The National Academy of Public Administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARCH 5, 2007
CONTACT: Bill Shields
(202) 347-3190

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PANEL FINDS
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BUDGET PROCESS MUST BE TRANSFORMED

Washington, DC — March 5, 2007 — A National Academy of Public Administration panel today called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Congress and the Administration to fundamentally transform the Corps’ budget process.

The Corps has faced mounting criticism of its funding priorities for many years. That criticism came into sharp focus when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf coast in 2005. These cataclysmic events led Congress to request that the Academy review the Corps’ Civil Works project-by-project budget process.

The Academy panel concluded that changes to the existing budget process will not fix the underlying problems that the Corps and nation face. Academy Fellow Sean O’Keefe, former Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and current Louisiana State University Chancellor, chaired the panel. O’Keefe said, “The current process has not served the nation as well as it can. It does not give enough attention to system performance and weighing risks if systems fail.”

For 20 years, Congress and the Administration have made funding decisions on the Corps construction program based on cost-shared projects proposed at the local level. And, they have prioritized the projects based on benefit-cost ratios applied to individual new construction projects as they are considered in each annual budget.

Following the New Orleans disaster, independent analyses showed that only a few levees broke, but that was enough for the flood protection system for the entire city to fail. The system was judged to be “a system in name only.” And, many scientists believe that Corps projects built over many years unintentionally undermined the city’s natural storm-surge defenses.

The Academy Panel found that the Corps should not be just the nation’s engineering expert serving primarily single cost-share sponsors. Instead, it must become a reliable steward of the nation’s critical water resource systems and guardian of its global competitiveness in the movement of waterborne goods. It should also be responsible for the safety of at-risk populations and the health of water-reliant ecosystems. Those missions require strategic, systems-based budgeting.

The Corps cannot transform its budget by itself. Congress must change laws; the Corps and other water resources agencies must change their planning and budget guidelines; and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget must change how it reviews the Corps budget. The Academy Panel urges immediate steps to begin this transition.

“It will take time for these fundamental changes to make the nation safer and more resilient,” O’Keefe said. “But, the time to start is now. The next storm will not wait for government to get ready.”

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The National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit corporation chartered by Congress to provide trusted advice to government agencies on issues of governance and public management. Under its Congressional charter, the Academy is charged with advancing the effectiveness of government at all levels—federal, state and local. For more information about the National Academy of Public Administration, visit http://www.napawash.org.

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Academy Experts Recommend Strategies for Managing Effectively in Post-9/11 World

“The events of September 11, 2001 revealed serious deficiencies in government organization, systems and management. National Academy of Public Administration Fellows recommend strategies to manage effectively in a post-9/11 world in Meeting the Challenge of 9/11: Blueprints for More Effective Government, published this month.

The book, edited by Fellow Thomas H. Stanton, tackles a wide range of issues, including designing an organization that provides a strong government capacity to deliver services citizens need and deserve; making the Undersecretary for Management a key linchpin in bringing DHS functions together; restoring the President’s capacity to manage effectively; using the imperative of national security to improve federal, state and local relations especially with critical services like police, fire and health; capitalizing on tested and proven management strategies to surmount new and upcoming challenges for our nation; sorting through constitutional alternatives for holding government contractors accountable for the work they perform; and transforming military personnel system policies to avoid staffing crises during the War on Terror.

“This book provides invaluable insights and recommendations on how to improve government organization and performance as our nation faces new and imposing threats here and abroad,” Academy President Howard Messner said.

Buy “Meeting the Challenge of 9/11: Blueprints for More Effective Government”

The views expressed in this book are those of the Fellow. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Academy as an institution.