The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is looking to increase its 2015 funding by $19 million to $525.1 million, an increase of 3.9 percent, in order to increase its staffing and for IT and building infrastructure projects.
The GAO plans to boost its employment for the first time in 3 years, to 2,945 full-time positions. The agency also wants to revive its intern program and hire and train an increased number of entry level employees. If approved, this budget increase will help the GAO reverse downward staffing trajectory, develop a pool of analysts and leaders for the future, and help the agency reach an optimal level of 3,250 full-time employees, the GAO stated.
“With the support that you’ve provided us, we’re conducting our efforts to rebuild the capacity of GAO,” said Comptroller General Gene Dodaro in a GAO budget hearing. “We’re trying to restore some of the staff that we lost.”
From 2010 to 2013, the number of GAO employees fell 15 percent to the lowest staffing level the GAO has seen since 1935. The GAO’s budget fell to a low of $480 last year due to sequestration funding cuts. Yet in January 2014, after Congress agreed upon a two-year budget deal, the GAOs budget was restored to about $505 million.
Now a “significant” proportion of GAO’s employees are eligible for retirement, which includes 34 percent of its executive leadership and 21 percent of supervisory analysts, the GAO said.
Some of the requested money will also go towards upgrading the GAO’s technology and building operations at the agency.
“Our building is about 60 years old and so it needs some attending to,” Dodaro said. “Many of these areas we’ve deferred over the years as we’ve dealt with the cuts from the sequester.”
The GAO wants to upgrade its IT infrastructure to support numerous engagement management, human capital, and financial management systems. The agency hopes to further streamline business operations, increase staff efficiency and productivity, and improve access to information.
Also, the GAO wants to establish a Center for Audit Excellence that would allow the agency to further develop its role in developing domestic and international audit standards. If Congress approves, the GAO would sell audit work or offer training courses for state and local governments and international institutions. This would help the agency achieve additional revenue for its workforce.
