Americans Rate Most Federal Agency Performance Highly

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- When asked about 13 different government agencies, substantial majorities (63% or more) of the public claim they understand what these agencies do. They also give 12 of the 13 agencies positive ratings. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tops the
list, receiving the most positive votes as it has for the past few years. Nine in 10 adults (90%) say they understand what the CDC does and most give it positive marks (84%).

In terms of doing a good job, next on the list is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with 78 percent positive, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with 75 percent, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with 74 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with 73 percent and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 71 percent.

For a complete list of the results, go to the PR Newswire.

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OMB Watch Launches FedSpending.org to Reveal How Tax Dollars are Spent

You have a right to know how the federal government spends its money.

This website, created by OMB Watch, is a free, searchable database of federal government spending. With over $12 trillion in federal spending, this more open and accessible tool for citizens to find out where federal money goes and who gets it is long overdue.

OMB Watch exists to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy. We envision a more just and democratic society, one in which an open, responsive government protects people's health, safety, and well-being, safeguards the environment, honors the public's right to information, values an engaged and effective citizenry, and adequately invests in the common good.

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Have a question about relocation, recruitment or retention incentives for federal employees? The Office of Personnel Management has released an updated “Question-and-Answer” Web page addressing more than 100 questions on the three topics. Go to the link below:

www.opm.gov/oca/pay/html/3RS_newQAs.asp

The Federal Government wants programs to work. It is assessing all programs to make sure they are working well for the American people. With that in mind, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and federal agencies have developed a website that provides details to the public about which federal agency programs are working and which are not.

Programs are assessed using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). The PART asks every federal agency program approximately 25 important, yet common sense, questions about its performance and management. For each question, there is a short answer and a detailed explanation with supporting evidence. The answers determine a program's overall rating. Once each assessment is completed, we develop a program improvement plan so we can follow up and improve the program's performance.

PART assessments help OMB learn how the federal government can achieve better results for the American people. The program rating indicates how well a program is performing, so the public can see how effectively tax dollars are being spent. For details, go to www.ExpectMore.gov or to the link in the menu bar on the left.

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President's Management Agenda Updates from the Office of Management & Budget

Visit the www.Results.Gov web site for the latest information on all that Federal departments and agencies are doing to maximize results, with the help of the President's Management Agenda.

• "Working for America Act" Draft - draft legislation requiring agencies to better manage,
  develop, and reward employees to better serve the American people.
  www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/working.html

• Implementation plan for the "Working for America Act".
  www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/wfaa-implementation-20051114.pdf

• The Executive Branch Management Scorecard - an update of how well federal departments and major agencies are executing government-wide management initiatives.
  www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/scorecard.html

• The general status of each initiative of the President's Management Agenda.
  www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/fiveinitatives.html

• Updated "Getting to Green" Initiative Criteria - a chart that shows how the agencies have performed on the component parts of the PMA initiatives, i.e., which specific habits and disciplines each agency has adopted.
  www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/getting_to_green.html