A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) required GAO to report on the relative independence, effectiveness, and expertise of the inspectors general (IG) established by the IG Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act), including IGs appointed by the President with Senate confirmation and those appointed by their agency heads in designated federal entities (DFE). GAO was also required to report on the effect that provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act have on IG independence. The objectives of this report are to provide information as reported by the IGs on (1) the implementation of provisions intended to enhance their independence in the IG Reform Act of 2008 (Reform Act), the IG Act, and the Dodd-Frank Act; (2) their measures of effectiveness, including oversight of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds; and (3) their expertise and qualifications in areas specified by the IG Act. GAO relied primarily on responses to its survey received from 62 IGs established by the IG Act. GAO also obtained information from the President's fiscal year 2011 budget, the IGs' annual report to the President for …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As an important part of the economic stimulus efforts, Congress enacted the First- Time Homebuyer Credit (FTHBC) to assist the struggling real estate market and encourage taxpayers to purchase their first homes. Congress enacted different versions of the FTHBC--as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Housing Act); the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act); and the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (Assistance Act). The dollar amounts that can be claimed and rules associated with the credit, including potential repayment, vary depending on the version. Joint Committee on Taxation estimates suggest that the three FTHBC provisions combined may result in total revenue losses to the federal government of about $22 billion through 2019. In response to the request for updated information on the use of the FTHBC, our objectives were to identify (1) the number of FTHBC claims and dollar amounts claimed for each credit version by state and (2) state rankings, using selected statistics, such as the total dollar amount of FTHBC claimed in each state."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants patents that protect innovations ranging from new treatments for diseases to new wireless technology applications. Over the last several years, increases in both the volume and complexity of patent applications have lengthened the time between when an application is submitted and when a final decision is made--referred to as patent pendency--and resulted in a current backlog of over 700,000 applications. For several years, concerns have existed about USPTO's ability to recruit and retain enough qualified patent examiners to reduce this backlog. In 2005 and again in 2007, we identified numerous challenges related to USPTO's ability to modernize its human capital management system and hire and retain a qualified and well-trained patent examination workforce. Recently, USPTO management has also recognized the need for changes in its performance management system and additional training for its employees and managers. In this context, Congress asked us to obtain additional information on the performance management of USPTO's patent examination workforce. Specifically, Congress asked us to describe (1) USPTO's processes for evaluating the performance of supervisory patent examiners (SPE) and patent …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies are to store federal records in three types of facilities:"

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 "The four Department of Defense (DOD) components GAO examined have active processes for referring identified cases of contractor misconduct for appropriate action, including suspension or debarment. The components identify numerous cases of actual or alleged contractor misconduct each year from various internal and external sources. The figure below shows the process for identifying and referring cases to the suspension and debarment official for consideration."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOL and OSC began the USERRA demonstration project on August 9, 2011, meeting the time frame (within 60 days of our report on the project's design) required by the VBA. From August 9, 2011, to May 9, 2012, DOL has received 87 USERRA demonstration project cases and OSC has received 123 cases. The data reported in this study cover only 9 months of the demonstration project and do not represent the overall results of the 36-month project nor are we drawing any conclusions of the relative performance at either agency. As both agencies continue to collect and track data, we will be able to provide an in-depth evaluation of relative performance. We did not report customer satisfaction survey data in this assessment due to the short amount of time the survey has been available to claimants and the low survey response rate. Also, while both agencies track time spent on cases on an ongoing basis, OSC only compiles cost data on those cases that have been closed while DOL compiles cost data on open and closed cases. Therefore, we plan to evaluate and compare the relative …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nearly all of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program managers GAO surveyed reported their programs had experienced significant challenges. Sixty-eight of the 71 respondents reported they experienced funding instability, faced workforce shortfalls, or their planned capabilities changed after initiation, and most survey respondents reported a combination of these challenges. DHS lacks the data needed to accurately measure program performance, but GAO was able to use survey results, information DHS provided to Congress, and an internal DHS review from March 2012 to identify 42 programs that experienced cost growth, schedule slips, or both. GAO gained insight into the magnitude of the cost growth for 16 of the 42 programs, which increased from $19.7 billion in 2008 to $52.2 billion in 2011, an aggregate increase of 166 percent."