performance Plans, 

GAO/GGD–10.1.20 (Washington, D.C.: April 1998). 

all likelihood, Congress will face difficult, wrenching budget decisions for years to come. But even if the budget were balanced, and 

revenues strong, this information would be important in the making of wise spending decisions.’’ 15

GPRA also established a consultation process so that agencies 

could take Congressional views into account as appropriate. However, little evidence exists that agencies have formally or significantly considered the input of key stakeholders when developing 

goals and objectives. In waiting to consult with relevant congressional stakeholders until a strategic plan has been substantially 

drafted and vetted within the executive branch, agencies forego important opportunities to learn early on about specific concerns that 

will be critical to successful implementation. Therefore, this Committee again strongly emphasizes that Congressional consultations 

are to take place during the development of the plan—not after. 

H.R. 2142 strengthens the Congressional consultation process by 

encouraging agencies to describe how agency goals and objectives 

incorporate the views and suggestions obtained through consultations with Congress. This legislation clarifies that the agency shall 

periodically consult with and obtain majority and minority views 

from its authorizing, appropriations, and oversight committees 

when developing or making adjustments to its strategic plan. It 

also requires Congressional consultations occur at least once every 

two years; this is to ensure that each Congress has input on the 

goals, objectives, strategies, and performance measures of the agency. Moreover, it allows the agency to have an opportunity to provide a progress report on its performance and ensures that various 

committees are getting the types of performance information they 

need. 

Agency Performance Plans 

Building on the decisions made as part of the strategic planning 

process, GPRA requires executive agencies to develop annual performance plans covering each program activity in the agencies’ 

budgets. Each plan should contain an agency’s annual performance 

goals and associated measures to gauge its progress toward its 

strategic goals. OMB should then incorporate these performance 

plans to develop an overall federal government performance plan 

that will be submitted with the President’s budget. The overall 

plan is intended to present Congress with a single cohesive picture 

of the federal government’s annual performance goals for a given 

fiscal year.16

GAO has stated that a clear relationship should exist between an 

agency’s long-term strategic goals and mission and the performance 

goals in the annual performance plan.17 H.R. 2142 requires an 

agency to describe how the performance goals contained in its performance plan contribute to the goals and objectives established in 

the agency’s strategic plan, as well as any overall federal government performance goals. Additionally, this legislation requires that 

an agency’s performance plan cover a two-year period, including 


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18GAO, Agencies’ Annual Performance Plans under the Results Act: An Assessment Guide to 

Facilitate Congressional Decisionmaking, GAO/GGD/AIMD–10.1.18 (Washington, D.C.: February 

1998). 

both the current fiscal year and the next one. Under existing law, 

an agency’s performance plan is only required to cover the next fiscal year. Adding the current year requirement will enable an agency to update its current year goals, milestones, and strategies to reflect actual resources and any changes in the operating environment that differ from what was expected when the original plan 

was submitted the previous year. This, in turn, will provide a more 

up-to-date context for evaluating the goals for the upcoming fiscal 

year. 

The key to improving performance accountability is to document 

the results agencies have achieved compared to the goals they have 

established. Therefore, H.R. 2142 requires an agency to provide additional information about how the agency plans to achieve its performance goals by identifying clearly defined milestones, the agency officials responsible for ensuring each goal is achieved, and the 

program activities, regulations, policies and other activities that 

support each goal. Without a clear description of the strategies and 

resources an agency plans to use, it will be difficult for Congress 

to assess the likelihood of the agency’s success in achieving its intended results.18 By describing the strategies to be used to achieve 

results and the resources to be applied to those strategies, the performance plan can help Congress understand and assess the relationship between the agency’s resources and results. 

Credible performance information is essential for accurately assessing an agency’s progress towards its goals and, in cases where 

goals are not met, identifying opportunities for improvement or 

whether goals need to be adjusted. In order to improve the credibility of performance data, H.R. 2142 requires an agency to provide 

additional information about how it will ensure the validity and reliability of such data. 

Performance plans must also analyze how program activities contribute to the agency’s mission and goals. Inevitably, some program 

activities may not contribute or have limited contributions to an 

agency’s annual performance goals and will be designated as lowpriority program activities. The Committee expects that agencies 

will take actions to address these low-priority program activities, 

which could include retooling the program activities where authorized, requesting legislative changes to improve the program activities, or proposing their termination or consolidation with any similar program activities. 

H.R. 2142 requires agencies to provide a performance update at 

least annually, occurring no later than 150 days after the end of 

the fiscal year. However, agencies are encouraged to provide more 

frequent updates that would provide significant value to the federal 

government, Congress, or other key stakeholders. This legislation 

also requires the agency to post its performance plan on the agency 

website concurrent with the submission of the budget for the 

United States Government. This is a change from the existing 

GPRA requirement that the plans simply be submitted to the 

President and Congress. 

H.R. 2142 addresses an omission from the original GPRA law, 

which did not specify how or where agencies should report on the 


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19GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004), p. 20. 20 Ibid., p. 111. 21 Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and Results Act, 1993 (to S. 

20), Together with Dissenting and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103–58), p. 27. 22GAO, The Results Act: Assessment of the Government-wide Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 

1999, GAO/AIMD/GGD–98–159 (Washington, D.C.: September 8, 1998), p. 6. 

performance of any classified activities, even though it did allow for 

a classified annex. To this end, the bill clearly requires that agencies provide performance updates for classified program activities 

in the classified appendix of the agency performance plan. 

Federal Government Performance Plan and Priority Goals 

In its ten year review of GPRA, GAO recommended that Congress require the development of a government-wide strategic plan 

in order to provide a framework for identifying long-term goals and 

strategies to address issues that cut across federal agencies.19 Such 

a plan would provide a cohesive perspective on the long-term goals 

of the federal government and provide a much needed basis for 

fully integrating, rather than merely coordinating, a wide array of 

federal activities. In the past, OMB has noted that the budget 

serves as a government strategic plan. However, this Committee 

agrees with GAO’s assessment that the President’s Budget focuses 

on establishing agency budgets for the upcoming fiscal year and 

provides neither a long-term nor an integrated perspective on federal government activities.20 Rather than explicitly requiring such 

a strategic plan, H.R. 2142 enhances the existing requirements for 

a federal government performance plan, establishes the development of federal government priority goals, and requires agencies to 

have their own priority goals in order to achieve those federal government priority goals. These three important measures, alongside 

requirements for quarterly progress reviews and web-based reporting, set up a government-wide strategic and planning process. 

Federal Government Performance Plan: GPRA currently requires 

that beginning with the fiscal year 1999 budget submission, the annual budget of the U.S. Government include a federal government 

performance plan. The plan was intended to present a single cohesive picture of the federal government’s annual performance goal 

for the fiscal year. GPRA allows the plan to be integrated with the 

detailed budget estimates, appear as an individual part of the main 

budget document, or be submitted separately. Additionally, this 

Committee intended that the performance plan be submitted coincident with the principal budget documents so that Congress would 

have this plan available when reviewing the agency budget estimates.21 Under the law, the Director of OMB (the Director) has 

discretion in determining the best manner and most useful format 

for submitting the performance plan. However, OMB has not opted 

to issue a distinct federal government performance plan since fiscal 

year 1999. In that year, GAO found that the federal government 

performance plan was a derivative document that compiled agencylevel plans and reflected budget and management decisions made 

throughout the process of formulating the President’s budget submission.22

H.R. 2142 stresses the importance of a federal government performance plan and enhances requirements for the plan to address 

crosscutting program efforts. Focusing broadly on government-wide 


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23GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004), p. 94. 24 Ibid., p. 105. 

outcomes should be a central and distinguishing feature of the federal government performance plan.23 The bill requires that: • the plan establish performance goals for each crosscutting 

federal government priority goal; • OMB identify the various agencies, organizations, program 

activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies and other activities that contribute to each federal government performance 

goal; • a lead government official be assigned for each federal government performance goal; • OMB establish common federal government performance 

indicators to measure and assess progress across agencies toward shared goals; and • OMB identify government and cross-agency management 

challenges and plans to address such challenges. 

Federal Priority Goals: H.R. 2142 also establishes requirements 

for federal government priority goals. Unfortunately, GPRA compliance currently is largely an independent exercise among agencies, 

with agency performance plans largely focused on goals directly related to agency statutory missions. H.R. 2142 requires the Director 

of OMB to work with agencies to develop federal government priority goals that aim to improve performance and management 

across the federal government. The crosscutting policy goals are required to be outcome-oriented and limited in number to ensure that 

there is ample focus on achieving these goals over time. The management-related goals should cover management functions where 

significant improvements are needed across the federal government, such as information technology, human capital, and financial 

management. Recognizing that achieving the federal government 

priority goals will require sustained focus over a period of time, the 

goals are required to be long-term in nature and updated or revised 

at least every four years. Under H.R. 2142 the Director is able to 

make adjustments to the goals should there be significant changes 

in the federal government’s operating environment. However, the 

Committee expects that many of these goals will stay constant over 

time, including across Administrations, since these challenges are 

not likely to be overcome during a four year period. 

