A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government's financial condition and fiscal outlook have deteriorated dramatically since 2000. The federal budget has gone from surplus to deficit and the nation's major reported long-term fiscal exposures--a wide range of programs, responsibilities, and activities that either explicitly or implicitly commit the government to future spending--have more than doubled. Current budget processes and measurements do not fully recognize these fiscal exposures until payments are made. Increased information and better incentives to address the long-term consequences of today's policy decisions can help put our nation on a more sound fiscal footing. Given its interest in accurate and timely information on the U.S. fiscal condition, the Senate Committee on the Budget asked us to update our study of other nations' experiences with accrual budgeting and look at other ways countries have increased attention to their long-term fiscal challenges."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To better understand how changes in domestic and international petroleum products markets have affected prices, GAO was asked to evaluate trends in (1) the international trade of petroleum products, (2) refining capacity and intensity of refining capacity use internationally and in the United States, (3) international and domestic crude oil and petroleum product inventories, and (4) domestic petroleum supply infrastructure. To address these objectives, we reviewed numerous studies, evaluated data, and spoke to many industry officials and experts and agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A growing portion of federal spending is related to buying services such as administrative, management, and information technology support. Services accounted for about 60 percent of total fiscal year 2006 procurement dollars. The Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA) of 2003 established a Services Acquisition Advisory Panel to make recommendations for improving acquisition practices. In January 2007, the panel proposed 89 recommendations to improve federal acquisition practices. GAO was asked to determine how the panel recommendations compare to GAO's past work and identify how the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) expects the recommendations to be addressed. To do this, GAO analyzed the panel report and compared its findings and recommendations to GAO's past work and recommendations, obtained OFPP's views on how it expected the recommendations to be implemented, and reviewed proposed legislation in Congress to determine if legislative provisions had the potential to address some recommendations."

This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. For both defense authorization and appropriations, this report summarizes the status of the bills, their scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In this document, GAO provides guidance on complying with government auditing standards reporting requirements for the report on internal control for audits of certain entities subject to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Government Auditing Standards."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 5,500 people die each year as a result of crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses, and about 160,000 more are injured. While the fatality rate for these crashes has generally decreased over the last 20 years, the decline has leveled off in the most recent years. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation shoulders the primary federal responsibility for reducing these crashes, fatalities, and injuries and recognizes the need to make improvements if it is to achieve further substantial safety advancements. A key FMCSA effort to improve motor carrier safety is implementing the agency's Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) initiative. Through CSA 2010, FMCSA expects to reduce motor carrier crashes, fatalities, and injuries by using better ways to identify unsafe carriers and drivers; assessing a larger portion of the motor carrier industry and holding carriers and drivers accountable for sustained performance by regularly determining their safety fitness; and expanding the range of interventions to be used with carriers and drivers that fail to comply with safety requirements. Congress asked us to conduct a broad assessment of FMCSA's progress in …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Securing the nation's borders has taken on added importance since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For years, millions of citizens of the United States, Canada, and Bermuda could enter the United States from certain parts of the Western Hemisphere using a wide variety of documents, including a driver's license issued by a state motor vehicle administration or a birth certificate, or in some cases for U.S. and Canadian citizens, without showing any documents. In the heightened national security environment following September 11, we have previously reported that documents like driver's licenses and birth certificates can easily be obtained, altered, or counterfeited and used by terrorists to travel into and out of the country. To help provide better assurance that border officials have the tools and resources to establish that people are who they say they are, as called for in the 9/11 Commission report, section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, as amended, requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and implement a plan that requires a passport or other document or combination …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, the United States Postal Service (USPS) was responsible for discarding about 6.1 billion pieces of undeliverable-as-addressed Standard Mail (a class of bulk advertising mail that includes catalogs and circulars). Some of this mail was recycled, but a large quantity of it was treated as waste and simply thrown away. Standard Mail is increasing in prominence due, in part, to its importance to businesses, nonprofits, and others as an effective way for (1) providing consumers with information on their products and services and (2) soliciting contributions from mail recipients. Some mail recipients, however, view Standard Mail as an annoyance that also poses privacy and environmental concerns. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Standard Mail accounted for about 5.8 million tons, or 2.4 percent, of municipal solid waste (otherwise known as trash or garbage) in 2005. Of this amount, 64 percent was placed in a landfill or incinerated, and 36 percent was recycled. The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act required GAO to report--by December 20, 2007--on, among other matters, USPS mail-related recycling accomplishments and additional recycling opportunities. For mail-related recycling accomplishments (initiatives), we expanded our …

This report examines, over a more than three decade period, a wide range of proposals to reform holds. In general, the objective of these recommendations is not to abolish holds but to infuse more accountability, uniformity, and transparency in their use and to make it clear that holds are not a veto on the majority leader's prerogative of calling up measures or matters.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether article XI, section 11 of the Texas Constitution prevails over the Harlingen City Charter regarding the filling of vacancies on the city commission.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a local civil service commission may adopt a rule that awards additional points to applicants on the basis of residency within the municipality.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: What limitations, if any, the Legislature has imposed on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality with regard to tax exemption and tax rollback relief for pollution control property.

