budget

OMB’s guidance to agencies on the development of their FY 2015 budgets promises that “OMB will issue a separate memo at a later date that encourages the increased use of evidence and evaluation, including rigorous testing of innovative strategies to build new knowledge of what works.” This encouragement comes on top of a foundation already under development in many agencies. 

When Cong. Cuellar was a state legislator in Texas, he saw how his state used performance information in the budget process.  When he was appointed earlier this year to the U.S. House appropriations committee, he finally reached a position where he could bring this perspective to Washington in a real way.  The next step is to convince his colleagues to try it.

Given budget austerity and increasingly complex challenges facing government executives, managing risk in the public sector has increasingly taken on new significance. Risks take on many forms, including national security risks via cyber­attacks, economic risks from natural disasters, budget and program risks, or privacy risk. However, government leaders lack an accepted culture and framework in which to properly understand, manage, and communicate risk.

A Government Accountability Office survey last year reports that the percentage of federal managers saying they used performance information in allocating resources actually dropped between 1997 and 2013.  Is it worth another try? In a new report for the IBM Center, Dr.

We stand at a pivotal moment in space exploration. There are plans to further extend our reach into the solar system, and NASA is leading the way.  An orbiting outpost, the International Space Station (ISS), is home to a crew of astronauts from across the world conducting research and learning how to live and work in space.

This is the sixth blog post in a series that sums up highlights of selected sessions held as part of the annual meeting in mid-November of the National Academy of Pubic Administration. Presenters John R. Bartle, Dean, College of Public Affairs and Community Service, University of Nebraska-Omaha Merl M. Hackbart, Provost Distinguished Service Professor & Interim Director Martin School of Public Policy & Administration, University of Kentucky Marilyn M.

Beyond the dollars in the President's budget, there are some details buried in congressional justifications that are worth examining. I think there are three sets of initiatives - that for the most part do not create new programs nor spend much in new dollars - that are worth attention: Building the capacity to implement and sustain cross-agency priority goals, Creating capacity to conduct meaningful performance-and-results assessments and link them to implementation, and Extending evidence-based approaches to solving problems.

A clear strategic focus and sound management are essential to the effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars, enabling agency decision makers to make tough choices on a day-to-day basis and for long-term management challenges. Given the critical challenges facing government today, the ability of government executives to properly align mission support functions with mission delivery can help them respond more effectively to their mission and management challenges simultaneously, as well as drive change within their department. The U.S.

Former federal budget officer Doug Criscitello participated on a panel on budget reform recently, in a room packed with concerned finance professionals. He noted: “It is clear the key practitioners in the field are desperate for improvements in a process that has not only failed taxpayers in recent years but has also hindered the ability of government finance professionals to plan and execute the financial management programs of their agencies in a responsible way.” It may take years before such reforms are possible, but what happens in the meanwhile?