Legislation Will Improve Government Efficiency and Ensure Effective Use of Taxpayer Dollars
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) to bolster the performance of federal agencies and ensure they are effectively carrying out their missions for the American people has advanced in the Senate. The Federal Agency Performance Act updates existing performance management laws by requiring regular strategic reviews of federal agencies’ performance goals and improving publicly available data on how agencies are achieving those goals. This will strengthen transparency and accountability for how federal agencies are working to save taxpayer dollars and improve the delivery of essential services across the nation. The bill was advanced by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee where Peters serves as Chair and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
“Congress and the Administration must help ensure that every federal agency is achieving their long-term performance goals and delivering results for Americans,” said Senator Peters. “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will ensure lawmakers have more tools and data to measure how federal agencies are working to meet these goals and effectively serve taxpayers for years to come.”
“Federal agencies must have transparent goals and effective strategies for measuring performance to meet the needs of the American public,” said James-Christian Blockwood, Executive Vice President for the Partnership for Public Service. “The Federal Performance Accountability Act will help modernize agencies’ strategic planning processes, reporting frameworks, and performance accountability. The Partnership for Public Service commends this bipartisan action to create an integrated, whole-of-government approach to improving federal performance and reporting.”
The Federal Agency Performance Act would update the Government Performance and Results Act for the first time since 2010 to require the White House Office of Management and Budget to regularly conduct strategic reviews of agencies’ performance goals and ensure they are following through with strategic plans. The bill would also improve the quality and amount of data on performance.gov – the federal government’s central website to track agency-specific and government-wide performance.
Peters has led numerous efforts to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent effectively and efficiently. His bipartisan bill to save taxpayer dollars by ensuring federal property assets are disaster resilient has been signed into law. Another law written by Peters to reduce duplicative software purchases called the MEGAByte Act has saved taxpayers more than $450 million since 2016.
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