Successful strategic planning requires the involvement of key 

stakeholders. This collaboration can serve as a mechanism for 

building consensus and provides a vehicle for the President to articulate long-term goals and a road map for achieving them.24

Therefore, when developing or adjusting the goals, and at least 

once each Congress, the Director is required to consult with key 

congressional committees and obtain both majority and minority 

views on the draft goals. 

The federal government priority goals should complement the 

federal government performance plan, effectively functioning as a 

government-wide strategic plan. This legislation also addresses the 

need to increase transparency by providing a process for developing 

the federal government priority goals and making them available 

to the public. H.R. 2142 requires that the goals be developed or revised at least once every four years and be made publicly available 


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25This legislation limits these agencies to the 24 CFO Act agencies, or as otherwise determined by the Director of OMB. 26GAO, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable on the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO–03–192SP (Washington, D.C.: 

October 4, 2002), p. 8. 

concurrently with the submission of the budget of the United 

States Government in the second year of a President’s term. At a 

minimum, the Committee expects the goals will be posted on the 

government-wide performance website provided for in this legislation. 

Agency Priority Goals: In order for the federal government to 

make progress towards and eventually achieve its priority goals, 

agencies must align their goals with those of the federal government. H.R. 2142 requires the head of each agency 25 to identify 

agency priority goals from among the agency’s performance goals. 

The Director of OMB would have authority to determine the total 

number of agency priority goals across the federal government, as 

well as the number of priority goals to be developed by each agency. The Committee expects the total number of federal goals will 

not exceed 100 and agency goals will not exceed five per agency, 

while acknowledging variation may exist depending on the size and 

mission of a given agency. 

As the name implies, agency priority goals should reflect the 

agency’s highest priorities, as determined by the head of the agency. Such goals should be informed by any federal government priority goals to which the agency contributes. The priority goals have 

a two year timeframe, with ambitious but achievable performance 

targets and milestones. These should be ‘‘stretch’’ goals—the agency should set the goal to exceed its normal level of performance, 

but within reasonable reach. Although the language of the bill 

states that the goals are to be achievable, the Committee understands that external factors may cause agencies to fall short at 

times and a certain percentage of missed goals is acceptable. Since 

agency will likely select some complex and long-term challenges as 

target for improvement, the Committee expects that many priority 

goals will continue from a given two year cycle to the next, with 

updated performance targets and milestones all leading to a clearly 

defined end state. As with each of the agency’s other performance 

goals, each priority goal should have a clearly identified leader who 

is responsible for reaching the given goal. 

Establishing Agency-Level Chief Operation Officer 

In 2002, GAO convened a roundtable to discuss the Chief Operation Officer (COO) concept and how it might apply within federal 

agencies as one strategy to address certain systemic federal governance and management challenges. Participants generally agreed 

that agency COOs could help increase attention to management 

issues and transformational change, integrate various key management and transformation efforts, and institutionalize accountability 

for addressing management issues and leading transformational 

change.26

Two Presidential memoranda—one on October 1, 1993 and an 

update on July 11, 2001—outlined a COO position within the fedVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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27The White House, Presidential Memorandum, Implementing Management Reform in the Executive Branch, (Washington, D.C.: October 1, 1993), available at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ 

npr/library/direct/memos/2552.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010. The White House, 

Presidential Memorandum, Implementing Government Reform, (Washington, D.C.: July 11, 

2001), available at http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/07/ 

20010711-5.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010. 28These include officials such as the Chief Acquisition Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief 

Human Capital Officer, Chief Information Officer, and other line of business chiefs. 29The White House, Executive Order 13450, Improving Government Program Performance, 

(Washington, D.C.: November 13, 2007), available at http://georgewbush–whitehouse. 

archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071113-9.html, last accessed on November 24, 2010. 

eral government.27 Both memoranda provided the COO with responsibilities to improve the management and performance of the 

agency, and implement the agency mission and goals. H.R. 2142 

keeps those responsibilities and adds others to bring them in line 

with the planning and reporting requirements provided in this legislation. H.R. 2142 would codify that the deputy head of an agency, 

or equivalent, shall be an agency’s COO and given overall responsibility for improving the management and performance of the agency. The COO would also assist the head of the agency in carrying 

out the planning and reporting requirements of this bill, oversee 

agency-specific efforts to improve management within the agency 

and across the federal government, and coordinate with relevant 

personnel within and external to the agency who have a significant 

role in contributing to the mission and goals of the agency.28

Both Presidential Memoranda mentioned above also established 

the President’s Management Council (PMC), led by the Deputy Director for Management of OMB and composed of various agency 

COOs. The PMC has general responsibilities aimed at improving 

federal government management. Although H.R. 2142 does not codify the PMC, the Committee expects that the management council 

will continue to exist and continue to be responsible for improving 

management across the federal government. The PMC could also 

play an important role in ensuring that relevant agencies and other 

interagency councils effectively coordinate efforts to achieve the 

federal government priority goals. 

Establishing Agency-Level Performance Improvement Officer and 

the Performance Improvement Council 

H.R. 2142 also establishes in statute the position of a Performance Improvement Officer (PIO) at each agency. The PIO position 

currently exists in the federal government, having been established 

by Executive Order (E.O.) 13450, Improving Government Program 

Performance, on November 13, 2007.29 Although the bill codifies 

parts of the Executive Order into statute, it also makes changes to 

the responsibilities of a PIO in order to align the position with 

planning and reporting requirements provided in this legislation. 

H.R. 2142 directs the head of each agency to designate a senior 

executive of the agency as the agency PIO. In requiring that the 

PIO be selected from among the agency’s senior executives, the bill 

attempts to ensure continuity for this position over time in order 

to help the agency focus on achieving its long-term goals. This longterm focus is especially important because the tenure of political 

appointees in top leadership positions within an agency usually 

lasts only a few years. 

The bill also establishes in statute a government-wide Performance Improvement Council (PIC), comprising the Deputy Director 


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30 Examples include the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, and the 

Federal Real Property Management Council. 

for Management of OMB, who serves as the chairperson, the PIOs 

from each of the 24 CFO Act agencies, other agency PIOs and other 

individuals as determined appropriate by the chairperson. The PIC 

was originally established under E.O. 13450. H.R. 2142 enhances 

the responsibilities of the PIC, directing it to coordinate performance and management activities with other interagency management councils.30 The Committee expects that other interagency 

management councils will take lead responsibility for implementing 

the management improvement-related federal government priority 

goals (i.e., the Chief Financial Officers Council will be responsible 

for the financial management-related goal), with the PIC assisting 

the other councils and monitoring progress toward the goals. 

Reviewing federal government and agency priority goals 

H.R. 2142 attempts to lay out a process for reviewing progress 

towards the federal government priority goals on, at minimum, a 

quarterly basis. For each federal government priority goal, the Director of OMB should review the progress achieved during the most 

recent quarter and the likelihood of meeting the performance target. As a part of these reviews, the Director of OMB and the PIC 

must categorize the federal government priority goals according to 

the risk of not meeting performance targets, and for those at greatest risk, identify strategies to improve performance. 

The Director of OMB and the PIC are also required to assess 

whether the agencies, organizations, program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies and other activities are contributing as planned to each federal government priority. By looking 

at the contribution of each underlying federal entity and type of 

federal intervention, the Director of OMB and the PIC may be able 

to identify successful practices that could be replicated by other 

agencies to improve their results and contributions to the overall 

federal government priority goal. This assessment process may also 

reveal federal activities that are duplicative or even working at 

cross-purposes. 

H.R. 2142 provides an analogous review process at each agency 

required to develop priority goals. For each agency priority goal, 

the head of the agency and the COO, with the support of the agency PIO, reviews the progress achieved during the most recent quarter and the likelihood of meeting the performance target. The reviews should include the designated leader for each agency priority 

goal, and relevant personnel within and external to the agency. 

The reviews should also highlight and strategize regarding high 

risk areas—in other word, where there is the greatest risk of not 

meeting a priority goal. Further, the head of the agency, COO, and 

PIO must assess whether the relevant organizations, program activities, regulations, policies and other activities are contributing as 

planned to each agency priority. 

This approach is aimed at increasing the use of performance information to improve performance and results. Through government-wide surveys of federal managers between 1997 and 2007, 

GAO found that although federal managers reported they had more 

performance measures in 2007 than in 1997, their reported use of 


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31GAO, Government Performance: Lessons Learned for the Next Administration on Using Performance Information to Improve Results, GAO–08–1026T (Washington, D.C.: July 24, 2008), 

‘‘What GAO Found.’’ 32GAO, Government Performance: Lessons Learned for the Next Administration on Using Performance Information to Improve Results, GAO–08–1026T (Washington, D.C.: July 24, 2008), p. 

