Archive

REINVENTION EXPRESS

May 29, 1997, Vol. 3, No. 5

An Information Sheet for Federal Communicators, Managers, Workers, and Their Partners
Pass It On

Federal Agencies Are Developing New One-Stop Web Site to Benefit State and Local Governments

More than 600 federal programs providing funds, services, assistance, and information are administered by state and local governments. Suppose a city planner wanted to find out the latest federal programs that affect the environment? Even surfing the Web, it would be a royal pain to locate all the environmental impact programs in EPA, Energy, Defense, and other agencies.

Help is on the way. Eleven federal agencies are collaborating to establish a one-stop Web site to facilitate state and local government access to federal information. NPR and the Government Information Technology Services Board's Intergovernmental Enterprise Panel are co-sponsors.

Beverly Godwin, who heads NPR's interagency activities and chairs the intergovernmental team, believes the new Web site, the U.S. State and Local Gateway, will provide the answer by cutting across all federal agency resources and arraying the information by topic (e.g. economic development, education, or disaster relief). This should offer a more efficient way for states and localities to get information.

Feedback from Customers

The federal team is consulting with potential state and local customers and wants to hear from both front-line workers and officials during the initial phase of the Web site design. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency is organizing a focus group for the team on May 30 with state and local employees to learn about their information needs. The National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, and the International City/County Management Association are also helping to solicit feedback. These organizations through their own newsletters, Web sites, and Internet e-mail will announce the project and receive comments from their membership.

Other Federal Agencies Can Participate

The following agencies form part of the federal team: the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, and Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Godwin invites other federal agencies involved with state and local governments to join.

If your agency has funding, information, or regulations that affect states and localities, please contact the appropriate issue leaders: Education, Gary Hanna (Ed), (202) 401-0429 or gary_hanna@ed.gov; Workforce Development, George Koch (DOL), 202-219-7674 ext. 162 or kochg@doleta.gov; and Timothy Jennings (DOL), 202-219-6141 or tejennin@dol.gov; Disaster Relief/Emergency Preparedness, Phil Cogan (FEMA), 202-646-4600 or cogan@fema.gov

One-Stop Web Site for State and Local Government Employees

Family Support/Social Services/Welfare Reform/Children, Richard Silva ( HHS), 202-401- 6660 or rjsilva@osaspe.dhhs.gov; Infrastructure/Public Works/Transportation, Donna Avallone (DOT), 202-366-9037 or donna.avallone@fhwa.dot.gov; Environment/Natural Resources/Energy, Maggie Thielen (EPA), 202-260-4733 or thielen.maggie@epamail.epa.gov; Public Safety/Drug Control/Crime, Karen Evans, (202) 307-6828 or karen.evans@justice.usdoj.gov; Economic-Community Development, Candi Harrison, 202-708-1547 or Candis_B._Harrison@hud.gov; Housing/Homelessness, Candi Harrison, see previous; Budget/Finance/Taxation, Brad Leonard (NPR), 703-739-0056 or bleonard@tmn.com. If your agency's information does not fall into any of these topics, please contact Nancy Singer at NPR at (202) 632-0174 or nancy.singer@npr.gsa.gov.

Reinvention Efforts Influenced GPRA Pilots

The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (the Results Act) called for a series of pilots to test the waters as government shifted from rigid adherence to prescribed bureaucratic processes to managing for results. The law required the Office of Management and Budget and the General Accounting Office to report to the Congress and the President on these pilots and other subjects by May (OMB) and June (GAO) of this year.

Congressman Stephen Horn, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Government Management, has announced a hearing on these reports at 9:30 a.m. on June 3 in room 2154 of the Rayburn Building.

OMB's May report said that the performance measurement pilots showed that virtually every activity done by government can be measured in some manner, although federally-funded programs administered by state and local government are a particular challenge. OMB did not designate managerial accountability and flexibility pilots, partly because of the successes of NPR's reinventing government initiative helped create a new kind of federal testing arena the Act couldn't foresee. Reinvention activities included sweeping away the bulk of the Federal Personnel Manual, setting up reinvention labs to test more flexible management practices, and developing "templates" that describe already existing flexibilities in personnel and other management areas. The report said that lab waivers were easier to obtain that those from OMB.

An April GAO report, GPRA: Managerial Accountability and Flexibility Pilot Did Not Work As Intended (GAO/GGD-97-36) essentially said the same thing. The June GAO report is pending.

GAO reports may be ordered by calling (202) 512-6000. The first copy is free. GAO reports are on the Internet. Visit GAO's web site www.gao.gov.

NPR has posted the Office of Management and Budget's May 1997 report and many other resources, case studies, training opportunities and other documents related to the Results Act at a one-stop web page. Visit Managing for Results.

NPR ALUMNI REUNION--NPR is planning a reunion of its alumni on June 14. For information, call Cassie Frye at (202) 632-0222 or e-mail: cassie.frye@npr.gsa.gov.

National Performance Review, 750-17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 632-0223. The Express is on the Internet at www.npr.gov. To subscribe by e-mail, send a message to: Listproc@etc.fed.gov. Put this message: SUBSCRIBE EXPRESS-L FIRSTNAME LASTNAME. For fax, send fax number to Pat Wood at pat.wood@npr.gsa.gov or fax to (202) 632-0390.