GAO gives agencies good marks on e-gov compliance

Federal agencies led by the Office of Management and Budget have done a solid job of complying with the 2002 E-Government Act but could improve the way they gather performance metrics and report on agency progress, a watchdog said Friday.

The Government Accountability Office report lists numerous federal products and processes designed in the decade since the E-Government Act’s initial passage aimed at making agencies’ information more accessible to the public and improving online customer service.

Those include the Regulations.gov website, which allows citizens and organizations to comment on proposed regulations online, and USA.gov, a central portal for government information and services.

Agencies also have made strides in tracking customer satisfaction on federal websites and in integrating best practices for electronic government into their operations and policy guidance, the watchdog said.

GAO’s chief criticism was that OMB and other agencies have not established sufficient metrics to track e-gov programs’ success and their compliance with the law’s intent.

Congressional appropriations for e-gov always have been significantly below what was called for by the law’s authors and the lack of funding has hampered many projects. The law called for funding to rise from $45 million in 2003 to $150 million in 2006. But funding never rose above a 2010 high of $34 million and rarely approached even that level.

E-gov initiatives received $12.4 million in the fiscal 2012 budget and were slated for $16.7 million in President Obama's proposed 2013 budget.