Annual financial report of the Texas Lottery Commission for fiscal year 2007, providing statements of assets, expenditures, revenues, and other relevant data as well as the report of an independent auditor.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While aviation accidents in the United States are relatively infrequent, recent incidents have heightened concerns about safety on airport runways and ramps. As the nation's aviation system becomes more crowded every day, increased congestion at airports may exacerbate ground safety concerns. To safely handle the anticipated larger volumes of air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to better manage air traffic both in the air and on the ground. GAO was asked to evaluate (1) the progress being made in addressing runway safety and what additional measures, if any, could be taken and (2) the factors affecting progress in improving ramp safety and what is being done by FAA and others to address those factors. We reviewed runway and ramp safety data, interviewed agency officials and industry stakeholders, and surveyed experts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "One proven approach for improving tax compliance is information reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by third parties about taxpayers' income and expenses. IRS matches information returns with taxpayers' income tax returns to see if taxpayers have filed returns and reported all their income. The administration's fiscal year 2008 budget proposed requiring information reporting on merchant payment card reimbursements and on certain payments to corporations, raising an estimated $18.4 billion over 10 years. This report's objectives are to (1) identify, using case studies, the compliance costs of existing information reporting; (2) determine the kinds of third-party compliance costs that may result from the two budget proposals and options for mitigating the costs; and (3) determine IRS's ability to process and use additional information returns. GAO did nongeneralizable structured interviews with four payers volunteering information and with five companies filing a sizable percentage of all information returns. GAO's work also included reviewing studies and documentation and contacting other government and nongovernment parties."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its work to improve the management and performance of the federal government, GAO monitors progress and continuing challenges in using performance information to inform budgetary choices (performance budgeting). In light of the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance and other 21st century challenges, we have reported that the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and performance budgeting can support needed reexamination of what the federal government does, how it does it, and who does it. GAO remains committed to working with Congress and the Administration to help address these important and complex issues."

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Growing debt and net interest costs are a result of persistent fiscal imbalances, which, if left unchecked, threaten to crowd out spending for other national priorities. The return on every federal dollar that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is able to invest represents an opportunity to reduce interest costs. This report (1) analyzes trends in Treasury's main receipts, expenditures, and cash balances, (2) describes Treasury's current investment strategy, and (3) identifies options for Treasury to consider for improving its return on short-term investments. GAO held interviews with Treasury officials and others and reviewed related documents."

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Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plays a key role in overseeing federal information technology (IT) investments. The Clinger-Cohen Act, among other things, requires OMB to establish processes to analyze, track, and evaluate the risks and results of major capital investments in information systems made by agencies and to report to Congress on the net program performance benefits achieved as a result of these investments. OMB has developed several processes to help carry out its role. For example, OMB began using a Management Watch List several years ago as a means of identifying poorly planned projects based on its evaluation of agencies' funding justifications for major projects, known as exhibit 300s. In addition, in August 2005, OMB established a process for agencies to identify high risk projects and to report on those that are performing poorly. GAO testified last year on the Management Watch List and high risk projects, and on GAO's recommendations to improve these processes. GAO was asked to (1) provide an update on the Management Watch List and high risk projects and (2) identify OMB's efforts to improve the identification and oversight of these …

This report provides an overview of developments and considerations regarding wave, tidal, and in-stream energy generation technology. It summarizes federal involvement in the regulation of this new industry and highlights current issues in the field.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Six years after the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), concerns persist about health effects experienced by WTC responders and the availability of health care services for those affected. Several federally funded programs provide screening, monitoring, or treatment services to responders. GAO has previously reported on the progress made and implementation problems faced by these WTC health programs, as well as lessons learned from the WTC disaster. This testimony is based on previous GAO work, primarily September 11: HHS Needs to Ensure the Availability of Health Screening and Monitoring for All Responders (GAO-07-892, July 23, 2007). This testimony discusses (1) status of services provided by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) WTC Federal Responder Screening Program, (2) efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to provide services for nonfederal responders residing outside the New York City (NYC) area, and (3) lessons learned from WTC health programs. For the July 2007 report, GAO reviewed program documents and interviewed HHS officials, grantees, and others. In August and September 2007, GAO updated selected information in preparing this testimony."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides training and counseling services to women entrepreneurs through the Women's Business Center (WBC) program. With approximately $12 million in fiscal year 2007, SBA funded awards to 99 WBCs. However, Congress and WBCs have expressed concerns about the uncertain nature of the program's funding structure. Concerns have also been raised about the possibility that the WBC and two other SBA programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and SCORE programs, are duplicating each other's efforts. This testimony discusses preliminary views on (1) uncertainties associated with the funding process for WBCs; (2) SBA's oversight of the WBC program; and (3) actions that SBA and WBCs have taken to avoid duplication among the WBC, SBDC, and SCORE programs. GAO reviewed policies, procedures, examinations, and studies related to the funding, oversight, and services of WBCs and interviewed SBA, WBC, SBDC, and SCORE officials."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether certain county officers and employees may hold additional county positions (RQ-0580-GA)