About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-21-495PR 1 (2021-05-19)

handle is hein.gao/gaolsi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1Oo) U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work 441 G St. N.W. Comptroller General Washington, DC 20548 of the United States May 19, 2021 Katy Kale Acting Administrator General Services Administration 1800 F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20405 Priority Open Recommendations: General Services Administration Dear Acting Administrator Kale: The purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the overall status of the General Services Administration's (GSA) implementation of GAO's recommendations and to call your personal attention to open recommendations that deserve high priority.1 In November 2020, we reported that on a government-wide basis, 77 percent of our recommendations made 4 years ago were implemented.2 GSA's recommendation implementation rate was 81 percent. As of March 2021, GSA had 52 open recommendations. Fully implementing all of these recommendations could significantly improve GSA's operations. Since our May 2020 letter, GSA has implemented four of eight priority recommendations. GSA sought authority to loan unobligated Federal Buildings Fund balances to agencies to cover tenants' improvement costs that would otherwise have to be financed for new leases. Specifically, GSA took two steps. First, it developed a proposal to use existing authorities to make such payments. Second, GSA commented on draft legislation that would grant the agency explicit authority to make such payments on a pilot basis. Either of these approaches, if approved, would enable GSA to save millions of dollars in private-sector interest fees. GSA developed a modeling tool that will allow officials to evaluate design choices for a wide range of functional space types. GSA is also training staff to use this tool and updated procedures that emphasize the need for considering the functionality of various design choices. By taking these steps, GSA has a better understanding of the effect of design choices on operations and maintenance costs and can make more informed decisions on how to best design future federal buildings. 1Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operations, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; improving congressional and/or executive branch decision- making on major issues; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensuring that programs comply with laws and that funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015, GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing priority recommendations. 2GAO, Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2020, GAO-21-4SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16, 2020). GAO-21-495PR Priority Recommendations: GSA Page 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most