We  have requested supplemental fiscal year 2007 funds of $374,000 to support  this effort. Performance, Results, and Plans

We anticipate that the funds requested for fiscal year 2008 will support  efforts similar to those just completed in fiscal year 2006. The following tables provide summary information on GAO’s fiscal year  2006 performance and the results achieved in support of the Congress and  the American people. GAO’s Fiscal Year 2008 Request to Support the Congress

Our fiscal year 2008 budget request seeks the resources necessary to allow  GAO to rebuild and enhance its workforce, knowledge capacity, employee  programs, and infrastructure. Our  fiscal year 2008 budget request includes funds to regain the momentum  needed to achieve these goals. Our fiscal year 2008 budget request will  allow GAO to    address supply and demand imbalances in responding to congressional  requests for studies in areas such as health care, homeland security, the  global “war on terrorism,” energy and natural resources, and forensic  auditing;   address our increasing bid protest workload;    be more competitive in the labor markets where GAO competes for talent;    address critical human capital components, such as knowledge capacity  building, succession planning, and staff skills and competencies;    enhance employee recruitment, retention, and development programs;  restore program funding levels and regain our purchasing power;    undertake critical initiatives necessary to continuously re-engineer  processes geared to increasing our productivity and effectiveness and  addressing identified management challenges; and   pursue critical structural and infrastructure maintenance and  improvements. Our fiscal year 2008 budget request represents an increase of $41.7 million  (or 8.5 percent) over our fiscal year 2007 funding level and includes about  $523 million in direct appropriations and authority to use about $7.5  million in offsetting collections as illustrated in table 5. This request  reflects a reduction of nearly $5.4 million in nonrecurring fiscal year 2007  costs used to offset the fiscal year 2008 increase. Rebuilding our capacity. Our fiscal year 2007 budget request sought  funds to support an increase of 50 FTEs from 3,217 to 3,267. We have also seen an increase in the  number of bid protest filings. Legislative authority. We are grateful  for the Congress’s continued support of our mutual effort to improve  government and for providing the resources that allow us to be a world- class professional services organization. At this time, I would be pleased to answer any  questions that you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have. Appendix I: Serving the Congress—GAO’s Strategic Plan Framework

GAO exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the  United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony is given in support of the fiscal year 2008 budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) before the House Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations. The requested funding will help us continue our support of the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and will help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO is especially appreciative of the Subcommittee's efforts to help us avoid a furlough of our staff during fiscal year 2007. Had we not received additional funds this year and not taken other cost minimization actions, GAO would have likely been forced to furlough most staff for up to 5 days without pay. At the same time, due to funding shortfalls, we were not able to make pay adjustments retroactive to January 7, 2007. Our testimony today focuses on key efforts that GAO has undertaken to support the Congress, our fiscal year 2006 performance results, our budget request for fiscal year 2008 to support the Congress and serve the American people, and proposed legislative changes.

What GAO Found

Our fiscal year 2008 budget request is designed to restore GAO's funding to more reasonable operating levels. Specifically, we are requesting fiscal year 2008 budget authority of $530 million, an 8.5 percent increase over our fiscal year 2007 funding level. The additional funds provided in fiscal year 2007 have helped reduce our requested increase for fiscal year 2008 from 9.4 percent to 8.5 percent. This funding level also represents a reduction below the request we submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in January as a result of targeted adjustments to our planned fiscal year 2008 hiring plan. Our fiscal year 2008 budget request will allow us to achieve our performance goals to support the Congress as outlined in our strategic plan and rebuild our workforce capacity to allow us to better respond to supply and demand imbalances in responding to congressional requests. This funding will also help us address our caseload for bid protest filings, which have increased by more than 10 percent from fiscal years 2002 through 2006. Our workload for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 suggests a continuation of this upward trend in bid protest fillings.