In January of 2009, passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) was the most immediate legislative priority for the incoming Obama administration. The need for speed in enacting the bill was driven by the increasing severity of the economic crisis that came to be known as “The Great Recession.” In fact, as additional data for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 became available during early 2009, the sense of urgency increased. The recession was worse than the administration’s economic team had realized.

For over 75 years the U.S. Social Security Administration, or SSA, has touched the lives of virtually every American, whether it is after the loss of a loved one, at the onset of a disability, or during the transition from work to retirement.  

Our aim is to produce research and analysis that helps government leaders more effectively respond to their mission and management challenges.The IBM Center is named "The Business of Government" because its focus is the management and operation of government, not the policies of government. Public sector leaders and managers need the best, most practical advice available when it comes to delivering the business of government. We seek to “bridge the gap” between research and practice by helping to stimulate and accelerate the production of actionable research.

By: John Kamensky on The Business of Government Blog

Br: John Kamensky on The Business of Government Blog

1. Improving Government Performance Obama’s FY 2011 Management Initiatives (02-02-10) Obama’s Stealth Management Revolution (02-11-10)

President Obama created the Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GAT Board), headed by Earl Devaney, the chair of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Recovery Board), to recommend ways to apply the successful lessons of how Recovery Act monies were overseen to all government spending.<

As time has gone on, the gathering of performance data has become increasingly common. But there’s still a major hole. Even entities that produce carefully prepared performance reports often don’t use them in the legislative process. More commonly they are used within agencies to make managerial improvements. But when it comes time to shifting policy direction or debating funding, measures are all too often ignored.

ARA funds were accompanied by a new, centralized system of strict financial accountability and performance reporting, with frequent reporting requirements. These new requirements, as well as the rapid implementation timeframe required by ARA, created an enormous implementation challenge for all the participants in our federal-state-local-nonprofit intergovernmental system.

Last month, the IBM Center issued a report examining the implementation of the Recovery Act from a “bottom-up” perspective of several cities in the state of Virginia, and what insights they offered from their implementation experience.  Now, here’s a new report with a “top-down” perspective, authored by Ed DeSeve, who oversaw the implementation of the Recovery Act from Vice President Joe Biden’