Bill streamlining reporting requirements clears Congress

A bill authorizing federal agencies to consolidate financial and performance management reports into one annual report cleared Congress Friday and is awaiting presidential approval.

Under the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, federal agencies and departments are required to develop annual performance plans describing the year's goals and performance reports and indicating if those goals were met. Federal agencies have additional reporting obligations under federal law, including financial reports and other evaluations that require overlapping information.

The 2000 Reports Consolidation Act (S. 2712) would reduce the filing redundancy by allowing each agency to submit a consolidated report within 180 days from the end of fiscal years 2000 and 2001, and within 150 days from the end of every fiscal year from then on. In April, the Office of Management and Budget's authority to consolidate federal reports on a pilot basis expired.

"The consolidated reports would present in one document an integrated picture of an agency's performance. As such, they will be more useful to Congress, to the executive branch and to the public," said Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif, who chairs the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology.

The bill would require that the reports include two assessments. One, by the agency head, would describe the reliability of the agency's performance data. The other, by the agency Inspector General, would deal with the agency's progress in addressing its most serious management challenges, Horn said.

"The report authorized by this bill would give Congress and the American people a single source of information about the management of each federal agency," Horn said. "This information is critically important if Congress is to hold agencies accountable for the resources it spends to do the people's business."