GAO has summarized a series of reports over the last several years on implementation of the GPRA Modernization Act (GPRAMA), saying agency compliance “continues to be uneven, with varying effects on agencies’ performance management. Some progress has been made in areas where GAO has made prior recommendations; however, GAO has continued to identify a range of long-standing challenges.”
These issues include that the executive branch still needs to do more to address crosscutting issues. Although OMB has made progress through its emphasis on cross-agency priority goals, “more effective implementation of GPRAMA requirements, such as the requirement that agencies develop inventories of their programs, would help address crosscutting issues by providing decision makers with comprehensive program and funding information.”
Similarly, it said, “Ensuring performance information is useful and used by managers remains a challenge, but OMB and agencies are implementing processes that may lead to improvements. Agencies continue to have problems effectively using performance information.”
Agencies also continue to face challenges linking individual and agency performance to results and need to take additional actions to address GAO recommendations on measuring performance in a number of areas, such as customer service, it said.
Also, OMB and agencies “have not clearly communicated reliable and complete financial and performance information . . . While OMB has updated some of its guidance, improved reporting on the quality of information is not expected from the agencies until the fiscal year 2016 and 2017 reporting cycle.”
