Agencies win plaudits for performance reports

An independent organization honored the Labor and State departments for strong annual performance reports Friday, and noted that, in general, agencies are doing a better job reporting on their goals and performance.

George Mason University's Mercatus Center, which has issued score cards on agency performance reports for the past 5 years, presented the awards, along with David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office.

The 1993 Government Performance and Results Act requires agencies to issue annual reports on goals and performance, and the Mercatus Center rates them on leadership, transparency and documentation of performance.

"We decided to examine and assess quality of performance reports because if you don't have good reporting, it's very difficult to make decisions based on performance. Without good performance reporting, we're flying blind," said Jerry Ellig, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center.

Labor, State, Transportation and Veterans Affairs had the highest-rated reports, while Defense, Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management ranked lowest.

Despite overall improvement, Mercatus found that almost 90 percent of federal spending in fiscal 2004 went to agencies rated below satisfactory on their performance reporting. Two of the largest, Defense and Social Security, which together accounted for $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2004, were rated in the bottom five of the 24 rated agencies.

Walker emphasized the difference between performance reporting and performance. "Performance and accountability reporting is a means to an end," he said. He noted that while Defense is the best organization in the world at winning armed conflicts, it's rated as one of the worst in terms of reporting.

The State, Commerce, and Justice departments were among the top-rated agencies that jumped up the ratings scale compared to fiscal 2003. "[State] has done a lot better job of defining outcomes and has shown steady improvement for several years," said Ellig. He added that the agency does an especially good job of clearly explaining its work to outsiders.

That ability--which Mercatus rates under its transparency criteria--is important not only so taxpayers can understand how an agency is performing, but so members of Congress can understand, said Ellig. "Members of Congress are not necessarily familiar with the minutiae of what agencies do," he said.

The Mercatus report shows overall improvement since 2001, the year President Bush took office. Ellig attributed this trend to the expected drop in scores during the transition between administrations, as well as to the Bush administration's emphasis on management.

Since 2002, the Office of Management and Budget has issued quarterly scorecards on agency performance across a variety of management areas. Ellig said such an emphasis on performance is the "next logical step" after the Clinton administration's reinventing government focus.

For the first time, the center gave out awards to agencies. Labor won first place for overall reporting, followed by State. Transportation and Veterans Affairs tied for third. Labor won an award for leadership, and State won for transparency.

"It's nice to get a little pat on the back once in a while," said Chris Burnham, State's chief financial officer.