Summary: Maintaining and enhancing GAO's ability to serve Congress in today's rapidly changing global environment present several challenges. Although GAO is 40 percent smaller today than in 1992, congressional demand for the agency's work continues to increase. At the same time, in a period of fiscal restraint, GAO cannot expect significant increases in its budget or in its staffing level. In response to this reality of constrained resources and rising demand for its services, GAO is taking steps to maximize its effectiveness; manage risks; and boost staff productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. During the last year, GAO launched a client outreach effort to help it better meet congressional needs, issued a draft strategic plan that spells out the current and emerging issues that GAO will likely focus on during the next six years, strengthened communication within the agency, began redesigning its employee performance appraisal system, and replaced obsolete computer hardware and software. GAO will be seeking legislative authority that will give the agency additional flexibility to manage its most important resource--human capital. The legislation would allow GAO to offer early-outs to selected employees in order to avoid a workforce imbalance that could undermine the agency's future ability to serve Congress. To improve its ability to hire technical talent, such as computer specialists and actuaries, GAO will also seek authority to offer these individuals salaries at senior executive levels. For fiscal year 2001, GAO is requesting $402.9 million. The funding increase would cover mandatory cost-of-living adjustments in federal pay and uncontrollable cost increases in transportation, supplies, contracts, and other essential mission support services. GAO would also be able to undertake a host of much-needed initiatives, from strengthening its programs that recognize and reward employee performance to upgrading its network software. GAO continues to deliver a tremendous return on investment. In fiscal year 1999, for every dollar spent on GAO, the agency's work yielded financial benefits of about $57--or about $20.1 billion in total. GAO's fiscal year 2001 budget request is designed to strengthen the agency so that it can remain a valuable asset to Congress and, ultimately, the American people.
