Click here to download a PDF of the Coalition's news release. The text is located below:

Performance Institute
Reason Foundation
Council for Excellence in Government
Mercatus Center
Institute for Study of Public Policy Implementation
George Washington School of Public Administration

Coalition Applauds President's Use Of Performance in FY04 Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2003

CONTACT:
Ian Koski (703) 894-0481 ext. 211
[email protected]
cell: (845) 401-1736

ARLINGTON, Va. - A broad coalition of "good government" groups released the following joint statement in response to today's release of President Bush's '04 budget proposal:

"The President's '04 budget proposal is truly historic in its use of performance information to drive budget decisions. The use of the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to assess the relevancy, plans, management and results of 20% of federal programs represents the most consistent, open, publicly accessible review of government performance in recent history.

Taxpayers deserve to know what results they are receiving for their tax dollars. According to the Administration's PART analysis, more than half of programs examined were ineffective or could not offer evidence of results. Demonstrating its use of performance to drive its budget decisions, the President's proposal rewards programs deemed effective with a 6 percent funding increase on average, while those not showing results were held to less than a 1 percent increase.

The use of the PART analysis in the President's budget helps address the fundamental need for a systematic, methodological, credible and results-oriented approach. The administration should be applauded for its creation of PART as a tool for enhancing government, however, we do recognize that this is a first effort and that there is room for refinement.

We hope the Administration's use of performance information in its budget submission sparks a focus on performance in federal agencies, interest groups, the media, and most importantly in the Congress during the upcoming budget process. What is needed now is a bipartisan dialogue on how the Administration's PART assessment was conducted, how to improve the use of performance information in the budget process, and how to address the management and performance deficiencies uncovered by this year's review process. That kind dialogue on performance can only lead to improved government performance and serve the interests of the taxpayer."

The coalition of groups issuing this statement collectively represent the mainstream of public administration research, theory and practice. Jointly they are dedicated to improving government performance through the principles of performance, accountability and transparency. Individual statements from members of the coalition in response to this and other aspects of the '04 budget are available.