16. 

the performance information collected by those measures had not 

changed significantly during that ten year period.31 Agencies are 

collecting a significant amount of information, but are not consistently using that information to improve their management and results. 

Web-based reporting 

This legislation requires OMB to develop a single governmentwide performance website by 2012 that will feature performance information outlined in the bill and provided by the agency. The bill 

further requires that OMB issue guidance to agencies on providing 

performance information for publication on this website. In addition, agencies are required to produce all strategic plans, performance plans, and performance reports in searchable, machine-readable formats beginning in fiscal year 2012. 

H.R. 2142 also attempts to reduce unnecessary and duplicative 

printed reports by prohibiting the printing of strategic plans, performance plans, and performance reports for external release, except when being provided to Congress. The public will be able to 

access these plans and reports on the government-wide performance website established in this bill. 

H.R. 2142 additionally requires each agency’s COO to compile a 

list of all plans and reports the agency produces for Congress, either by law or as directed in congressional reports, and identify 

outdated or duplicative requirements. The bill then provides that 

the President submit to Congress, concurrent with the submission 

of the budget of the United States government, a list of the plans 

and reports that the agencies identified as outdated or duplicative 

and authorizes the Director of OMB to concurrently submit a legislative proposal to eliminate or consolidate these outdated and duplicative plans. 

Office of Personnel Management 

GPRA previously required the Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) to develop a strategic planning and performance measurement training component for its management training program. In 

a 2007 survey of federal managers, GAO found that since 1997, 

while there has been a significant increase in training, only about 

half of GAO’s survey respondents in 2007 reported receiving any 

training that would assist in strategic planning and performance 

assessment.32

H.R. 2142 calls for the Director of OPM, in consultation with the 

PIC, to identify key skills and competencies related to performance 

management in the federal government. This is an important step 

to ensure that agencies are able to train their personnel to effectively use performance measurement building capabilities for continued performance planning. It is essential to build analytical capacity to use performance information and to ensure its quality in 

order to use that performance information in a meaningful fashion 

to improve government. GAO has previously noted the value of proVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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33GAO, Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results, GAO–04–38 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2004), pp. 9–10. 34GAO, Performance Budgeting: Past Initiatives Offer Insights for GPRA Implementation, 

GAO/AIMD–97–46 (Washington, D.C.: March 27, 1997), p. 4. 

viding training on setting program performance goals and the use 

of performance information, and recommended that OMB ensure 

that agencies are making adequate investments in such training.33

This requirement will help ensure that relevant agency personnel 

have access to such training. 

Implementation 

One reason GPRA differed from prior performance initiatives is 

that it was phased in over time. The federal government performance initiatives that preceded GPRA were typically implemented 

government-wide within a single year. GPRA, in contrast, provided 

a multiyear and iterative government-wide implementation process 

that incorporated pilot tests and formal evaluations of key concepts. In this manner, GPRA increased the potential for integration 

of planning, budgeting, and performance measurement while 

guarding against the unreasonably high expectations that plagued 

earlier initiatives.34 H.R. 2142 continues this successful aspect of 

GPRA by providing timeframes for implementing this Act, including interim planning and reporting activities. In addition, the bill 

requires GAO to evaluate interim activities and recommend improvements for full implementation. 

Congressional oversight and legislation 

H.R. 2142 reiterates a clause from GPRA that nothing in this Act 

shall be construed as limiting Congress’ ability to establish, amend, 

suspend, or annul, any federal government or agency goals. In addition, the bill provides for several GAO reviews of this Act’s implementation over time. The Committee expects that in addition to 

identifying needed improvements and making recommendations to 

enhance implementation, GAO will identify in these reports promising practices found at certain agencies that could be replicated at 

other agencies to improve their results and performance management. 

Inherently governmental functions 

This Committee notes that while H.R. 2142 seeks to modernize 

and refine key aspects of GPRA, the statutory foundation established by GPRA remains intact. The enactment of GPRA marked 

a key moment in federal government performance management initiatives by elevating management to a priority for both the Executive Branch and Congress. This Committee was the prime mover 

behind the development and passage of GPRA in 1993, and the 

Committee has taken great care to protect GPRA provisions proven 

to be beneficial and effective over the years. This bill makes targeted amendments to specific parts of GPRA, while leaving many 

GPRA provisions, and the accompanying Congressional intent, intact and unchanged. The Committee recognizes that the Congressional intent behind GPRA provisions left unchanged or modified 

for technical and conforming reasons (including where the Committee extended existing GPRA standards to apply to new compoVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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35 Committee on Governmental Affairs, Government Performance and Results Act, 1993 (to S. 

20), Together with Dissenting and Separate Views, (103 S. Rpt. 103–58), p. 25. 36For technical and conforming reasons, the Committee extended existing inherently governmental GPRA standards to the new federal government and agency priority goals created by 

this bill in section 31 U.S.C. § 1120(c), as well as the new section 31 U.S.C. § 1116(e), which 

updates agency performance ‘reports’ to be referred to as agency performance ‘updates,’ in accordance with H.R. 2142. 

nents established by H.R. 2142 that did not exist in 1993) will continue to apply as it has since the enactment of GPRA in 1993. 

For example, the Committee chose not to change the language 

and accompanying Congressional intent of the GPRA provisions 

that declare the preparation of an agency strategic plan, annual 

performance plan, or annual program performance report, to be an 

inherently governmental function. The GPRA Committee Report 

defines this as a ‘‘function that is so intimately related to the public interest as to mandate performance by Government employees,’’ 

while clearly stating that although GPRA specifies government employees are solely to be responsible for the final plan or report, this 

does not limit agencies from being assisted by non-federal parties, 

such as contractors or grantees, in the preparation of these plans 

and reports.35 Thus, the 1993 GPRA standards addressing the 

issue of inherently governmental functions have simply been extended to apply to the inherently governmental provisions in H.R. 

2142, located in section 306(e) of title 5, United States Code, as 

well as sections 1115(f), 1116(e), and 1120(c) of title 31, United 

States Code.’’ 36

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Representative Henry Cuellar introduced H.R. 2142 in the House 

of Representatives on April 28, 2009. The House passed H.R. 2142 

on June 16, 2010 by voice vote. 

On June 17, 2010, H.R. 2142 was received in the Senate, read 

twice, and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs. On September 29, 2010 the Committee considered the measure, and Senator Carper offered an amendment in 

the nature of a substitute, which was adopted by voice vote. The 

Committee then adopted the bill as amended by voice vote and ordered it favorably reported to the Senate. Members present for the 

vote on the substitute amendment, and the vote on the bill as 

amended, were Senators Lieberman, Collins, Akaka, Carper, Pryor, 

Tester, Burris, Kaufman, and Brown. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This section provides the short title of the bill, the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. 

Section 2. Strategic planning amendments 

This section requires federal agencies to post their strategic plan 

on the agency’s website no later than the first Monday in February 

in the second year of a Presidential term. This section also revises 

the schedule for agency strategic plans to align with presidential 

terms. 

In addition, this section sets out requirements for the contents of 

an agency’s strategic plan, including a comprehensive mission 


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statement and general goals and objectives. The agency is also required to describe in its strategic plan how any goals and objectives 

in its plan contribute to the crosscutting federal government priority goals added by section 5 of the bill and to describe how the 

goals and objectives incorporate the views and suggestions obtained 

through Congressional consultations. 

Strategic plans are required to cover a period of no less than four 

years and this section allows the agency to make adjustments to 

the plan to reflect significant changes in its operating environment, 

with appropriate notification of Congress. In addition, this section 

requires the agency to consult with and obtain majority and minority views from the relevant authorizing, appropriations, and oversight committees when developing or making adjustments to its 

strategic plan; these congressional consultations are required to 

occur at least once every two years. The agency must also consider 

the views of other key stakeholders. 

Section 3. Performance planning amendments 

This section amends section 1115 of title 31, U.S. Code, which is 

re-titled ‘‘Federal Government and Agency Performance Plans.’’ 

This section expands on the existing GPRA requirement for a 

federal government performance plan. It requires the Director of 

OMB to coordinate with agencies to develop the plan, which (1) establishes performance goals for each federal government priority 

goal; (2) identifies the various agencies, organizations, program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies, and other activities 

that contribute to each federal government performance goal; (3) 

identifies a lead government official for each federal government 

performance goal; (4) establishes common federal government performance indicators to measure and assess progress; and (5) identifies government-wide and cross-agency major management challenges and plans to address such challenges. 

This section also requires the agency to post its performance plan 

on the agency website concurrent with the submission of the budget for the United States Government. The agency performance plan 

is to include performance goals for both the fiscal year in which the 

plan is submitted as well as the next fiscal year. 

