Reduce The Burden of Congressionally Mandated Reports
Reduce the Burden of Congressionally Mandated Reports
Background
The number of congressionally mandated reports required of federal
executive branch agencies continues to grow rapidly, following a growth
trend that has lasted a quarter century. In fiscal year 1980, agencies
produced approximately 4,000 reports in response to congressional
oversight requirements. Congress, this year, will require executive
branch agencies to prepare approximately 5,000 reports.(1) The
preparation costs of these reports is believed to exceed $100 million.
One reporting requirement can spawn multiple reports. For example, the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 required more than 38 reports
from a single agency. Reporting requirements can be either recurring
(annual or semi-annual) or one-time. The Agency for International
Development (AID), for example, must submit approximately 60 reports to
Congress during fiscal year 1993; approximately half are one-time
requirements, but the remainder are recurring reports.(2) But even
one-time reports can impose substantial burdens. The Department of
Defense produced 654 one-time reports in fiscal year 1993.(3) Reporting
requirements affect small as well as large agencies. For example, the
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), an agency with a staff of about
300, must produce 70 congressionally mandated reports this year. These
duties are assigned to 4.2 full-time employees at an estimated cost of
$257,121.(4)
Various cost estimates of report production have been made over the last
12 years. In 1980, the General Accounting Office estimated the federal
government spent $80 million producing 4,000 reports.(5) In 1983, $86
million was spent to produce 4,300 reports.(6)
In addition to reports by agencies directly to Congress, central
oversight and management agencies such as the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) also collect information from federal
agencies for submission to Congress.
Table 1 summarizes the number of reports required by Congress from
selected agencies.(7)
Table 1:Reports Required of Selected Agencies by Congress, July 1993
Agency No. of Reports Due
President of the United States 773
Department of Defense 443
Department of the Interior 235
Department of Health and Human Services 203
Department of Energy 199
Department of State 197
Federally Chartered Corporations 176
Department of Transportation 170
Department of Agriculture 106
Department of Commerce 106
Department of Education 99
Department of Housing and Urban Development 99
Department of Justice 98
Department of the Treasury 97
Office of Management and Budget 78
Environmental Protection Agency 70
Department of Labor 52
General Services Administration 46
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 38
Agency for International Development 32
Office of Personnel Management 31
Federal Emergency Management Agency 26
Resolution Trust Corporation 25
Department of Veterans Affairs 23
National Science Foundation 21
Small Business Administration 17
The Intelligence Community (CIA, NSA) 14
All others, including Independent Agencies
and Commissions 1,524
TOTAL 4,998
Source: House Information Systems, July 1993
Need for Change
Congress ensures adequate oversight of the executive branch by requiring
agencies to regularly report on their activities. Some reports, however,
seem to have little intrinsic value. For example, annual reports include
the financial statements of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, and a
report on the cost effectiveness of furnishing therapeutic shoes to
sample groups of Medicare beneficiaries. Eliminating unnecessary reports
will improve the way government functions and streamline the
bureaucracy.
In addition, some Inspectors General recommend that the Chief Financial
Officers Act be amended to allow discretion as to reporting on the
financial condition of government funds rather than requiring annual
reports on all funds. In addition, a special task force of the
President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency recommends eliminating
annual compliance reports such as management controls over advisory and
assistance awards and implementation of anti- influencing
requirements.(8) The cost of these reports is believed to greatly exceed
their benefits.
Many reports, while initially valuable, may no longer be necessary for
several reasons:
--- They may address concerns that are no longer high priority, such as
the annual report on helium production, required since 1925.
--- They may repeat information previously addressed in another report.
For example, the Annual Report from the National Advisory Council on
Continuing Education duplicates material in a separately required
report.(9)
--- They may document only minor, procedural changes. For example,
Clearance Form for Data Reporting Burden is required annually of the
Department of Education by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
--- They may concentrate on programs no longer in existence. For
example, the Secretary of Education was required as recently as 1985 "to
report biennially to Congress on the findings and recommendations of the
Office of Education Professional Development, an office abolished in
1981."(10)
--- They may no longer provide useful information. For example, an
annual report on coal reserves disclosure from the Department of Energy
was found to be not useful "because U.S. coal reserves are estimated to
last in excess of 300 years."(11)
Alternatives exist that could provide needed information at a much lower
cost. For example, an electronic information system shared by
congressional committees and executive branch agencies could allow data
to be exchanged quicker and at a lower cost.
Cross References to Other NPR Accompanying Reports
Improving Financial Management, FM09: Simplify the Financial Reporting
Process.
Endnotes
1. U.S. Congress, House, House Information Systems (HIS) Database,
Reports Due to Congress (Washington, D.C., July 1993).
2. NPR Accompanying Report Agency for International Development, AID02:
Reduce Funding, Spending, and Reporting Micromanagement.
3. U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Comptroller, "Memorandum on
Assignment of Responsibility for Reports Required by Congress," January
21, 1993, attached graph. These figures do not correspond to the data in
the House Information Systems.
4. Interview with Paul Mahoney and Marsha Scialdo Boyd, Merit Systems
Protection Board, July 1993. The 4.2 employees are responsible for
completing reports to executive branch central oversight agencies as
well as reports to Congress.
5. U.S. General Accounting Office, A Systematic Management Approach Is
Needed For Congressional Reporting Requirements, PAD-82-12 (Washington,
D.C.: U.S. General Accounting Office [GAO], November 25, 1981).
6. U.S. President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, Management
Office Selected Issues, Volume VIII: "The Cost of Congressional
Encroachment" (Winter 1983), p. 83.
7. Because some agency reports are reported twice, separately and also
in the All Others category, the total number of reports listed in the
HIS Database, Reports Due to Congress is approximately 4,998, and not
5,348, as originally reported.
8. Special Task Force of the President's Council on Integrity and
Efficiency (PCIE), July 1993.
9. Congressional Reports Elimination Act of 1985, Senate Report 99- 211,
p. 2.
10. Ibid., p. 2.
11. Ibid., p. 3.
12. U.S. General Accounting Office, Congressional Reports: Efforts to
Eliminate or Modify Reporting Requirements Need to be Improved,
GAO/AFMD-88-4 (Washington, D.C.: GAO, April 19, 1988), p. 5.