A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The largest account in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons (BOP) budget justification--its Salaries and Expenses (S&E) account-- is composed mainly of costs associated with Inmate Care and Programs and Institution Security and Administration, both of which have grown steadily since 2008. This growth is due predominantly to increases in prison populations, which are the primary cost driver of BOP's budget. The other two program, project and activity (PPA) elements in the S&E account are associated with the care and custody of federal offenders in contract facilities and maintenance and administration. BOP's Buildings and Facilities (B&F) account, which makes up on average less than 3 percent of its budget, pays for costs associated with site planning; acquisition; and construction of new facilities and costs of remodeling and renovating existing facilities, and related costs. In fiscal year 2014, the budget justification reflected a total of $6.9 billion; of which over 95 percent ($6.8 billion) was for BOP's S&E account."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found (1) the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2013, and 2012, are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) FHFA maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2013; and (3) no reportable noncompliance for fiscal year 2013 with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements GAO tested. In commenting on a draft of this report, the acting Director of FHFA stated that he accepted the audit conclusions and commented that the agency would continue to work to enhance its internal control and ensure the reliability of its financial reporting, its soundness of operations, and public confidence in its mission."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For Indian Health Service (IHS) contract health services (CHS) delivered in fiscal year 2011, a majority of claims were paid within 6 months of the service delivery date, but some took much longer. Specifically, about 73 percent of claims were paid within 6 months of service delivery, while about 8 percent took more than 1 year. The CHS payment process consists of three main steps: (1) the local CHS program issues a purchase order to the provider authorizing payment (either before service delivery, or after, such as in emergency situations), (2) the provider submits a claim for payment, and (3) IHS pays the provider. GAO found that the first step took the longest--often taking more than 2 months."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established timelines and milestones for the 72 Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) priorities--33 activities, 25 threat-based approaches, and 14 capabilities--that HHS selected as key to fulfilling PHEMCE strategic goals. However, HHS has not made spending estimates for its medical countermeasure development or procurement priorities (priority countermeasures) publicly available. In the PHEMCE implementation plan, HHS has grouped the 72 PHEMCE priorities into three time frames for completion--near-term (fiscal years 2012 through 2014), midterm (fiscal years 2015 through 2017), and long-term (fiscal year 2018 and beyond). For 21 priority activities, 10 priority threat-based approaches, and 8 priority capabilities, HHS and PHEMCE have identified specific deliverables, each tied to a milestone or set of milestones that delineate the steps necessary to complete deliverables, and established more specific timelines for completion of deliverables and milestones. For example, HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is to lead the development of medical countermeasure requirements, which outline countermeasure quantity, type, and desired characteristics. Deliverables are the threat-specific requirements, such as for antidotes for mustard gas and other …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found (1) the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) and its Investor Protection Fund's (IPF) financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) SEC maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2013, although internal control deficiencies exist that merit attention by those charged with governance; and (3) no reportable noncompliance in fiscal year 2013 with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements GAO tested. In commenting on a draft of this report, SEC's Chair expressed her pleasure that GAO found that SEC had successfully remediated the two significant deficiencies identified in 2012. The Chair added that SEC will focus on the significant deficiency GAO reported in 2013 in the area of information security."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Beneficiaries with continuous health insurance coverage for approximately 6 years before enrolling in Medicare were more likely than those without prior continuous insurance to report being in good health or better during the first 6 years in Medicare. In particular, having prior continuous insurance raised the predicted probability that a beneficiary reported being in good health or better by nearly 6 percentage points during the first 6 years in Medicare."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Education's (Education) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) supports high-quality research, but lacks certain key procedures needed to fulfill other aspects of its mission. According to stakeholders, IES has substantially improved the quality of education research since its inception over a decade ago. However, GAO identified concerns with IES's ability to produce timely and relevant research. For example, IES's efforts are slow to respond to stakeholders' needs, in part, because the time IES's products have spent in peer review has substantially increased in recent years--from an average of 117 days in fiscal year 2011 to 150 days in fiscal year 2013--and IES does not monitor some aspects of these timeframes. In addition, IES does not have a structured process for incorporating stakeholder input into its research agenda, which previous GAO work has shown to be key to sound federal research programs. Lastly, IES's performance measures do not fully reflect its current programs, which is not consistent with leading practices GAO has identified for performance management. For example, IES does not publicly report on the overall performance of