Senate Clears Bill to Improve Management of Federal Programs

Government Executive: The Senate on Thursday passed a bill designed to curb government waste by using private-sector performance standards for federal programs and by creating new agency specialists in the discipline of program management.

The Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act (S. 1550) sponsored by Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., passed by unanimous consent. It would require the deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget to create a Program Management Policy Council and direct agencies to appoint program management improvement officers. The Office of Personnel Management would be required to identify relevant skill sets and create related job classifications for program and project management.

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