State and Local Finance Data Disappears
Sep 22, 2003 by Guest Blogger
Analysts and policymakers are losing their most consistent, thorough source of state and local finance data for 2001 and 2003. The US Census Bureau did not publish state-by-state data on local government finance for fiscal year 2001 and will not be publishing it for 2003, a practice begun in 1970. In lieu of this data, the Census Bureau is publishing local finance estimates for the country as a whole. However, the Census Bureau will report the state level data for 2002 through the Census of Governments Report, and this data will be functionally similar to what was available before the Bureau stopped publishing such information, according to the government agency.
read in fullDigging Ourselves out of the $7 Trillion National Debt
Sep 22, 2003 by Guest Blogger
The growing national debt and deficits as far as the eye can see prompt varied reactions.
read in fullProgram Assessment And Budget Cuts Ahead
Feb 10, 2003 by Guest Blogger
This Administration has not made reducing the size and effectiveness of government a stated goal; however, the strides that are being made to devolve responsibilities to the states and to privatize government functions, deregulate and limit government oversight, and defund government by reducing federal (and often state) revenue through huge tax cuts, make the words unnecessary. One new and potentially effective tool in this effort to delimit the role of the federal government is the “Program Assessment Rating Tool,” or “PART.”
read in full"PART" And The Federal Budget
Oct 28, 2002 by Guest Blogger
There has been little public or media attention to the “Program Assessment Performance Tool” (PART) developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), even though its explicit and primary purpose is to evaluate and tie program “performance” to budget appropriations. OMB Is also taking this effort very seriously. Why this sudden renewed attention to “government performance?”
read in fullOMB Watch Comments on New Performance Evaluation Tool
Jul 8, 2002 by Guest Blogger
During the past three years, OMB Watch has sought to increase the participation of nonprofit groups in the implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). On July 3, OMB Watch submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the recently issued Program Assessment Ratings Tool (PART) arising from the first meeting of the Performance Measurement Advisory Council.
read in fullMeasuring the Measurers: A Nonprofit Assessment of GPRA
Jul 8, 2002 by Guest Blogger
This study examines the implementation of the federal government's
primary performance measurement law, the Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA), from the perspective of the nonprofit
community. First, it asks if GPRA matters, or should matter, to
nonprofits. Second, it asks the extent to which the nonprofit
community, or experts in nonprofit performance measurement, have
influenced GPRA.
OMB Watch Comments on Program Assessment Ratings Tool from OMB
Jul 8, 2002 by Guest Blogger
The following are comments sent by OMB Watch to OMB on the Program Assessment Ratings Tool (PART) tool arising from the first meeting of the Performance Measurement Advisory Council. The comments are also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF
read in fullWhat Is GPRA?
Feb 27, 2002 by Guest Blogger
The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), enacted in 1993, requires federal agencies to establish standards measuring their performance and effectiveness. Enacted during the first year of the Clinton Administration, it could loosely be viewed as part of the Administration's larger "Reinventing Government" initiative.
read in fullGPRA: Background Information
Feb 22, 2002 by Guest Blogger
What is GPRA?
Who is Subject to GPRA Requirements?
What Does GPRA Involve?
Why GPRA is Important to Nonprofits
GPRA Issues
GPRA Performance Measurement Lingo
read in fullThe Role of Government Performance in the FY 2003 Budget
Feb 14, 2002 by Guest Blogger
As we have said before, if improving government performance is limited to threatening agencies with cuts, rather than working together with Congress and the Administration to truly make government more effective and useful to citizens, we can't expect much good to come from this new attempt at improving government.
read in full
