FY 1988 Budget Request

-Need for Additional Full-Time Permanent Staff

GAO's need for a total of 5,500 average positions, as discussed in its FY 1985 budget presentation, remains unchanged. The major areas where the additional resources are needed also remain essentially the same.

For fiscal year 1988, we are requesting congressional approval of another 100 average positions over the currently approved level of 5,100. This represents the next increment needed to bring total GAO staffing closer to that level at which it can provide the kind of coverage of government programs needed by the Congress.

The 100 additional average positions are planned for use as follows:

-Forty in the defense area to provide more coverage on

defense procurement matters and the way DOD acquires military goods and services.

-Twenty-five to help meet defined objectives in reviews

of complex government-wide ADP and telecommunications programs.

--Twenty-five for coordinating audits of agencies' financial
statements.

-Ten to respond to strong congressional interest in the
soundness of the financial services industry.

--Consultants

GAO hires consultants, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3109, to provide the necessary additional expertise for audit and evaluation work. As the programs reviewed continue to become more and more complex, additional expert assistance in certain subject areas will be needed from consultants.

-Summer Program Participants

Participation in the summer employment program ensures sufficient coverage during the summer vacation period.

-Cooperative Education Program

The Cooperative Education Program is used as a method of recruiting top quality staff. This program provides students with periods of study-related, fully paid employment in suitable types of work. It provides an opportunity to ensure that the program participants can do the kind of quality work expected of GAO staff. It also gives the students an opportunity to decide whether they are interested in the work we do. It continues to be an extremely valuable program.

OTHER SERVICES

The General Accounting Office procures many of its services through intragency agreements and through contracts with private sector firms. In deciding whether to contract out for services, many factors are taken into consideration. A factor of major importance in such decisions is the cost of performing the function or providing the services in-house versus contracting out.

The following summary shows our actual (fiscal year 1986) and estimated (fiscal years 1987 and 1988) dollars for and numbers of contracts for those areas where assistance is needed from public and private entities.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

During fiscal year 1986, two members of our top management team left the agency. First, the Assistant Comptroller General for Planning and Reporting, Mr. Henry Eschwege, retired and was replaced by Mr. Donald J. Horan, formerly the Director of the Office of Policy. Second, the Assistant Comptroller General for Operations, Mr. Francis X. Fee accepted a position in the private sector and was replaced by Mr. Thomas P. McCormick, formerly the Manager of the San Francisco Regional Office.

In addition, we have two organizational changes which will be undertaken during fiscal year 1987. Each of these changes is directed at promoting improved efficiency and effectiveness.

The first change involves the consolidation into the Accounting and Financial Management Division (AFMD) of work that addresses the need of the federal government to improve financial management operations. Some staff had been in the Washington Regional Office working on accounting and financial mangement jobs planned by AFMD. Consolidation of the expertise and knowledge necessary to accomplish this work in AFMD will provide a stronger focus for GAO's work on government financial management.

Second, our national fraud hotline office, which has been an integral part of the Accounting and Financial Management Division since its creation, is being transferred in fiscal year 1987 to the Office of Investigations, where it will be an important element in our efforts to identify and investigate instances of waste, fraud and abuse.