In addition, this section requires the agency to describe how the 

performance goals contained in the plan contribute to the goals and 

objectives established in the agency’s strategic plan, as well as any 

federal government performance goals contained in the federal government performance plan. The agency is required to identify 

which, if any, performance goals are designated as agency priority 

goals. It must also explain how the agency plans to achieve its performance goals, including by identifying clearly defined milestones; 

agency officials—referred to as goal leaders—responsible for ensuring each goal is achieved; the human, capital and information resources required to meet the performance goals; and the organizations program activities, regulations, policies and other activities 

that support each goal. The agency must also describe how it is collaborating and coordinating with other agencies to achieve its performance goal as well as relevant federal government performance 

goals. 

This section amends an existing requirement and directs agencies to develop a balanced set of performance indicators to measure 


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or assess progress toward each performance goal, including customer service, efficiency, output, and outcome indicators. It also requires agencies to provide additional information about how it will 

ensure the validity and reliability of its performance data. Further, 

it requires the agency to identify its major management challenges 

and identify how it plans to address those challenges. 

This section also requires the agency to identify low-priority program activities based on an analysis of the program activities’ contribution to the agency’s mission and goals. 

If an agency, in consultation with the Director of OMB, determines that it is not feasible to express the performance goals for 

a particular program activity in an objective, quantifiable, and 

measurable form, this section allows the Director of OMB to authorize an alternative form. Such an alternative program must include detailed information that would allow for an accurate, independent determination of whether the program activity’s performance is a minimally effective program or a successful program. 

This section also provides new definitions for terms added by this 

bill, including ‘‘crosscutting,’’ ‘‘customer service measure,’’ ‘‘efficiency measure,’’ and ‘‘milestone.’’ 

Section 4. Performance reporting amendments 

This section amends section 1116 of title 31, United States Code, 

which is re-titled ‘‘Agency Performance Reporting.’’ 

This section requires the head of the agency to make agency performance updates available on the agency’s public website. It also 

requires the agency to provide a performance update at least annually, occurring no later than 150 days after the end of the fiscal 

year, with agencies encouraged to provide more frequent updates 

for performance indicators that provide significant value to the federal government, Congress, or other key stakeholders, at a reasonable level of administrative burden. Among other things, these updates are required to include a review of the agency’s success in 

achieving its performance goals, along with results for the five preceding fiscal years; and information about the reliability and validity of the data used to measure the agency’s progress towards its 

performance goals. Agencies are also required to provide performance updates for classified program activities in the classified appendix of the agency performance plan. 

Finally, where an agency has not met its performance goals, this 

section requires that the head of the agency submit a performance 

improvement plan to OMB; where there have been unmet performance goals for two consecutive years, the agency head is required 

to submit additional information to Congress and to describe additional funding the agency will obligate to achieve the relevant 

goals. 

Section 5. Federal government and agency priority goals 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding a 

new subsection 1120, ‘‘Federal Government and Agency Priority 

Goals.’’ 

This section requires the Director of OMB to coordinate with 

agencies to develop federal government priority goals, with the aim 

of improving performance and management across the federal government. 


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This section also provides the process for developing the federal 

government priority goals and making them available to the public. 

At a minimum, the goals are required to be posted on the government-wide performance website provided under the new section 

1122 of title 31, United States Code, created by section 7 of this 

bill. The bill provides flexibility for the Director of OMB to make 

adjustments to the goals during the four-year timeframe should 

there be significant changes in the federal government’s operating 

environment. When developing or adjusting the goals, and at least 

once per Congress, the Director of OMB is also required to consult 

with key congressional committees and obtain both majority and 

minority views on the draft goals. 

Further, this section requires the head of each of the 24 CFO Act 

agencies (or those otherwise determined by the Director of OMB) 

to identify agency priority goals from among the agency’s performance goals. This section provides the Director of OMB the authority 

to determine the total number of agency priority goals across the 

federal government, as well as the number of priority goals to be 

developed by each agency. 

Section 6. Quarterly priority progress reviews and use of performance information 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding a 

new subsection 1121, ‘‘Quarterly Priority Progress Reviews and 

Use of Performance Information.’’ 

This section lays out a process for reviewing progress towards 

the federal government priority goals on a quarterly basis at minimum. The Director of OMB, with the support of the PIC, is required to review with the appropriate lead government official the 

progress achieved during the most recent quarter, overall trend 

data, and the likelihood of meeting the performance target, among 

other things. Officials from relevant agencies, organizations and 

program activities are to be included in the review, and the reviews 

are to assess whether the agencies, organizations, program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies and other activities are 

contributing as planned to each federal government priority. In addition, the Director of OMB, with the support of the PIC, is required to categorize the federal government priority goals by their 

risk of not meeting their performance targets, and for those at 

greatest risk, identify strategies to improve performance. 

This section also requires that, at each agency, the head of the 

agency and the agency’s COO, with the support of the agency PIO, 

conduct an analogous quarterly review to review priority goals with 

the appropriate goal leaders. 

Section 7. Transparency of federal government programs, priority 

goals, and results 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding a 

new subsection 1122, ‘‘Transparency of Programs, Priority Goals, 

and Results.’’ 

This section requires OMB to develop a single government-wide 

performance website by October 1, 2012 and update the information presented on the website at least quarterly. The website is required to include information on each program identified by the 

agencies, including a description of the purposes of each program 


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and how the program contributes to the mission and goals of the 

agency, as well as the level of funding for each program for the current and previous two fiscal years. 

This section also requires the head of each agency to develop 

agency priority goals and to provide information about those priority goals for the website, including a description of how the goal 

will be achieved; the performance indicators to be used in assessing 

progress; the accuracy and reliability of the data used to measure 

progress towards the goals; and the results achieved. The Director 

of OMB is also to make information on federal government priority 

goals available on the website. 

Section 8. Agency chief operating officers 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding a 

new subsection 1123, ‘‘Chief Operating Officers,’’ establishing in 

statute the position of COO at each agency. 

This section designates the deputy head of agency, or equivalent, 

at each agency as the agency’s COO, with overall responsibility for 

improving the management and performance of the agency. Additional responsibilities include advising and assisting the head of 

agency in carrying out the planning and reporting requirements of 

this bill; overseeing agency-specific efforts to improve management 

within the agency and across the federal government; and coordinating with relevant personnel within and external to the agency 

who have a significant role in contributing to the mission and goals 

of the agency. 

Section 9. Agency performance improvement officers and the performance improvement council 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, by adding a 

new subsection 1124, ‘‘Performance Improvement Officers and the 

Performance Improvement Council,’’ which establishes in statute 

the position of Performance Improvement Officer at each agency 

and a Performance Improvement Council. 

This section directs the head of each agency, in consultation with 

the agency COO, to designate a senior executive at the agency as 

the agency PIO and describes the functions of the PIO. These functions include to advise or assist the agency head and COO in selecting agency goals; overseeing the implementation of the agency 

strategic planning, performance planning, and reporting requirements; conducting regular reviews of agency performance; and developing and using performance measures in personnel performance appraisals within the agency. The PIO is also responsible for 

ensuring that agency progress toward the achievement of all goals 

is communicated to leaders, managers, and employees in the agency and Congress, and is made available on the agency’s public 

website. 

This section also establishes a Performance Improvement Council 

to be chaired by the OMB Deputy Director for Management and 

which is to include the PIO from each CFO Act agency, and other 

PIOs and individuals as determined appropriate by the chairperson. This section further sets out the responsibilities of the PIC, 

including assisting the Director of OMB to improve the performance of the federal government and achieve federal government priority goals and implement the planning, reporting, and use of perVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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formance information requirements related to federal government 

priority goals. The PIC is also to work to resolve specific government-wide or crosscutting performance issues; facilitate the exchange among agencies of practices that have led to performance 

improvements within specific programs, agencies or across agencies; and develop recommendations to streamline and improve performance management policies and requirements. 

This section also directs the Administrator of General Services to 

provide administrative and other support for the PIC to implement 

this section. 

Section 10. Format of performance plans and reports 

This section requires agencies to produce all strategic plans, performance plans, and performance reports in searchable, machinereadable formats beginning in fiscal year 2012. Additionally, this 

section prohibits agencies from incurring expenses to print such 

plans and reports for external release, except for when providing 

such documents to the Congress. Instead, such plans and reports 

are to be made available on the government-wide performance 

website established by this bill. This section further requires the 

Director of OMB to issue guidance to agencies, not later than June 

1, 2012, to provide concise and timely performance information for 

publication on the website. 

Section 11. Reducing duplicative and outdated agency reporting 

This section amends title 31, United States Code, to provide a 

process to eliminate or consolidate duplicative and outdated agency 

plans and reports. 