the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) program, which …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of the Army, Homeland Security, the Interior, and Veterans Affairs used reverse auctions to acquire predominantly commercial items and services--primarily for information technology products and medical equipment and supplies--although the mix of products and services varied among agencies. Most--but not all--of the auctions resulted in contracts with relatively small dollar value awards--typically $150,000 or less--and a high rate of awards to small businesses. The four agencies steadily increased their use of reverse auctions from fiscal years 2008 through 2012, with about $828 million in contract awards in 2012 alone. GAO was not able to analyze data from a fifth agency, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), because it collected only summary level information during fiscal year 2012. DLA guidance states that the reverse auction pricing tool should be used for all competitive purchases over $150,000."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FPS faces challenges ensuring that contract guards have been properly trained and certified before being deployed to federal facilities around the country. In its September 2013 report, GAO found that providing active shooter response and screener training is a challenge for FPS. For example, according to officials at five guard companies, their contract guards have not received training on how to respond during incidents involving an active shooter. Without ensuring that all guards receive training on how to respond to incidents at federal facilities involving an active-shooter, FPS has limited assurance that its guards are prepared for this threat. Similarly, an official from one of FPS's contract guard companies stated that 133 (about 38 percent) of its approximately 350 guards have never received screener training. As a result, guards deployed to federal facilities may be using x-ray and magnetometer equipment that they are not qualified to use which raises questions about their ability to screen access control points at federal facilities--one of their primary responsibilities. GAO was unable to determine the extent to which FPS's guards have received active-shooter response and screener training, in part, because FPS lacks …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of August 2013, the Chief Information Officers (CIO) at the eight selected agencies rated 198 of their 244 major information technology (IT) investments listed on the Federal IT Dashboard (Dashboard) as low risk or moderately low risk, 41 as medium risk, and 5 as high risk or moderately high risk. However, the total number of investments reported by these agencies has varied over time, which impacts the number of investments receiving CIO ratings. For example, Energy reclassified several of its supercomputer investments from IT to facilities and Commerce decided to reclassify its satellite ground system investments. Both decisions resulted in the removal of the investments from the Dashboard, even though the investments were clearly IT. In addition, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not update the public version of the Dashboard as the President's budget request is being created. As a result, the public version of the Dashboard was not updated for 15 of the past 24 months, and so was not available as a tool for investment oversight and decision making."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Based on survey results for calendar year 2012, GAO estimates that most local areas used various sources of information to identify occupations that are in demand (i.e., available jobs and occupations that are projected to grow). Local areas found all of the sources of information they used to be at least moderately useful. To identify occupations that are in demand, GAO estimates that nearly 90 percent of local areas used state job banks and occupational projections, both of which are funded by the Department of Labor (DOL). All percentages presented on this highlights page are estimates from the survey and have a sampling error of no larger than plus or minus 7 percentage points. In addition, 93 percent of areas used at least one local initiative, such as a partnership with the local economic development agency, to identify such jobs. As compared to other sources, areas reported using local initiatives because they provided more detailed information and better reflected local employers' needs. To guide participants toward training, most local areas required them to complete certain activities, such as meeting with a case manager to discuss training …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers GAO visited did not adhere to certain policy elements of the protected peer review process, and monitoring by VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is limited. According to policy issued by VHA, protected peer review may be used by VA medical centers (VAMC) when there is a need to determine whether a provider's actions associated with an adverse event were clinically appropriate--that is, whether another provider with similar expertise would have taken similar action. Despite VAMC officials' general understanding of the protected peer review process, none of the VAMCs GAO visited adhered to all four protected peer review policy elements selected for review, including the timely completion of reviews, and the timely development of peer review triggers that signal the need for further review of a provider's care. Failure of VAMCs to adhere to the protected peer review policy elements may result in missed opportunities to identify providers who pose a risk to patient safety. Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN), responsible for oversight of VAMCs, monitor VAMCs' protected peer review processes through quarterly data submissions and annual site visits. …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found that government agencies were increasingly using reverse auctions as a means to drive down prices but without adequate guidance to ensure that the potential benefits were maximized. GAO's analysis of the data also identified some common characteristics among contract awards resulting from reverse auctions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Some investments have been made to improve Guam's public infrastructure in recent years, but many deficiencies and regulatory compliance issues continue to exist. The reliability, capacity, and age of much of the public infrastructure--especially the island's utilities--indicate a need for additional upgrades to be able to meet current and future demands related to the realignment. Further, some infrastructure sectors, such as water and wastewater, face issues complying with federal regulations. Other sectors, such as the fire and police departments, are experiencing staffing and other shortages that affect their ability to serve Guam's current population."