A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In GAO’s opinion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) fairly presented, in all material respects, the 2011 and 2010 financial statements for the two funds it administers—the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) Resolution Fund (FRF). Also, in GAO’s opinion, although certain internal controls related to the DIF should be improved, FDIC maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting. Further, GAO did not find any reportable instances of noncompliance with provisions of the laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To prepare for its reporting obligations under the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) assembled the Interagency Telework Measurement Group, consisting of officials from several federal agencies, to assist in revising the telework data call—the survey OPM has used since 2002 to collect telework data from executive agencies. This group standardized key terms such as telework, employee, and eligibility to promote a common reporting methodology among the agencies. The revised telework data call also included changes to the time period for which OPM requested agencies report telework data, and included more extensive training for respondents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "When GAO compared prices paid by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a sample of 83 drugs purchased in the first calendar quarter of 2012, DOD's average unit price for the entire sample was 31.8 percent ($0.11 per unit) higher than VA's average price, and DOD's average unit price for the subset of 40 generic drugs was 66.6 percent ($0.04 per unit) higher than VA's average price. However, VA's average unit price for the subset of 43 brand-name drugs was 136.9 percent ($1.01 per unit) higher than DOD's average price. These results were consistent with each agency obtaining better prices on the type of drugs that made up the majority of its utilization: generic drugs accounted for 83 percent of VA's utilization of the sample drugs and brand-name drugs accounted for 54 percent of DOD's utilization of the sample drugs. DOD officials told GAO that in certain circumstances they are able to obtain competitive prices for brand-name drugs--even below the prices for generic equivalents--and therefore will often preferentially purchase brand-name drugs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Noncompliance does not have a single source but occurs across different types of taxes and taxpayers. For example, individual income tax accounts for the largest portion of the tax gap, but corporate income tax and employment tax are also significant. Further, misreporting by individuals involves business income, non-business income, deductions, and credits. The extent of misreporting depends on the extent to which income tax is withheld or reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by third parties. For example, nearly 40 percent, or $179 billion, of the 2006 gross tax gap is due to misreporting of non-corporate business income and related self-employment taxes. Much of this misreporting can be attributed to sole proprietors underreporting receipts or over-reporting expenses. Unlike wage and some investment income, sole proprietors’ income is not subject to withholding and only a portion is reported to IRS by third parties."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Public housing agencies (PHA) that participate in the Moving to Work (MTW) program report annually on the performance of their activities, which include efforts to reduce administrative costs and encourage residents to work. But this performance information varies, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) guidance does not specify that it be quantifiable and outcome oriented. Further, HUD has not identified the performance data that would be needed to assess the results of similar MTW activities or the program as a whole and has not established performance indicators for the program. The shortage of such analyses and indicators has hindered comprehensive evaluation efforts, although such evaluations are key to determining the success of any demonstration program. Further, while HUD has identified some lessons learned from the program, it has no systematic process to identify them and thus has relied primarily on ad hoc information. The absence of a systematic process for identifying lessons learned limits HUD’s ability to promote useful practices that could be more broadly implemented to address the purposes of the program."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found that, between 1981 and 2010, the time it took OSHA to develop and issue safety and health standards ranged from 15 months to 19 years and averaged more than 7 years. Experts and agency officials cited several factors that contribute to the lengthy time frames for developing and issuing standards, including increased procedural requirements, shifting priorities, and a rigorous standard of judicial review. We also found that, in addition to using the typical standard-setting process, OSHA can address urgent hazards by issuing emergency temporary standards, although the agency has not used this authority since 1983 because of the difficulty it has faced in compiling the evidence necessary to meet the statutory requirements. Instead, OSHA focuses on enforcement activities—such as enforcing the general requirement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) that employers provide a workplace free from recognized hazards—and educating employers and workers about urgent hazards. Experiences of other federal agencies that regulate public or worker health hazards offered limited insight into the challenges OSHA faces in setting standards. For example, EPA officials pointed to certain requirements of the Clean …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The drawdown from Iraq is a complex operation of significant magnitude. Established drawdown timelines dictate a reduction in forces to 50,000 troops by August 31, 2010, and a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by December 31, 2011. While DOD has made progress toward meeting these goals, a large amount of equipment, personnel, and bases remain to be drawn down. Moreover, escalating U.S. involvement in Afghanistan may increase the pressure on DOD to efficiently execute the drawdown. Due to broad congressional interest in drawdown issues, GAO performed this work under the Comptroller General's Authority. GAO examined (1) the extent to which DOD has planned for the drawdown from Iraq in accordance with set timelines, and (2) factors that may impact the efficient execution of the drawdown. To evaluate these efforts GAO reviewed documents and interviewed officials from over 20 DOD organizations in the U.S., Kuwait, and Iraq."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For 102 agency priority goals (APGs) for 2012 to 2013 that GAO reviewed, agencies implemented three GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (the act) requirements. Agencies identified (1) a target level of performance within a 2-year time frame; (2) how their APGs contribute to their strategic goals; and (3) an agency official responsible for achieving each APG. These represent important accomplishments, but information about other requirements is incomplete:"