This section requires each agency’s COO to compile a list of all 

plans and reports the agency produces for Congress, either by law 

or as directed in congressional reports, and to identify those plans 

and reports that are outdated or duplicative of other required plans 

and reports. Each agency’s COO is then to provide this information 

to the Director of OMB. This section further requires that the 

President is to include in each budget of the United States Government the list of duplicative or outdated plans. In addition, the section authorizes the Director of OMB to submit proposed legislation 

to Congress to eliminate or consolidate such plans and reports. 

Finally, this section requires that during the first year of implementation of this section, each agency’s list of outdated and duplicative plans and reports must comprise at least 10 percent of all 

plans and reports identified. In subsequent years, the Director of 

OMB will determine the minimum percentage to be listed by agencies as outdated or duplicative. 

Section 12. Performance management skills and competencies 

This section requires the Director of OPM, in consultation with 

the PIC, to identify key skills and competencies related to performance management in the federal government not later than one 

year after the enactment date of this Act. Not later than two years 

after the enactment of this Act, the Director of OPM must incorporate such skills and competencies into relevant position classifications and agency training. 


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Section 13. Technical and conforming amendments 

This section provides for several technical and conforming 

amendments to title 5 and title 31, United States Code. 

Section 14. Implementation of this Act 

This section provides timeframes for implementing this Act, including interim planning and reporting activities. The Director of 

OMB, in coordination with agencies, is required to develop interim 

federal government priority goals and performance plans consistent 

with the requirements of this Act beginning with the submission of 

the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget of the United States Government. 

Also by the time the fiscal year 2013 budget is required to be submitted (February 6, 2012), agencies are required to make adjustments to their strategic plans to bring them in line with the requirements of this Act. Agencies must also begin making performance reporting updates consistent with the requirements of this Act 

beginning in fiscal year 2012 and, for fiscal year 2013, submit performance plans consistent with the requirements of this Act. 

This section also provides that the quarterly priority progress reviews required under section 6 of this Act. Agency reviews of their 

progress achieved toward priority goals will begin for agencies with 

the first full quarter beginning on or after the date of enacting of 

this Act for the priority goals contained in the Analytical Perspectives volume of the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget of the United States 

Government. Reviews of progress achieved toward the federal government priority goals are required to begin with the quarter ending June 20, 2012. 

This section further requires the Director of OMB to prepare 

guidance for agencies regarding the implementation of this Act. 

Section 15. Congressional oversight and legislation 

This section provides that nothing in this Act is to be construed 

as limiting the ability of Congress to establish, amendment, suspend, or annual a goal of the federal government or an agency and 

requires several GAO reviews. These include reviews of this Act’s 

implementation over time. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill. The Congressional Budget Office 

states that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and 

would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The enactment of this legislation will not have significant regulatory impact. 


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VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

NOVEMBER 9, 2010. 

Hon. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2142, the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 2142—GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 

H.R. 2142 would amend the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which requires federal agencies to define 

their missions and evaluate their performance. Specifically, the legislation would require federal agencies to expand their efforts to 

track and improve performance by: providing the Congress and the 

public with additional information on their current plans; incorporating their management goals and improvement plans into the 

GPRA performance evaluation process; and providing information 

on their performance via the Internet. In addition, the legislation 

would require training for employees who analyze and evaluate 

government programs, a report by the Government Accountability 

Office (GAO), and a study by the Office of Personnel Management 

regarding the evaluation of government programs. 

Some provisions of H.R. 2142 would codify current policies and 

executive orders, including requirements that chief operating officers in each agency manage the performance and improvement 

process, appoint Performance Improvement Officers, and create 

and evaluate the Performance Improvement Council. Because those 

provisions of the bill are being carried out under current policies 

and executive orders, CBO estimates that implementing them 

would result in no additional federal costs. 

GPRA requires all federal agencies to prepare performance plans 

annually and strategic plans every three years. Based on information from GAO, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and 

the Department of the Treasury, CBO estimates that the federal 

government spends between $50 million and $100 million annually 

to comply with current GPRA requirements. 

Under the bill, CBO expects that most agencies’ administrative 

workload would increase to carry out some of the requirements. In 

particular, additional costs would accrue from expanding public reporting on agencies’ plans and performance, incorporating management goals and improvement plans into GPRA, and providing additional training for employees. We estimate that additional spending 

among the 23 major federal agencies would vary significantly but 

average around $1 million a year each to implement those new requirements. In total, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2142 

would expand GPRA requirements and increase spending $75 million governmentwide over the 2011–2015 period, assuming the 

availability of appropriated funds. 


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The legislation would affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual appropriations, such as the Bonneville Power 

Administration and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates 

that any change in spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 2142 would not affect revenues. 

Finally, implementing H.R. 2142 eventually could lead to more 

effective management of government agencies at a reduced cost. 

Additionally, placing more reporting online could result in lower 

costs in the future. All such savings would be discretionary, would 

depend on amounts provided in future appropriation acts, and 

would be small over the next five years. 

H.R. 2142 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

On June 7, 2010, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2142, 

the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Act of 

2010, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight 

and Government Reform on May 20, 2010. Both versions of the legislation would change the Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993, but in different ways. CBO’s cost estimates reflect 

those differences. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. 

This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by H.R. 2142, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND 

EMPLOYEES 

PART 1—THE AGENCIES GENERALLY 

CHAPTER 3—POWERS 

SEC. 306. AGENCY STRATEGIC PLANS 

(a) øNo later than September 30, 1997¿ Not later than the first 

Monday in February of any year following the year in which the 

term of a President commences under section 101 of title 3, the head 

of each agency shall øsubmit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget¿ make available on the public website of the 

agency a strategic plan and notify the President and øto the¿ Congress of its availabilityø a strategic plan for program activities¿. 

Such plan shall contain— 

(1) a comprehensive mission statement covering the major 

functions and operations of the agency; 

(2) general goals and objectives, including outcome-oriented 

goals, for the major functions and operations of the agency; 


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(3) a description of how any goals and objectives contribute 

to the federal government priority goals required by section 

1120(a) of title 31; 

(ø3¿4) a description of how the goals and objectives are to be 

achieved, including— 

(A) a description of the operational processes, skills and 

technology, and the human, capital, information, and other 

resources required to ømeet¿ achieve those goals and objectives; and 

(B) a description of how the agency is working with other 

agencies to achieve its goals and objectives as well as relevant federal government priority goals; 

(5) a description of how the goals and objectives incorporate 

views and suggestions obtained through congressional consultations required under subsection (d); 

(ø4¿6) a description of how the performance goals øincluded¿ 

provided in the plan required by section 1115(a) of title 31 

øshall be related¿, including the agency priority goals required 

by section 1120(b) of title 31, if applicable, contribute to the 

general goals and objectives in the strategic plan; 

(ø5¿7) an identification of those key factors external to the 

agency and beyond its control that could significantly affect the 

achievement of the general goals and objectives; and 

(ø6¿8) a description of the program evaluations used in establishing or revising general goals and objectives, with a 

schedule for future program evaluations to be conducted. (b) The strategic plan shall cover a period of not less than ø5¿ 

4 years following the fiscal year in which the plan is submitted. As 

needed, the head of the agency may make adjustments to the strategic plan to reflect significant changes in the environment in which 

the agency is operating, with appropriate notification of Congress. øThe strategic plan shall be updated and revised at least every 

three years, except that the strategic plan for the Department of 

Defense shall be updated and revised at least every four years.¿ 

(c) The performance plan required by section 1115(b) of title 31 

shall be consistent with the agency’s strategic plan. A performance 

plan may not be submitted for a fiscal year not covered by a current strategic plan under this section. 

(d) When developing or making adjustments to a strategic plan, 

the agency shall consult periodically with the Congress, including 

majority and minority views from the appropriate authorizing, appropriations, and oversight committees, and shall solicit and consider the views and suggestions of those entities potentially affected by or interested in such a plan. The agency shall consult 

with the appropriate committees of Congress at least once every 2 

years. 

(e) The functions and activities of this section shall be considered 

to be inherently governmental functions. The drafting of strategic 

plans under this section shall be performed only by federal employees. 

(f) For purposes of this section the term ‘agency’ means an Executive agency defined under section 105, but does not include the 

Central Intelligence Agency, the Government Accountability Office, 

øthe Panama Canal Commission,¿ the United States Postal Service, and the Postal Regulatory Commission. 


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TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE 

Subtitle II—The Budget Process 

CHAPTER 11—THE BUDGET AND FISCAL, BUDGET, AND 

PROGRAM INFORMATION 

SEC. 1105. BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS. 

