New VA Bill Would Improve Outcomes for Veterans by Proactively Addressing Common Failures
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Mike Michaud (D-ME), the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, has introduced new legislation aimed at improving outcomes for veterans through comprehensive program management and accountability reform within the Veterans Administration. H.R. 4399, the Comprehensive Department of Veteran’s Affairs Performance Management and Accountability Reform Act of 2014, would take proactive measures to address senior executive performance management failures. In a Dear Colleague to Members, Rep. Michaud said:
“Republicans and Democrats share the common goal of ensuring our seniors receive the best services possible – they deserve nothing less. And we agree that when negative outcomes occur, employees, especially VA’s senior leadership, must be held accountable. However, I believe that only addressing accountability after failure occurs is not enough.
“That is why I introduced H. R. 4399. This legislation would amend title 38 U.S.C. to require that the VA executive performance management system establish, up-front, the organizational goals and positive outcomes for veterans that every senior executive is expected to deliver, and mandate that these be the driving factors when reviewing any executive’s performance.”
The performance management infrastructure includes clear benchmarks to track progress, and mechanisms to correct problems before they result in catastrophic failures that can claim the lives of our veterans. It also boosts transparency and accountability within the new infrastructure by requiring annual reports to Congress.
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