Bush management scorecard gets a green light

The "traffic light" system the government is using to grade federal agencies on their efforts to solve the government's most pervasive problems is a promising first step toward improved federal management, legislators and government officials said at a House subcommittee hearing Friday. The Bush administration's 2003 budget proposal includes the Executive Branch Management Scorecard, which rates agencies in five areas: human capital management, competitive sourcing, financial management, electronic government and linking performance to budgets. The scorecard uses a "traffic light" grading system with green for success, yellow for mixed results and red for unsatisfactory. The first scorecard, released Feb. 4, was awash with red, which did not surprise Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations. "I have spent the last seven years examining these problems," Horn said after calling the hearing to order. "What I find most frustrating is that the problems do not need to persist." Strong leadership, sustained focus and more accountability would eliminate the problems, Horn said. "Poor performers do not like scorecards. However, after using scorecards extensively as an oversight tool, I can attest that they work," Horn said. Prior to the turn of the millennium, Horn served as a watchdog for Y2K computer-related problems at federal agencies. His 10 Y2K report cards graded agencies on their readiness for the Year 2000 technology challenge. Office of Federal Financial Management Controller Mark Everson testified during the hearing that the "traffic light" system was a first effort at performance-based budgeting, and was long overdue. "These changes have been called for by good government advocates for decades," Everson told the committee. "The fiscal 2003 budget responds to these longstanding demands, proposing to reinforce proveably strong programs and to redirect funds in many cases from programs that demonstrably fail or cannot offer evidence of success." But agencies are not completely to blame for the problems, said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, who also was not shocked at the red lights covering the scorecard. "Sometimes Congress enacts laws that restrain agencies from managing in a more effective manner," Sessions said. "This system provides a map for management reform and I look forward to the day that green lights outnumber red."