(a) On or after the first Monday in January but not later than 

the first Monday in February of each year, the President shall submit a budget of the United States Government for the following fiscal year. Each budget shall include a budget message and summary and supporting information. The President shall include in 

each budget the following: 

* * * * * * * 

(37) the list of plans and reports, as provided for under section 1125, that agencies identified for elimination or consolidation because the plans and reports are determined outdated or 

duplicative of other required plans and reports. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1115. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PERFORMANCE 

PLANS 

(a) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PLANS.—In carrying 

out the provisions of section 1105(a)(28), the Director of the Office 

of Management and Budget shall ørequire each agency to prepare 

an annual performance plan covering each program activity set 

forth in the budget of such agency. Such plan shall—¿ coordinate 

with agencies to develop the federal government performance plan. 

In addition to the submission of such plan with the budget of the 

United States Government, the Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget shall ensure that all information required by this subsection is concurrently made available on the website provided 

under section 1122 and updated periodically, but not less than annually. The federal government performance plan shall— (1) establish federal government performance goals to define 

the level of performance to be achieved during the year in which 

the plan is submitted and the next fiscal year for each of the 

federal government priority goals required under section 

1120(a) of this title; 

(2) identify the agencies, organizations, program activities, 

regulations, tax expenditures, policies, and other activities contributing to each federal government performance goal during 

each fiscal year; 

(3) for each federal government performance goal, identify a 

lead government official who shall be responsible for coordinating the efforts to achieve the goal; 

(4) establish common federal government performance indicators with quarterly targets to be used in measuring or assessing— 

(A) overall progress toward each federal government performance goal; and 

(B) the individual contribution of each agency, organization, program activity, regulation, tax expenditure, policy, 

and other activity identified under paragraph (2); 


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(5) establish clearly defined quarterly milestones; and 

(6) identify major management challenges that are Government-wide or crosscutting in nature and describe plans to address such challenges, including relevant performance goals, 

performance indicators, and milestones. 

(b) AGENCY PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Not later than the first Monday in February of each year, the head of each agency shall make 

available on a public website of the agency, and notify the President 

and the Congress of its availability, a performance plan covering 

each program activity set forth in the budget of such agency. Such 

plan shall— 

(1) establish performance goals to define the level of performance to be achieved by a program activity during the year in 

which the plan is submitted and the next fiscal year; 

(2) express such goals in an objective, quantifiable, and 

measurable form unless authorized to be in an alternative form 

under subsection (øb¿c); 

(3) describe how the performance goals contribute to— (A) the general goals and objectives established in the 

agency’s strategic plan required by section 306(a)(2) of title 

5; and 

(B) any of the federal government performance goals established in the federal government performance plan required by subsection (a)(1); 

(4) identify among the performance goals those which are designated as agency priority goals as required by section 1120(b) 

of this title, if applicable; 

(ø3¿5) provide a description of how the performance goals 

øand objectives¿ are to be achieved, including— 

(A) the operational processes, training, skills and technology, and the human, capital, information, and other resources and strategies required to meet those performance 

goals øand objectives¿; 

(B) clearly defined milestones; 

(C) an identification of the organizations, program activities, regulations, policies, and other activities that contribute to each performance goal, both within and external 

to the agency; 

(D) a description of how the agency is working with other 

agencies to achieve its performance goals as well as relevant federal government performance goals; and 

(E) an identification of the agency officials responsible for 

the achievement of each performance goal, who shall be 

known as goal leaders; 

(ø4¿6) establish a balanced set of performance indicators to 

be used in measuring or assessing øthe relevant outputs, service levels, and outcomes of each program activity¿ progress toward each performance goal, including, as appropriate, customer service, efficiency, output, and outcome indicators; 

(ø5¿7) provide a basis for comparing actual program results 

with the established performance goals; øand¿ 

(ø6¿8) ødescribe¿ a description of how the agency will ensure 

the accuracy and reliability of the data used to measure 

progress towards its performance goals, including an identification of— 


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(A) the means to be used to verify and validate measured 

values; 

(B) the sources for these data; 

(C) the level of accuracy required for the intended use of 

the data; 

(D) any limitations to these data at the required level of 

accuracy; and 

(E) how the agency will compensate for such limitations 

if needed to reach the required level of accuracy; 

(9) describe major management challenges the agency faces 

and identify— (A) planned actions to address such challenges; 

(B) performance goals, performance indicators, and milestones to measure progress toward resolving such challenges; and 

(C) the agency official responsible for resolving such challenges; and 

(10) identify low-priority program activities based on an analysis of their contribution to the mission and goals of the agency 

and include an evidence-based justification for designating a 

program activity as low-priority. 

(øb¿c) ALTERNATIVE FORM.—If an agency, in consultation with 

the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, determines 

that it is not feasible to express the performance goals for a particular program activity in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

may authorize an alternative form. Such alternative form shall— 

(1) include separate descriptive statements of— 

(A)(i) a minimally effective program; and 

(ii) a successful program; or 

(B) such alternative as authorized by the Director of the 

Office of Management and Budget, with sufficient precision and in such terms that would allow for an accurate, 

independent determination of whether the program activity’s performance meets the criteria of the description; or 

(2) state why it is infeasible or impractical to express a performance goal in any form for the program activity. 

(øc¿d) TREATMENT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—For the purpose of 

complying with this section, an agency may aggregate, disaggregate, or consolidate program activities, except that any aggregation or consolidation may not omit or minimize the significance of 

any program activity constituting a major function or operation for 

the agency. 

(ød¿e) APPENDIX.—An agency may submit with its annual performance plan an appendix covering any portion of the plan that— 

(1) is specifically authorized under criteria established by an 

Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy; and 

(2) is properly classified pursuant to such Executive order. 

(øe¿f) INHERENTLY GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS.—The functions 

and activities of this section shall be considered to be inherently 

governmental functions. The drafting of performance plans under 

this section shall be performed only by federal employees. 

(øf¿g) CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICERS.—With respect to each 

agency with a Chief Human Capital Officer, the Chief Human CapVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:31 Dec 23, 2010 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR372.XXX SR372

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ital Officer shall prepare that portion of the annual performance 

plan described under subsection ø(a)(3)¿(b)(5)(A). 

(øg¿h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section and sections 

1116 through ø1119¿ 1125, and sections 9703 and 9704, the term— 

(1) ‘agency’ has the same meaning as such term is defined 

under section 306(f) of title 5; 

(2) ‘crosscutting’ means across organizational (such as agency) boundaries; 

(3) ‘customer service measure’ means an assessment of service 

delivery to a customer, client, citizen, or other recipient, which 

can include an assessment of quality, timeliness, and satisfaction among other factors; 

(4) ‘efficiency measure’ means a ratio of a program activity’s 

inputs (such as costs or hours worked by employees) to its outputs (amount of products or services delivered) or outcomes (the 

desired results of a program); 

(5) ‘major management challenge’ means programs or management functions, within or across agencies, that have greater 

vulnerability to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement (such 

as issues identified by the Government Accountability Office as 

high risk or issues identified by an Inspector General) where a 

failure to perform well could seriously affect the ability of an 

agency or the government to achieve its mission or goals; 

(6) ‘milestone’ means a scheduled event signifying the completion of a major deliverable or a set of related deliverables or a 

phase of work; 

(ø2¿7) ‘outcome measure’ means an assessment of the results 

of a program activity compared to its intended purpose; 

(ø3¿8) ‘output measure’ means the tabulation, calculation, or 

recording of activity or effort and can be expressed in a quantitative or qualitative manner; 

(ø4¿9) ‘performance goal’ means a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective, against 

which actual achievement can be compared, including a goal 

expressed as a quantitative standard, value, or rate; 

(ø5¿10) ‘performance indicator’ means a particular value or 

characteristic used to measure output or outcome; 

(ø6¿11) ‘program activity’ means a specific activity or project 

as listed in the program and financing schedules of the annual 

budget of the United States Government; and 

(ø7¿12) ‘program evaluation’ means an assessment, through 

objective measurement and systematic analysis, of the manner 

and extent to which federal programs achieve intended objectives. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1116. øPROGRAM¿ AGENCY PERFORMANCE REPORTINGøS¿ 

(a) øNot later than 150 days after the end of an agency’s fiscal 

year, t¿The head of each agency shall øprepare and submit to the 

President and the Congress, a report on agency performance for the 

previous fiscal year¿ make available on a public website of the 

agency an update on agency performance. 

(b)(1) Each øprogram performance report¿ update shall øset forth 

the performance indicators¿ compare actual performance achieved 

with the performance goals established in the agency performance 


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plan under section 1115(b) øalong with the actual performance 

achieved compared with the performance goals expressed in the 

plan for that fiscal year¿ and shall occur no less than 150 days 

after the end of the fiscal year, with more frequent updates of actual 

performance on indicators that provide data of significant value to 

the government, Congress, or program partners at a reasonable level 

of administrative burden. 

(2) If performance goals are specified in an alternative form 

under section 1115(øb¿c), the results øof such a program¿ shall be 

described in relation to such specifications, including whether the 

performance failed to meet the criteria of a minimally effective or 

successful program. 

