Federal Times – March 22, 2004
Article about federal agency strategic planning efforts.
Giving Life to GPRA – Mercer pioneered spending/performance ties
Federal Computer Week – December 10, 2001
Article about John Mercer's development of GPRA and his background in performance-based budgeting.
Federal Times – April 9, 2001
Article about John Mercer's efforts to bring performance-based budgeting to the Federal Government.
Government Computer News – July 27, 1998
Interview of John Mercer in which he explains the importance of integrating GPRA compliance with other federal management reforms, such as those relating to information technology, financial management, budgeting, and human resources.
Former official takes Sunnyvale’s style of budgeting to nation
San Jose Mercury News – August 5, 1993
Article published two days after the President signed GPRA into law, about John Mercer using Sunnyvale’s performance-based budgeting system as the inspiration for the drafting of the legislation.
Performance Mismanagement: How an Unrealistic Goal Fueled VA Scandal
NBC News – June 25, 2014
Article about performance management problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, with insights by John Mercer on the cause of the scandal.
Federal Times – February 02, 2004
Article about OMB's PART ratings resulting in program eliminations and John Mercer's new congressional oversight scorecard.
Government Computer News – January 21, 2002
Article about increased interest in performance-based budgeting by federal agencies.
Government Computer News – November 11, 2001
Article based on a presentation on performance budgeting made to federal officials.
Better cost data is the key to performance budgeting, expert says
GovExec.com (Government Executive Magazine) – May 18, 2001
Article about John Mercer's views on the importance of cost accounting information.
Optimizing your approach to municipal performance management
Municipal World – August 2020
Article by John Mercer describing 25 key features that a governmental organization should look for in a performance management software solution.
Federal Times – April 12, 2004
Op-Ed article by John Mercer describing his proposed scorecard for rating congressional committees on the quality of their GPRA-related oversight of federal agencies.
Federal Times – December 13, 1999
Op-Ed article by John Mercer describing the top 10 GPRA-related challenges agencies face in 2000.
The Performance Management and Budget System of the City of Sunnyvale, California
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – Public Management Occasional Papers 1994 No. 5
This is a paper by John Mercer describing the system in Sunnyvale that inspired the drafting of GPRA. It was written at the request of the OECD, a Paris-based organization of the world’s major industrial countries, and distributed to its member nations as a chapter in a 1994 publication.
Sunnyvale's 'Results-Oriented' Budget Innovations Win National Praise
Los Angeles Times – September 12, 1993
New York Newsday – September 11, 1993
Article about Sunnyvale's budget system being the inspiration for the Government Performance and Results Act.
Information and insight on revolutionizing government transparency and accountability
This web site provides information and insights, including examples, about Performance Based Budgeting/Management in government. Much of the information applies generally to any government at any level anywhere.
It also includes items relating specifically to the U.S. Federal Government, including implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), but which may be useful background for managers and staff at other governments.
Because of the great amount of interest in Performance-Based Budgeting by governments both within the US and internationally, this web site deals with this particular reform in some detail.
