Government errors could mean big problems for contractors
November 17th, 2009 | Agencies Agency Management OMB Procurement | Posted by Elise Castelli
Contractors could face suspension, debarment or financial penalties if they fail to return and report an improper payment made by the government…even if the improper payment is the government’s fault.
That’s what an executive order meant to curb the government’s rate of erroneous payments will say, Peter Orszag, Office of Management and Budget director, told reporters during a Nov. 17 briefing on the value of improper payments made by the government in 2009.
Currently, contractors face no penalties when the government discovers an improper payment was made. All contractors have to do is pay back the sum without interest or penalty. The executive order, which will be issued in the coming week, will change that by allowing agencies to suspend, debar and fine contractors that fail to report these payments. That will create strong incentive for contractors to be vigilant in monitoring their government payments, said Danny Werfel, the controller of OMB’s Office of Federal Financial Management.
Werfel said:
The way it works today is if we give a contractor money that they have not earned and they never report it to us, but we just so happen to find it through an audit, all they have to do is make us whole. There are no additional damages on top of that. And that’s what the executive order would pursue as a way of incentivizing contractors to immediately tell us where we made an error, so they’re part of the solution and not part of the problem.”
Tags: Danny Werfel, improper payments, OMB, Peter Orszag
New OMB performance guidelines
October 7th, 2009 | Agencies Agency Management OMB | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
OMB director Peter Orszag sent an 8-page memo to agencies today outlining new performance management guidelines. Here it is (pdf).
Thoughts to come later this morning once I’ve actually had a chance to read it…
10,000 + ways to SAVE
October 1st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President OMB White House | Posted by Elise Castelli
Federal employees have submitted more than 10,000 money-saving tips to the Office of Management and Budget’s SAVE Award contest in the last week, OMB director Peter Orszag announced today.
OMB launched the SAVE Award contest on Sept. 23 to gather cost-cutting and performance-improving ideas from the people who know government best: the employees.
So far, you have responded with 10,266 entries. And that number is growing as we speak.
If you haven’t submitted an idea yet, don’t delay. The contest ends on Oct. 14. You can enter at www.SaveAward.gov.
Once submissions close, an OMB panel will review the ideas and select a handful of finalists for President Barack Obama to choose from. The winning idea, which will be announced in November, will be included in the 2011 budget. The idea’s author will also get to meet Obama, the man with whom the buck stops.
Photo: Wikipedia.
Tags: Peter Orszag, SAVE Award
OMB director to staff: Step to it.
October 1st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President HR Management OMB Workplace | Posted by Elise Castelli
As a runner and general fitness nut, I was pleasantly surprised to find a press release in my inbox from the Office of Management and Budget this morning announcing a new mandate for OMB staff: wear a pedometer.
OMB Director Peter Orszag launched the “OMB Pedometer Challenge” today to improve employee health by having everyone wear a pedometer to track their physical activity throughout the day.
Employees will enter their daily steps on an internal Web site and compare their activity levels to Orszag’s activity levels and their division’s levels. They’ll also be able to enter health statistics like body mass index, blood pressure and heart rate to help track improvements in their health.
The employee with the highest activity level each month wins lunch with Orszag and the highest performing team wins a “health happy hour.” Free lunch and/or a free happy hour? That’s inspiration enough for me.
Orszag said:
This challenge will make all of us more aware of our current activity levels and help inspire us to increase our physical activity. Evidence shows that pedometers are one of the most cost-effective ways to increase physical activity. And in true OMB fashion, we like to walk down the path cleared by the best data.”
The challenge is part of a larger effort to improve the health and productivity of the federal workforce, while reducing health care and disability costs, OMB said in the news release.
Orszag: Poor performers need a plan
May 20th, 2009 | HR Management OMB | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
I’m at the release event for the Partnership for Public Service’s 2009 “Best Places to Work” report, which measures employee satisfaction at agencies across the government. We’ve got a quick summary of the results, and you can view the whole survey (which contains lots of interesting data) here.
One interesting point: OMB director Peter Orszag just gave a quick speech, and he said this about the survey results:
We will be looking to include the results in the fiscal year 2011 budget process, because we should not just let this be a report that generates a one-day news story. It needs to be something that is built into the way we run government.
Orszag went on to say that OMB will ask the poorly-performing agencies to come up with a plan for improving their scores.
Gearing up for grants
March 11th, 2009 | Economic Stimulus OMB | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
Can agencies handle the upcoming crush of stimulus grant applications? Apparently Grants.gov is already seeing a big spike in traffic. So OMB director Peter Orszag wants agencies to review their grant systems and make improvements to handle the increased workload. The deadline for that review is Friday.
“We want to make sure that the systems are in place to handle what everyone expects will be an unprecedented number of grant applications,” Orszag said.
I wonder, though, if some agencies will be reluctant to invest a lot of time and money in adding new capacity to their grants systems — because that will be excess capacity after the stimulus spending is done.
How is your agency preparing? We’d love to hear — either via e-mail or in the comments section.
Tags: grants, Peter Orszag
How to spend $787 billion
February 18th, 2009 | Economic Stimulus OMB | Posted by Tim Kauffman
The Office of Management and Budget issued a 62-page memo (pdf) to agency heads today detailing how to manage the $787 billion in stimulus funding approved by lawmakers and signed into law by President Obama yesterday.
Among other things, the guidance outlines the steps agencies must take to report their spending and program performance data to the Recovery.gov website that’s been created to track how every stimulus dollar is spent and how many jobs are created.
The guidance also establishes requirements for agencies to meet the White House’s accountability objectives, OMB Director Peter Orszag said.
Additional OMB guidance is forthcoming, Orszag said.
Tags: guidance, memorandum, Peter Orszag, recovery.gov
Collecting our confirmation coverage
January 15th, 2009 | Agencies Transition | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
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We’re camped out on Capitol Hill all week covering the transition hearings — and we thought you’d like a central place to follow our confirmation coverage. We’ll update this list as the week goes on. The full list is after the jump, and it’s sorted alphabetically by agency.
Tags: Arne Duncan, Cabinet, Eric Shinseki, Hillary Clinton, Lisa Jackson, Peter Orszag, Shaun Donovan, Steven Chu, Tom Vilsack
Orszag on budget: Programs will be eliminated
January 14th, 2009 | 2010 Budget OMB Transition | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
Peter Orszag appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee for a hearing on his nomination as OMB director. It was almost as painless as yesterday’s hearing before the Senate Budget committee.
Senators focused mostly on government management issues, and Orszag made a few notable statements. First, though, a word about the budget. Orszag reiterated, once again, that the Obama administration will release a 2010 budget in “mid-to-late February.”
One new detail: He said the budget will include “some program eliminations.” No word on which programs, though.
Tags: Peter Orszag
Official picks at OMB
November 25th, 2008 | OMB Transition | Posted by Gregg Carlstrom
12:06 PM: Obama reiterated his pledge to go “line-by-line” through the federal budget looking for failed programs:
Budget reform is not an option. It’s a necessity. We can’t sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness. We simply can’t afford it.
12:00 PM: On top of yesterday’s economic team announcements, the president-elect made two more official nominations today:
- As expected, Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orszag will take over as head of the Office of Management and Budget;
- Rob Nabors, the staff director of the House Appropriations committee, will be Orszag’s deputy at OMB.
Obama is holding a press conference at noon ET; we’ll update with any interesting comments.
Tags: Peter Orszag, Rob Nabors