ø(c) The report for fiscal year 2000 shall include actual results 

for the preceding fiscal year, the report for fiscal year 2001 shall 

include actual results for the two preceding fiscal years, and the report for fiscal year 2002 and all subsequent reports shall include 

actual results for the three preceding fiscal years.¿ 

(ød¿c) Each øreport¿ update shall— 

(1) review the success of achieving the performance goals øof 

the fiscal year¿ and include actual results for the five preceding 

fiscal years; 

(2) evaluate the performance plan for the current fiscal year 

relative to the performance achieved toward the performance 

goals øin the fiscal year covered by the report¿ during the period covered by the update; 

(3) explain and describe where a performance goal has not 

been met (including when a program activity’s performance is 

determined not to have met the criteria of a successful program activity under section 1115(øb¿ c)(1)(A)(ii) or a corresponding level of achievement if another alternative form is 

used)— 

(A) why the goal was not met; 

(B) those plans and schedules for achieving the established performance goal; and 

(C) if the performance goal is impractical or infeasible, 

why that is the case and what action is recommended; 

(4) describe the use and assess the effectiveness in achieving 

performance goals of any waiver under section 9703 of this 

title; 

(5) include a review of the performance goals and evaluation 

of the performance plan relative to the agency’s strategic 

human capital management; øand¿ 

(6) describe how the agency ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data used to measure progress towards its performance goals, including an identification of— 

(A) the means to be used to verify and validate measured 

values; 

(B) the sources for these data; 

(C) the level of accuracy required for the intended use of 

the data; 

(D) any limitations to these data at the required level of 

accuracy; and 

(E) how the agency has compensated for such limitations 

if needed to reach the required level of accuracy; and 


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(ø6¿7) include the summary findings of those program evaluations completed during the fiscal year covered by the report. 

(d) If an agency performance update includes any program activity or information that is specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of 

national defense or foreign policy and is properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order, the head of the agency shall make such 

information available in the classified appendix provided under section 1115(e). 

ø(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each agency performance report shall contain an assessment by the agency head of the 

completeness and reliability of the performance data included in 

the report. The assessment shall describe any material inadequacies in the completeness and reliability of the performance data, 

and the actions the agency can take and is taking to resolve such 

inadequacies. 

ø(2) If an agency performance report is incorporated into a report 

submitted under section 3516, the requirements of section 3516(e) 

shall apply in lieu of paragraph (1).¿ 

(øf¿e) The functions and activities of this section shall be considered to be inherently governmental functions. The drafting of agency performance øreports¿ updates under this section shall be performed only by federal employees. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1120. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PRIORITY GOALS 

(a) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOALS—. (1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

shall coordinate with agencies to develop priority goals to improve the performance and management of the federal government. Such federal government priority goals shall include— 

(A) outcome-oriented goals covering a limited number of 

crosscutting policy areas; and 

(B) goals for management improvements needed across 

the federal government, including 

(i) financial management; 

(ii) human capital management; 

(iii) information technology management; 

(iv) procurement and acquisition management; and 

(v) real property management; 

(2) The federal government priority goals shall be long-term 

in nature. At a minimum, the federal government priority goals 

shall be updated or revised every 4 years and made publicly 

available concurrently with the submission of the budget of the 

United States Government made in the first full fiscal year following any year in which the term of the President commences 

under section 101 of title 3. As needed, the Director of the Office 

of Management and Budget may make adjustments to the federal government priority goals to reflect significant changes in 

the environment in which the federal government is operating, 

with appropriate notification of Congress. 

(3) When developing or making adjustments to federal government priority goals, the Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget shall consult periodically with the Congress, including obtaining majority and minority views from— 


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(A) the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 

the House of Representatives; 

(B) the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the 

House of Representatives; 

(C) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

(D) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

of the House of Representatives; 

(E) the Committee on Finance of the Senate; 

(F) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

Representatives; and 

(G) any other committees as determined appropriate. 

(4) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

shall consult with the appropriate committees of Congress at 

least once every 2 years. 

(5) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

shall make information about the federal government priority 

goals available on the website described under section 1122 of 

this title. 

(6) The federal government performance plan required under 

section 1115(a) of this title shall be consistent with the federal 

government priority goals 

(b) AGENCY PRIORITY GOALS—. 

(1) Every 2 years, the head of each agency listed in section 

901(b) of this title, or as otherwise determined by the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget, shall identify agency 

priority goals from among the performance goals of the agency. 

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine the total number of agency priority goals across the 

government, and the number to be developed by each agency. 

The agency priority goals shall— 

(A) reflect the highest priorities of the agency, as determined by the head of the agency and informed by the federal government priority goals provided under subsection 

(a) and the consultations with Congress and other interested parties required by section 306(d) of title 5; 

(B) have ambitious targets that can be achieved within a 

2-year period; 

(C) have a clearly identified agency official, known as a 

goal leader, who is responsible for the achievement of each 

agency priority goal; 

(D) have interim quarterly targets for performance indicators if more frequent updates of actual performance provides data of significant value to the government, Congress, 

or program partners at a reasonable level of administrative 

burden; and 

(E) have clearly defined quarterly milestones. 

(2) If an agency priority goal includes any program activity 

or information that is specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest 

of national defense or foreign policy and is properly classified 

pursuant to such Executive order, the head of the agency shall 

make such information available in the classified appendix provided under section 1115(e). 


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(c) The functions and activities of this section shall be considered 

to be inherently governmental functions. The development of federal 

government and agency priority goals shall be performed only by 

federal employees. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1121. QUARTERLY PRIORITY PROGRESS REVIEWS AND USE OF 

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION 

(a) USE OF PERFORMANCE INFORMATION TO ACHIEVE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOALS.—Not less than quarterly, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with the support of the 

Performance Improvement Council, shall— 

(1) for each federal government priority goal required by section 1120(a) of this title, review with the appropriate lead government official the progress achieved during the most recent 

quarter, overall trend data, and the likelihood of meeting the 

planned level of performance; 

(2) include in such reviews officials from the agencies, organizations, and program activities that contribute to the accomplishment of each federal government priority goal; 

(3) assess whether agencies, organizations, program activities, 

regulations, tax expenditures, policies, and other activities are 

contributing as planned to each federal government priority 

goal; 

(4) categorize the federal government priority goals by risk of 

not achieving the planned level of performance; and 

(5) for the federal government priority goals at greatest risk 

of not meeting the planned level of performance, identify prospects and strategies for performance improvement, including 

any needed changes to agencies, organizations, program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies or other activities. 

(b) AGENCY USE OF PERFORMANCE INFORMATION TO ACHIEVE

AGENCY PRIORITY GOALS.—Not less than quarterly, at each agency 

required to develop agency priority goals required by section 1120(b) 

of this title, the head of the agency and Chief Operating Officer, 

with the support of the agency Performance Improvement Officer, 

shall— 

(1) for each agency priority goal, review with the appropriate 

goal leader the progress achieved during the most recent quarter, overall trend data, and the likelihood of meeting the 

planned level of performance; 

(2) coordinate with relevant personnel within and outside the 

agency who contribute to the accomplishment of each agency 

priority goal; 

(3) assess whether relevant organizations, program activities, 

regulations, policies, and other activities are contributing as 

planned to the agency priority goals; 

(4) categorize agency priority goals by risk of not achieving 

the planned level of performance; and 

(5) for agency priority goals at greatest risk of not meeting the 

planned level of performance, identify prospects and strategies 

for performance improvement, including any needed changes to 

agency program activities, regulations, policies, or other activities. 

* * * * * * * 


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SEC. 1122. TRANSPARENCY OF PROGRAMS, PRIORITY GOALS, AND RESULTS 

(a) TRANSPARENCY OF AGENCY PROGRAMS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, 2012, the Office 

of Management and Budget shall— 

(A) ensure the effective operation of a single website; 

(B) at a minimum, update the website on a quarterly 

basis; and 

(C) include on the website information about each program identified by the agencies. 

(2) INFORMATION.—Information for each program described 

under paragraph (1) shall include— 

(A) an identification of how the agency defines the term 

program’, consistent with guidance provided by the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget, including the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated to be considered a program by the agency; 

(B) a description of the purposes of the program and the 

contribution of the program to the mission and goals of the 

agency; and 

(C) an identification of funding for the current fiscal year 

and previous 2 fiscal years. 

