Reform Laws: Long in the Tooth?

John Kamensky of the IBM Center for the Business of Government notes today that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Chief Financial Officers Act. And he points out that the current thinking in the Obama administration and apparently on Capitol Hill is that the law's reporting requirements leave much to be desired. Recently passed improper payments legislation requires a study of the CFO Act's mandates.

Likewise, Kamensky notes, OMB has made it clear it's not wild about the reporting requirements in the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, either.

These laws have been among the cornerstones of efforts to improve federal management over the past two decades. The reports they required were supposed to give the public insight into where tax dollars were going and how well agencies were performing their missions. But now it looks like they may go the way of the dinosaur.

What's the new paradigm? Look no further than Recovery.gov, which the administration clearly believes has changed the rules of the game when it comes to transparency and financial reporting.