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to 2010 data from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), 10,187 subjects--individuals and entities involved in fraud cases--were investigated for health care fraud, including fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These subjects included different types of providers and suppliers--such as physicians, hospitals, durable medical equipment suppliers, home health agencies, and pharmacies--that serve Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries. For criminal cases in 2010, medical facilities--including medical centers, clinics, or practices--and durable medical equipment suppliers were the most-frequent subjects investigated. Hospitals and medical facilities were the most-frequent subjects investigated in civil fraud cases, including cases that resulted in judgments or settlements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Thirteen states reported that in fiscal year 2012 they paid a total of about $5.6 billion to limited benefit plans to provide mental health services to about 4.4 million adult Medicaid beneficiaries. States can enroll different populations--such as adults who are blind, disabled, or have developmental disabilities--in limited benefit plans, which could contribute to the variation in the number of adults enrolled and level of capitated payments made across the 13 states."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCOs) reported that they are implementing several leading practices important to making strategic decisions about training delivery, such as determining the best mix of decentralized and centralized training and considering government-wide reform when planning training. However, many CHCOs reported they are not implementing some practices that support making more cost-effective training investment decisions, such as prioritizing training so that the most important needs are met first and evaluating the benefits of training. In addition, many CHCOs do not have information from component or sub-agency leaders regarding their level of investments and priorities. Consequently, some agencies are duplicating internal across their agencies. Federal agencies also need reliable information on how much they spend on training and for what purposes. However, several CHCOs reported they do not completely and reliably track training costs agency-wide."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to a Congressional request for information on waivers related to TANF, we addressed the following questions:"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE), has successfully ensured that the nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable by using state-of-the-art facilities as well as the skills of top scientists. Nevertheless, DOE’s and NNSA’s ineffective oversight of its contractors has contributed to many safety and security problems. As work carried out at NNSA’s sites involves dangerous nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium, stringent safety procedures and security requirements must be observed. In response to numerous serious safety incidents over several decades, DOE has taken steps to improve safety oversight. Recently, laboratory and other officials have raised concerns, however, that federal oversight has become excessive and overly burdensome. To address these concerns, DOE completed a safety and security reform effort to streamline or eliminate many DOE directives. However, GAO reported in April 2012 that the benefits of this reform effort are unclear because DOE did not determine if the original directives were, in fact, burdensome. In addition, the reform effort did not fully address safety concerns GAO and others identified in the areas of quality assurance, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In section 3 of the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No 110-438 (2008)), Congress mandated that we provide information on the use and the effects of the provisions of law amended (and as amended) by the act. Specifically, the act amended the existing bankruptcy code to exempt qualifying members of the National Guard and Reserve Components from the means test process when they file a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief. We are fulfilling the act's requirement by transmitting the this briefing to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2008, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded five contracts to research organizations to update national workforce projections, but HRSA has failed to publish any new reports containing projections. As a result, the most recent projections from HRSA available to Congress and others to inform health care workforce policy decisions are from the agency's 2008 report, which is based on data that are more than a decade old. While HRSA created a timeline for publishing new workforce projection reports in 2012, the agency missed its goal to publish a clinician specialty report by December 2012 projecting the supply of and demand for health care professionals through 2025. HRSA officials attributed the delay in publishing this report to data challenges and modeling limitations. HRSA has also revised its timeline to postpone publication of two other health care workforce reports, as shown in the table below. HRSA officials said that the agency does not have standard written procedures for preparing a report for publication after final reports are delivered from contractors, which may impede its ability …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's review of the reimbursements the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) made to the American Red Cross (Red Cross) related to the 77 presidentially declared major disasters in 2008 found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While the number of community banks and credit unions has declined in recent years, they have remained important lenders to small businesses and other local customers. From 1985 through 2010, the number of banks under $10 billion in assets and credit unions declined by over 50 percent to 7,551 and 7,339, respectively. The decline resulted largely from consolidations, which were facilitated by changes in federal law that made it easier for banks and credit unions to expand geographically. Another factor that may have contributed to consolidations is economies of scale, which refer to how an institution's size is related to its costs. Although the existence of economies of scale in banking has been subject to debate, some recent research suggests that banks can save costs by expanding. Despite the decline in their number, community banks and credit unions have maintained their relationship-banking model, relying on their relationships with customers and local knowledge to make loans. Such institutions can use their relationship-based information to make loans to small businesses and other borrowers that larger banks may not make because of their general reliance on more automated processes. …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2005 through 2011, the physical condition of the Coast Guard's legacy vessels was generally poor. A primary Coast Guard measure of a vessel's condition--the operational percent of time free of major casualties--shows that the high endurance cutters, medium endurance cutters, and patrol boats generally remained well below target levels from fiscal years 2005 through 2011."