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Substantial increases occurred over the last decade in the number of civil lawsuits filed in federal district court alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (FLSA). Federal courts in most states experienced increases in the number of FLSA lawsuits filed and the percentage of total civil lawsuits filed that were FLSA cases, but large increases were concentrated in a few states, including Florida and New York. The number of workers involved in FLSA lawsuits is unknown because the courts do not collect data on the number of workers represented. Many factors may contribute to this general trend; however, the factor cited most often by stakeholders, including attorneys and judges, was attorneys' increased willingness to take on such cases. In fiscal year 2012, an estimated 97 percent of FLSA lawsuits were filed against private sector employers, often from the accommodations and food services industry, and 95 percent of the lawsuits filed included allegations of overtime violations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The President and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have established policies and procedures for coordinating investments in geospatial data, however, in November 2012, GAO reported that governmentwide committees and federal departments and agencies had not effectively implemented them. The committee that was established to promote the coordination of geospatial data nationwide--the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)--had developed and endorsed key standards and had established a clearinghouse of metadata. GAO found that the clearinghouse was not being used by agencies to identify planned geospatial investments to promote coordination and reduce duplication. In addition, the committee had not yet fully planned for or implemented an approach to manage geospatial data as related groups of investments to allow agencies to more effectively plan geospatial data collection efforts and minimize duplicative investments, and its strategic plan was missing key elements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) rail-safety oversight framework relies on inspections to ensure railroads comply with federal safety regulations. FRA inspects railroad infrastructure and operations, identifies safety defects, and may, if warranted, cite the railroads for violations of federal safety regulations. The agency estimates that its inspectors have the ability to annually inspect less than 1 percent of the railroad activities covered in regulation. As a result, railroads have the primary responsibility for safety of the railroad system. To formulate regulations, FRA instituted the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, a forum for FRA, the railroads, rail labor organizations, and other stakeholders to arrive at a consensus on proposed rules. Thirty states partner with FRA in providing FRA-certified railroad safety inspectors who are also authorized to enforce federal safety regulations. Finally, many railroads have additional safety programs, rules, and technologies to ensure safety beyond the required federal standards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since January 1990, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has leased 107 coal tracts, and associated coal production and revenues have grown. Most lease sales have had a single bidder and were leased the first time offered. The amount of coal produced from federal leases and associated revenues have increased since 1990, although production has leveled off since 2002. Revenues from federal coal leases have generated about $1 billion annually in recent years. Royalties paid when coal is sold and bonus bids paid for the right to mine a federal coal tract account for nearly all of these revenues."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Special needs plans (SNP) reported having higher profit margins and spending a lower percentage of total revenues on medical expenses, on average, than Medicare Advantage (MA) plans available to all beneficiaries in 2011. For instance, SNPs' average profit margin was 4.0 percentage points higher than plans available to all beneficiaries--8.6 percent vs. 4.6 percent. SNPs also had a higher plan-level median profit margin compared to MA plans available to all beneficiaries--7.1 percent vs. 3.2 percent. All three types of SNPs--dual-eligible SNPs, chronic condition SNPs, and institutional SNPs--spent, on average, a lower percentage of total revenue on medical expenses and had higher profit margins relative to MA plans available to all beneficiaries. SNPs also spent a lower percentage of total revenue on medical expenses and had higher profit margins relative to MA plans available to all beneficiaries after accounting for whether a plan had a high or low enrollment-weighted average benchmark--the maximum amount Medicare will pay plans to serve an average beneficiary in a given area. Similarly, SNPs spent a lower percentage of total revenue on medical expenses and had higher profit margins relative to MA plans available to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Interior has taken some steps intended to help ensure a fair return on federal oil and gas resources but does not have documented procedures for periodically conducting assessments of the fiscal system. Specifically, Interior has taken the following steps:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) total budget estimates for modernizing the nuclear security enterprise for fiscal years 2014 through 2031 have increased by about $19 billion overall when compared with the estimates in the agency's fiscal year 2012 budget materials, with most of the increase occurring in fiscal year 2019 and beyond. Factors such as sequestration, the achievability of planned cost savings, and pension liabilities could affect the accuracy of future budget estimates as presented."