U.S. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

PROGRAM AND PERFORMANCE

Other sections of GAO's "Justification of Estimates for FY 1982" disclose the role, functions, plans and staff requirements of each GAO organization. This Program and Performance section describes GAO's total need for staff resources and the workload requirements that it must meet in FY 1982. This section also outlines work, plans, and staff requirements by GAO program categories which are not coextensive with individual GAO organizational units. The objectives sought by work in these categories are shared by a number of GAO divisions and offices.

GAO'S NEED FOR STAFF RESOURCES IN FY 1982

By legislation and by requests of committees and Members, Congress has greatly increased GAO's workload in recent years. This reflects congressional recognition of the role that GAO has in making Government programs work better and at less cost. While the Congress has increased GAO's workload, and authorized the staff years needed to meet it, required funds have not been fully provided. Consequently, because of funding restrictions placed on GAO since FY 1979, work necessary for what we believe to be adequate coverage of federal programs could not be fully performed.

To meet the most time critical of GAO's workload demands we have, over the past several years, had to cut increasingly deeply into work required by GAO's basic legislation. This work is a significant way by which GAO recommends improvements to Federal programs and it increases the economy and efficiency of Government operations. It is an important basis for GAO recommendations to reduce Federal spending.

In FY 1982, GAO will need 5,350 staff years to meet the requirements of new legislation, to respond to the increasing requests of committees and Members for audit and evaluation work, and to prevent further deterioration of audit and evaluation work. This staff year level represents workload requirements after GAO has absorbed known workload increases to the maximum extent feasible.

Full funding of this level of staff years is important because:

--Funds provided to GAO are returned many times over. During the past 4 years GAO's tangible savings and dollar accomplishments were $20 for each dollar appropriated to it.

--All of GAO's work helps Congress meet its goals, including those of reducing Federal spending and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal programs.

--Requested funds are the minimum needed to provide staff years required to accomplish congressionally mandated work over which GAO has little or no control.

-While the workload that GAO will need to meet in FY 1982 has increased, and will increase even more as additional legislation is enacted, we are requesting no increases over staff levels that have already been authorized.

--Funding constraints over the past several years have eroded the audit and evaluation coverage that GAO has been able to provide under its continuing legislative responsibilities. A continuation of this trend is inimical to achieving basic goals sought by Congress.

INCREASES IN GAO RESOURCES HAVE NOT KEPT PACE
WITH LEGISLATIVELY REQUIRED WORKLOAD INCREASES

Each year GAO determines the staff requirements of legislatively directed action over which it has no control. We determine how much we can absorb and ask only for minimum staff years believed necessary without significantly affecting the level of audit and evaluation coverage that Congress expects of GAO under its basic legislative responsibilities.

Because of funding restrictions, GAO was funded 44 less staff years

in FY 1979 than in FY 1978. In FY's 1980 and 1981 only 56 more staff

years were funded than in FY 1978-despite a significantly increased workload.
Since October 1, 1978-the beginning of FY 1979-new legislation and committee
reports increased GAO workload by 232 staff years in FY 1979, 260 staff
years in FY 1980, 267 staff years in FY 1981 and, ten months before the
start of FY 1982, we have already identified workload increases of 230
staff years required by new legislation and committee reports. This will
increase materially as new legislation is enacted by the 97th Congress.

As a result, of the significant increases to GAO workload, without a corresponding increase in funding, GAO coverage of Federal agency programs under its basic legislative responsibilities has, over the past several years, been less than we believed necessary to meet all of the responsibilities that Congress has given GAO.

The following illustrates new legislation and committee reports that will require GAO audit and evaluation work in FY 1982:

--Multi Employer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (PL 96-364, 9/26/80)
--Energy Security Act (PL 96-294, 6/30/80)

--Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 (PL 96-223, 4/2/80)

--Home Energy Assistance Act of 1980 (PL 96-223, 4/2/80)

--Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 (PL 96-265, 6/9/80)

--Committee Report on Automobile Fuel Efficiency Act of 1980

(HR 96-1097, 5/16/80)

--Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (PL 96-296, 7/1/80)

--Railroad Deregulation (PL 96-448, 10/14/80)

--Refugee Act of 1980 (PL 96-212, 3/30/80)

--Rock Island Transition and Employee Assistance Act; Passenger
Railroad Rebuilding Act of 1980 (PL 96-254, 5/30/80)

--Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act of 1980

(PL 96-252, 5/28/80)

--Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (PL 96-398, 10/7/80)

--Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980 (PL 96-365, 9/26/80)

--Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
Act of 1980 (PL 96-510, 12/11/80)

--Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980

(PL 96-487, 12/2/80)

--National Historic Preservation Act, Amendments of 1980

(PL 96-515, 12/12/80)

--Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Reservoir Act of 1980 (PL 96-283, 6/28/80) --Paperwork and Red Tape Reduction Act of 1980 (Senate Report 96-985, 9/23/80)