Majority of Government Agencies Stuck at Yellow

Sixty percent of agencies have yet to achieve Green in their Current Status of compliance with the real property initiative of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA).

The latest PMA scorecard released through the White House indicated compliance status as of September 30, 2007. Agencies receiving a Yellow ranking in Current Status included the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor, Agency for International Development, and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Four organizations were also downgraded from Green to Yellow in Progress in Implementation. Those organizations included the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and NASA.

One explanation for the Yellow ranking in Current Status may be that the affected agencies are as yet unable to demonstrate the practical application of their Asset Management Plan (AMP). The AMP is a baseline requirement for compliance with the PMA initiative.

In a survey conducted by the Federal Real Property Association (FPRA) and VISTA, presented at the FRPA professional conference in 2006, real property professionals indicated practical use of the AMP as the next compliance hurdle to clear.

“We haven’t yet demonstrated that the [Asset Management Plan] is used in our day-to-day facilities decisions, which is required to rank Green for status,” wrote one respondent.

“We are making good progress. [We] need to do more to demonstrate to OMB that we should be Green on status,” indicated a second survey participant.

The latest PMA scorecard also reflected significant lack of progress in two other initiatives: e-Government and Budget & Performance Integration. Seventy-three percent of affected agencies scored a rating of either Yellow or Red in Current Status on the e-Government initiative. Forty-six percent received either Yellow or Red in Current Status on Budget & Performance Integration.

Not surprisingly, the FRPA survey results foretold this downfall in PMA compliance in response to the question: “Are you being asked for information or input regarding President’s Management Agenda initiatives outside of Real Property?”

At the time, the majority of respondents (62 percent) said no. Of those who responded in the affirmative, only seven percent indicated that they were asked for their input in e-Government or Budget & Performance Integration initiatives.

For the latest PMA scorecard, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/fy07q4_scorecard.pdf.

To download the joint FRPA/VISTA survey, visit http://www.vistatsi.com/news_whitepapers.html