The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 25 voted to approve and send to the full Senate legislation that would tighten up oversight of Federal agency performance goals and publish more public data on the performance.gov website to help track how agencies are performing against those goals.
The Federal Performance Accountability Act of 2022 was introduced by committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Mike Braun earlier this month. The bill would update the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act to require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “to regularly conduct strategic reviews of agencies’ performance goals and ensure they are following through with strategic plans.”
The legislation, if it becomes law, would “improve transparency and accountability on how federal agencies are working to save taxpayer dollars and improve the delivery of essential services across the nation,” the committee said this week.
Among other provisions, the bill would instruct the chief operating officer of each covered Federal agency to review agency performance versus stated goals at least once per year.
The review would include progress toward stated goals, the likelihood that agencies will achieve the stated goals, and identification of ways to gather better evidence to evaluate whether goals are being achieved.
“Giving Congress and the Administration more tools and data to measure how federal agencies are performing will help us ensure government is working effectively for taxpayers,” Sen. Peters commented after the committee vote.
“Increased transparency and accountability are key when it comes to improving the performance of federal agencies for taxpayers,” added Sen. Braun.
The Senate bill does not appear to have companion legislation in the House.