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)--a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)-- proposed in March 2010 a new acquisition strategy that includes consolidating the management and operating (M&O) contracts for two of its eight sites--the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas--and consolidating all construction projects for all of its sites under a single, enterprise-wide contract. NNSA anticipates that this strategy will reduce costs, enhance mission performance, and improve construction management. NNSA's sites are overseen by colocated federal site offices. GAO was asked to assess NNSA's preliminary proposals for (1) a consolidated M&O contract for Y-12 and Pantex and (2) an enterprise-wide construction contract. GAO reviewed analyses supporting NNSA's acquisition strategy; examined agency directives and guidance; and interviewed DOE, NNSA, and contractor officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To verify license applicants' identity, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have procedures that may detect counterfeit documents. For example, all states are now verifying key personal information, such as Social Security numbers (SSN) through online queries to a Social Security Administration (SSA) database, a significant increase from about a decade ago. This effort helps ensure that the identity information presented belongs to a valid identity and also is not associated with a deceased person. Additionally, most states verify non-citizen applicants' immigration documents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure these individuals have lawful status in the United States. Many states are also using facial recognition techniques to better detect attempts to obtain a license under another's identity. While most states have taken steps required by the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Act), officials in some states indicated that they may not comply with certain provisions--such as re-verifying SSNs for license renewals--because of state laws or concerns that these requirements are unnecessary and burdensome."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established the Partnership for Peace (PfP) to increase cooperation with former Warsaw Pact members and provide many of these countries with a path to NATO membership. As NATO confronts new security challenges, including the war in Afghanistan, its relationships with partner countries have grown in scope and importance. Additionally, NATO is developing a new Strategic Concept to clarify its mission and activities, including its relationship with PfP countries and other partners. The Department of Defense (DOD)-funded Warsaw Initiative Fund (WIF) supports the goals of the PfP program. GAO was asked to review (1) how the PfP program has evolved since GAO last reported on it in 2001; (2) options NATO is considering for the future of the PfP and other partnership programs; and (3) support to PfP countries through the U.S. WIF program. GAO analyzed NATO, DOD, and State Department (State) documents; and WIF funding data. GAO also interviewed DOD, State, NATO, and selected country officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Television stations that broadcast at lower power levels were not required to meet the 2009 digital transition deadline for full-power stations. These low-power television stations transmit over a smaller area, and most are less regulated than full-power stations. Low-power television stations use valuable radio frequency spectrum, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) noted the stations' digital transition could aid its efforts to clear spectrum for wireless broadband. GAO examined (1) low-power television stations' location and status in transitioning to digital, (2) FCC's steps to transition low-power television stations to digital and whether these stations are facing challenges transitioning to digital, and (3) why low-power television stations were established and the extent to which FCC collects information to determine if low-power television service is meeting FCC's statutory and policy goals. GAO analyzed FCC data and documents, reviewed stakeholder comments, and interviewed agency officials, stakeholders, and low-power television licensees."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government invests billions in information technology (IT) each year to help agencies accomplish their missions. Federal law, particularly the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, has defined the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) as the focal point for IT management within agencies. Given the longstanding challenges the government faces in managing IT and the continued importance of the CIO, GAO was asked to (1) determine the current roles and responsibilities of CIOs, (2) determine what potential modifications to the Clinger-Cohen Act and related laws could be made to enhance CIOs' authority and effectiveness, and (3) identify key lessons learned by CIOs in managing IT. To do this, GAO administered a questionnaire to 30 CIOs, compared responses to legislative requirements and the results of a 2004 GAO study, interviewed current CIOs, convened a panel of former agency CIOs, and spoke with the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Federal CIO."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the past 2 years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been implementing the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (Reform Act) requirements for systems engineering and developmental testing. These activities are important to DOD's ability to control acquisition costs, which increased by $135 billion over the past 2 years for 98 major defense acquisition programs. GAO was asked to determine (1) DOD's progress in implementing the Reform Act's requirements and (2) whether there are challenges at the military service level that could affect their systems engineering and developmental testing activities. To do this, GAO analyzed implementation status documents, discussed developmental testing office concerns with current and former DOD officials, and analyzed military service workforce growth plans and test range funding data.."