Institute Applauds Congress' Support for Competition
in Government
By tossing restrictive language in omnibus
spending bill,
Congress take sbig step in delivering best value
to taxpayers
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| FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE : November 22, 2004
CONTACT: Ian Koski, Director of Public
Policy & Communications | 703-894-0481| [email protected] |
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Arlington, Va. – The Performance Institute today
offered its emphatic support to measures taken by Congress
Friday in support of the President's competitive sourcing
initiative.
“Competition works,” Performance Institute
President Carl DeMaio said today. “Because of
the relatively few competitions already conducted by
agencies, taxpayers will see a cost savings of $1.1
billion over the next three to five years. Standing
up to attempts to halt competition, the President and
his advisors did what they had to do to ensure that
those savings would be realized and that more could
be reaped. The potential for cost savings and improved
delivery of services is too vast to ignore. This is
a big win for American taxpayers.”
By merging all but one of the remaining appropriations
bills into one omnibus package, the restrictive provisions
attached to three of those bills came with them. To
be sure that passage of those measures was not risked
in the vote on the omnibus bill, the President’s
top budget advisor, Office of Management and Budget
Director Joshua Bolten, issued a letter threatening
a veto of the omnibus should it reach the President’s
desk with the restrictive language included.
“The veto threat made clear to Congress, the
agencies, and to the American people that competitive
sourcing is a Presidential priority, and will continue
to be a major piece of the President’s Management
Agenda,” DeMaio said.
One of the measures removed Friday originated in the
Treasury-Transportation bill and would have forced agencies
to make decisions based just on cost – as opposed
to the actual quality of the service to be performed.
“Congress has acknowledged that competitive sourcing
is more than merely a cost-saving mechanism,”
DeMaio said. “Competitive sourcing is about delivering
best value – which requires a firm commitment
to performance.”
The Performance Institute is a private, nonpartisan
think tank improving government results through the
principles of performance, competition, transparency,
and accountability. The Institute serves as the nation's
leading authority and repository on performance-based
management practices for government. Our mission is
to identify, study and disseminate the leading management
innovations pioneered by "best-in-class" organizations.
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