GAO-13-279SP, 2013 Annual Report - US Government ...

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United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 April 9, 2013 Congressional Addressees As the fiscal pressures facing the nation continue, so too does the need for executive branch agencies and Congress to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and activities. Opportunities to take such action exist in areas where federal programs or activities are fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative. To highlight these challenges and to inform government decision makers on actions that could be taken to address them, GAO is statutorily required to identify and report annually to Congress on federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives, either within departments or government-wide, that have duplicative goals or activities. 1 In light of today’s challenging fiscal environment, we have also identified additional opportunities to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness by means of cost savings or enhanced revenue collection. In March 2011, we issued our first annual report in this series, which presented 80 areas where opportunities existed for executive branch agencies or Congress to reduce fragmentation, overlap, or duplication; achieve cost savings; or enhance revenue. 2 Figure 1 outlines the definitions we use for fragmentation, overlap, and duplication for this work. In February 2012, we issued our second annual report, which identified an additional 51 areas. In these two reports, we have identified a total of approximately 300 actions that executive branch agencies and Congress could take to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and activities. 1 Pub. L. No. 111-139, § 21, 124 Stat. 29 (2010), 31 U.S.C. § 712 Note. See appendix I for the list of congressional addressees for this work. 2 In assessing progress on the 81 areas we identified in our 2011 annual report for this year’s report, we combined two areas related to the Department of Homeland Security’s management of acquisitions (Areas 75 and 76) into one area. Therefore, we are evaluating progress for 80 areas identified in our 2011 annual report and 51 areas identified in our 2012 annual report. See appendix II for additional information on scope and methodology. Page 1 GAO-13-279SP 2013 Annual Report
Figure 1: Definitions of Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication This third annual report for 2013 identifies an additional 31 areas where agencies may be able to achieve greater efficiency or effectiveness. Within these 31 areas, we identify 81 actions that the executive branch or Congress could take to reduce fragmentation, overlap, or duplication, as well as other cost savings or revenue enhancement opportunities. In addition to identifying new areas, we have continued to monitor the progress executive branch agencies and Congress have made in addressing the areas we previously identified. With the release of this report, we are also concurrently launching GAO’s Action Tracker, a publicly accessible website containing the status of actions suggested in our first three reports. The website will allow executive branch agencies, Congress, and the public to track the progress the government is making in addressing the issues we have identified. Section I of this report presents 17 new areas in which we found evidence that fragmentation, overlap, or duplication exists among federal programs or activities. Although it may be appropriate for multiple agencies or entities to be involved in the same programmatic or policy area due to the Page 2 GAO-13-279SP 2013 Annual Report
Page 1: GAO United States Government Accoun
Page 5 and 6: efficiencies in fragmented contract
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Page 15 and 16: Consolidated areas and actions were
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Page 29 and 30: Abbreviations AFF Assets Forfeiture
Page 31 and 32: Report at a Glance Section I of thi
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Page 37 and 38: GAO provided a draft of this report
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party estimates indicate that feder
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characteristics, and several of the
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expected reduction or avoidance of
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eport, where GAO recommended that i
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Health 5. Joint Veterans and Defens
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enefit from collaboration, such as
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Actions Needed GAO recommended in S
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6. Medicaid Program Integrity The C
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data resulted in a significant comm
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might not provide adequate data to
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processes and procedures for overse
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unnecessary duplication increases b
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Internal Control in the Federal Gov
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State and major urban area fusion c
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activities are uncoordinated, as we
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a Collection management is the iden
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c Analytical products involve the c
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However, GAO also reported in April
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highly dependent on local circumsta
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9. Justice and Treasury Asset Forfe
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consolidation proposals and activit
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of both agencies, which affects the
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Information Technology 10. Dissemin
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the reports GAO was searching for w
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NTIS acknowledged in its 2011-2016
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ased on random selections, its samp
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What GAO Found In November 2012, GA
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data themes, as shown in the follow
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designate a senior agency official
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How GAO Conducted Its Work The info
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Select Features and Limitations of
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SBA and other agencies could also b
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GAO assessed interagency coordinati
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Overlap of BBG Entities’ Language
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variety of factors, including wheth
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of capitalization grants to revolvi
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GAO’s October 2012 report also de
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purpose of this document is to summ
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Social Services 15. Drug Abuse Prev
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prevention or treatment services to
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minimize the risk of potential dupl
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22 more program evaluations were un
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Training, Employment, and Education
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education expenses. While many mean
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Considering these factors can help
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Related GAO Products Higher Educati
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significant barriers to employment,
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ut it does not consistently report
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Program. In examining coordination,
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Agriculture 18. Agricultural Quaran
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customs fee collection mechanisms t
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The Secretaries of Agriculture and
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19. Crop Insurance To achieve up to
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federal government. 4 If the limit
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GAO has continued to monitor DOD’
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will not be in the best position to
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Finally, DOD partially agreed with
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Energy 21. Department of Energy’s
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already exists in the commercial ma
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General Government 22. Additional O
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implementation of its data analytic
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GAO reported that the complexity of
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Higher Education: Improved Tax Info
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additional savings. 1 By contrast,
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Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluat
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24. Opportunities to Help Reduce Go
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to identify opportunities and imple
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U.S. and foreign satellite operator
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plan to rely on foreign companies
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policies established by CMS or by l
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ased on their local coverage determ
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26. Medicaid Supplemental Payments
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Medicaid payment principles, in par
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GAO provided a draft of this report
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Demonstration extends the bonuses t
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Actions Needed and Potential Financ
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Homeland Security/Law Enforcement 2
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Based on data provided by TSA for G
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or a preference for funding initiat
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2007 as being a definitive statemen
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existing IT services to or offering
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ecause legacy systems may not be re
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30. Information Technology Operatio
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identifying investment improvements
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ecommendations and that the departm
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Examples of Cigarette and Cigar Pro
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cigars. In addition, Treasury faces
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Appendix I: List of Congressional A
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duplication government-wide over th
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of funding devoted to overlapping p
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means the administration, the agenc
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Table 1: GAO Identified Areas of Du
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Mission General government Annual r
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Mission Science and the environment
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Table 2: GAO Identified Areas of Co
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Mission Annual Report Areas identif
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Mission Income security Information
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Table 1: Catfish Inspection: List o
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Table 3: Renewable Energy Initiativ
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Agency Program name Fiscal year 201
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Table 5: Medicaid Program Integrity
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Table 7: Field-Based Information Sh
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Table 9: Export Promotion: List of
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Table 11: Rural Water Infrastructur
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subagency Program name Program desc
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subagency Program name Program desc
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Table 13: Higher Education Assistan
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Table 14: Higher Education Assistan
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Table16: Crop Insurance: Program an
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Table 18: Medicare Prepayment Contr
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Table 20: Checked Baggage Screening
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Table 22: Tobacco Taxes: List of Pr
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