Strategies for Using State Information: Measuring and Improving Performance
This report examines how federal agencies should adapt their activities now that all federal agencies and most states are moving to results-focused management, especially in the context of technology advances that make public access to and analysis of performance information more affordable. The study creates a vision for how federal agencies can use performance measures more effectively to motivate performance improvements and enhance public accountability of state programs.
Author: Shelley H. Metzenbaum, The BETTER Project. Former Associate Director of Performance and Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget
The Government Performance and Results Act celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. A major issue debated during the drafting of this law was how to treat federal agencies that relied heavily on state and local partners in implementing grant programs. How could federal agencies set goals, measures, and performance targets—and be held accountable by Congress for meeting them—in policy areas where the federal government is only one of a range of players, and sometimes not even the dominant player?
In fact, in some cases federal laws actually prohibit agencies from setting or collecting performance measures (such as in many of the block grants) and in some cases federal agencies are constrained by law from taking action to improve state performance (such as mandating state motorcycle helmet laws).
So what have federal agencies done in response to what seems an insoluble dilemma? This report, by Shelley H. Metzenbaum, examines the approach and strategies taken by several federal agencies in three classic intergovernmental arenas—environment, transportation, and education. And it offers a series of recommendations to various actors as to how they can improve performance in the continuing evolution of how to manage for results in a multi-player environment.