(b) TRANSPARENCY OF AGENCY PRIORITY GOALS AND RESULTS.— 

The head of each agency required to develop agency priority goals 

shall make information about each agency priority goal available to 

the Office of Management and Budget for publication on the 

website, with the exception of any information covered by section 

1120(b)(2) of this title. In addition to an identification of each agency priority goal, the website shall also consolidate information about 

each agency priority goal, including 

(1) a description of how the agency incorporated any views 

and suggestions obtained through congressional consultations 

about the agency priority goal; 

(2) an identification of key factors external to the agency and 

beyond its control that could significantly affect the achievement of the agency priority goal; 

(3) a description of how each agency priority goal will be 

achieved, including— 

(A) the strategies and resources required to meet the priority goal; 

(B) clearly defined milestones; 

(C) the organizations, program activities, regulations, 

policies, and other activities that contribute to each goal, 

both within and external to the agency; 

(D) how the agency is working with other agencies to 

achieve the goal; and 

(E) an identification of the agency official responsible for 

achieving the priority goal; 

(4) the performance indicators to be used in measuring or assessing progress; 

(5) a description of how the agency ensures the accuracy and 

reliability of the data used to measure progress towards the priority goal, including an identification of— 

(A) the means used to verify and validate measured values; 


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(B) the sources for the data; 

(C) the level of accuracy required for the intended use of 

the data; 

(D) any limitations to the data at the required level of accuracy; and 

(E) how the agency has compensated for such limitations 

if needed to reach the required level of accuracy; 

(6) the results achieved during the most recent quarter and 

overall trend data compared to the planned level of performance; 

(7) an assessment of whether relevant organizations, program 

activities, regulations, policies, and other activities are contributing as planned; 

(8) an identification of the agency priority goals at risk of not 

achieving the planned level of performance; and 

(9) any prospects or strategies for performance improvement. 

(c) TRANSPARENCY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOALS

AND RESULTS.—The Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget shall also make available on the website— 

(1) a brief description of each of the federal government priority goals required by section 1120(a) of this title; 

(2) a description of how the federal government priority goals 

incorporate views and suggestions obtained through congressional consultations; 

(3) the federal government performance goals and performance indicators associated with each federal government priority goal as required by section 1115(a) of this title; 

(4) an identification of the lead government official for each 

federal government performance goal; 

(5) the results achieved during the most recent quarter and 

overall trend data compared to the planned level of performance; 

(6) an identification of the agencies, organizations, program 

activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies, and other activities that contribute to each federal government priority goal; 

(7) an assessment of whether relevant agencies, organizations, 

program activities, regulations, tax expenditures, policies, and 

other activities are contributing as planned; 

(8) an identification of the federal government priority goals 

at risk of not achieving the planned level of performance; and 

(9) any prospects or strategies for performance improvement. 

(d) INFORMATION ON WEBSITE.—The information made available 

on the website under this section shall be readily accessible and easily found on the Internet by the public and members and committees 

of Congress. Such information shall also be presented in a searchable, machine-readable format. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue guidance to ensure that such information is provided in a way that presents a coherent picture of all 

federal programs, and the performance of the federal government as 

well as individual agencies. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1123. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—At each agency, the deputy head of agency, or equivalent, shall be the Chief Operating Officer of the agency. 


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(b) FUNCTION.—Each Chief Operating Officer shall be responsible for improving the management and performance of the agency, 

and shall— 

(1) provide overall organization management to improve 

agency performance and achieve the mission and goals of the 

agency through the use of strategic and performance planning, 

measurement, analysis, regular assessment of progress, and use 

of performance information to improve the results achieved; 

(2) advise and assist the head of agency in carrying out the 

requirements of sections 1115 through 1122 of this title and section 306 of title 5; 

(3) oversee agency-specific efforts to improve management 

functions within the agency and across government; and 

(4) coordinate and collaborate with relevant personnel within 

and external to the agency who have a significant role in contributing to and achieving the mission and goals of the agency, 

such as the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Acquisition Officer/Senior Procurement Executive, 

Chief Information Officer, and other line of business chiefs at 

the agency. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1124. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS AND THE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL 

(a) PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—At each agency, the head of the agency, 

in consultation with the agency Chief Operating Officer, shall 

designate a senior executive of the agency as the agency Performance Improvement Officer. 

(2) FUNCTION.—Each Performance Improvement Officer shall 

report directly to the Chief Operating Officer. Subject to the direction of the Chief Operating Officer, each Performance Improvement Officer shall— 

(A) advise and assist the head of the agency and the 

Chief Operating Officer to ensure that the mission and 

goals of the agency are achieved through strategic and performance planning, measurement, analysis, regular assessment of progress, and use of performance information to 

improve the results achieved; 

(B) advise the head of the agency and the Chief Operating Officer on the selection of agency goals, including opportunities to collaborate with other agencies on common 

goals; 

(C) assist the head of the agency and the Chief Operating 

Officer in overseeing the implementation of the agency strategic planning, performance planning, and reporting requirements provided under sections 1115 through 1122 of 

this title and sections 306 of title 5, including the contributions of the agency to the federal government priority goals; 

(D) support the head of agency and the Chief Operating 

Officer in the conduct of regular reviews of agency performance, including at least quarterly reviews of progress 

achieved toward agency priority goals, if applicable; 

(E) assist the head of the agency and the Chief Operating 

Officer in the development and use within the agency of 


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performance measures in personnel performance appraisals, and, as appropriate, other agency personnel and planning processes and assessments; and 

(F) ensure that agency progress toward the achievement 

of all goals is communicated to leaders, managers, and employees in the agency and Congress, and made available on 

a public website of the agency. 

(b) PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Performance Improvement Council, consisting of— 

(A) the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of 

Management and Budget, who shall act as chairperson of 

the Council; 

(B) the Performance Improvement Officer from each 

agency defined in section 901(b) of this title; 

(C) other Performance Improvement Officers as determined appropriate by the chairperson; and 

(D) other individuals as determined appropriate by the 

chairperson. 

(2) FUNCTION.—The Performance Improvement Council 

shall— 

(A) be convened by the chairperson or the designee of the 

chairperson, who shall preside at the meetings of the Performance Improvement Council, determine its agenda, direct its work, and establish and direct subgroups of the 

Performance Improvement Council, as appropriate, to deal 

with particular subject matters; 

(B) assist the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget to improve the performance of the federal government and achieve the federal government priority goals; 

(C) assist the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget in implementing the planning, reporting, and use of 

performance information requirements related to the federal government priority goals provided under sections 

1115, 1120, 1121, and 1122 of this title; 

(D) work to resolve specific Government-wide or crosscutting performance issues, as necessary; 

(E) facilitate the exchange among agencies of practices 

that have led to performance improvements within specific 

programs, agencies, or across agencies; 

(F) coordinate with other interagency management councils; 

(G) seek advice and information as appropriate from nonmember agencies, particularly smaller agencies; 

(H) consider the performance improvement experiences of 

corporations, nonprofit organizations, foreign, State, and 

local governments, government employees, public sector 

unions, and customers of government services; 

(I) receive such assistance, information and advice from 

agencies as the Council may request, which agencies shall 

provide to the extent permitted by law; and 

(J) develop and submit to the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget, or when appropriate to the President through the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget, at times and in such formats as the chairperson 


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36 

may specify, recommendations to streamline and improve 

performance management policies and requirements. 

(3) SUPPORT.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of General Services 

shall provide administrative and other support for the 

Council to implement this section. 

(B) PERSONNEL.—The heads of agencies with Performance Improvement Officers serving on the Council shall, as 

appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, provide at 

the request of the chairperson of the Performance Improvement Council up to 2 personnel authorizations to serve at 

the direction of the chairperson. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1125. ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY AGENCY REPORTING 

(a) AGENCY IDENTIFICATION OF UNNECESSARY REPORTS.—Annually, based on guidance provided by the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget, the Chief Operating Officer at each agency shall— 

(1) compile a list that identifies all plans and reports the 

agency produces for Congress, in accordance with statutory requirements or as directed in congressional reports; 

(2) analyze the list compiled under paragraph (1), identify 

which plans and reports are outdated or duplicative of other required plans and reports, and refine the list to include only the 

plans and reports identified to be outdated or duplicative; 

(3) consult with the congressional committees that receive the 

plans and reports identified under paragraph 

(2) to determine whether those plans and reports are no 

longer useful to the committees and could be eliminated or consolidated with other plans and reports; and 

(4) provide a total count of plans and reports compiled under 

paragraph (1) and the list of outdated and duplicative reports 

identified under paragraph (2) to the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

(b) PLANS AND REPORTS.— 

(1) FIRST YEAR.—During the first year of implementation of 

this section, the list of plans and reports identified by each 

agency as outdated or duplicative shall be not less than 10 percent of all plans and reports identified under subsection (a)(1). 

(2) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—In each year following the first year 

described under paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget shall determine the minimum percent 

of plans and reports to be identified as outdated or duplicative 

on each list of plans and reports. 

(c) REQUEST FOR ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY REPORTS.—In 

addition to including the list of plans and reports determined to be 

outdated or duplicative by each agency in the budget of the United 

States government, as provided by section 1105(a)(37), the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget may concurrently submit 

to Congress legislation to eliminate or consolidate such plans and 

reports. 

Æ 


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