Agencies that fare poorly under the scoring of the Government Performance and Results Act, or GPRA, could face a "budget bludgeon" to force them to improve, House Government Reform and Oversight Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., said Thursday during a hearing on the executive branch's adherence to the law.
But Office of Management and Budget Director Franklin Raines replied that the law and Congress already have the attention of the agencies, which are struggling to put together strategic plans acceptable to Republicans.
"I think it is beginning to make a difference," Raines told the panel.
Burton and other Republicans began wielding the law against federal agencies when they took over Congress in early 1995.
Last month, Burton harshly criticized the draft strategic plans submitted by the agencies, saying only two of 24 evaluated were worthy of a passing grade.
Burton Thursday said the final plans, which his committee will rate next week, are a marginal improvement. "We are finding the final strategic plans to be somewhat better than the draft versions," he said.
However, he chalked up the progress to pressure from Congress, not administration policy.
Raines defended the agencies, saying that since this process had never been done before, it was expected they would not be of "uniformly high quality." With more work, the drafts have improved, he said.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, also testifying before the committee, added that the first round of strategic plans "demonstrates how challenging it is to implement the Results Act and how far we have to go."
Also criticizing the output of the agencies, Armey suggested that the law be integrated into authorization and appropriations decisions.
After Armey testified, Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., questioned how Congress would do if the standards of the law were applied to the legislative branch.
Noting that several different campaign finance reform investigations were occurring simultaneously, an unnecessary duplication, according to Waxman, he said Armey was being too patient with the probes and spending too much money.
A prickly Armey disagreed, saying, "I've been very patient with the tone of your questions."
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