Over the past 15 years, legislative and executive branch reform efforts have attempted to shift the focus of fed. gov¿t. mgmt. from a preoccupation with activities to the results or outcomes of those activities. There has been a transformation in the capacity of the fed. gov¿t. to manage for results, including an infrastructure of outcome-oriented strategic plans, performance measures, and accountability reporting that provides a solid foundation for improving the performance of fed. programs. This testimony looks at: (1) trends in fed. managers¿ use of performance info. (PI) to manage, both governmentwide and at the agency level; (2) how agencies can encourage greater use of PI to improve results; and (3) lessons learned from prior mgmt. reforms for the next admin.

The economy strengthened in fiscal year 2004, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a faster pace than in the prior fiscal year and employment posting a large increase after declining in each of the previous 3 fiscal years. Rising employment and income contributed to an increase.in fiscal year 2004-the first gain in four years.Outlays, however, rose more than receipts and the Federal budget deficit widened in fiscal year 2004 to $412.3 billion, an increase of $37.5 billion from $374.8 billion in fiscal year 2003. Overall, results in fiscal year 2004 were mixed.- Economic and Budgetary Results, Financial Report Of The United States GovernmentFINANCIAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT is prepared to give the President, Congress, and the American people information about the financial results and position of the Federal Government. The Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service, which provides centralized payment, collection, and reporting services for the Federal Government and acts as its money manager, issues this report on an annual basis.The Financial Report provides a broad, comprehensive overview of the Federal Government's finances and states the Government's financial position and condition, its revenues and costs, its assets and liabilities as well as other obligations and commitments.A Financial Report is submitted to Congress by March of each year as is required by law and is subject to audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The next scheduled Financial Report will be issued in December 2005. For more information about the Department of Treasury, please visit http: //fms.treas.gov.