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Statement Announcing Accomplishments of the Presidential Management Initiatives Program

November 18, 1976

I AM pleased to announce today results and accomplishments from the Presidential Management Initiatives program first announced by me on July 23, 1976.

As a result of the initiatives, some begun earlier, we estimate specific savings to the taxpayers in 1976 to be nearly $500 million: $284 million in reductions in government travel costs; $45 million in energy costs; $40 million in improved cash management; $12 million in reproduction equipment and supplies; $25 million through better space utilization and field office consolidation; and several hundred million from improved personnel management operations. When added up, these and other savings are significant. Widespread waste and inefficiency are among the factors which diminish the public trust and confidence in government.

In addition, we point proudly to the millions of dollars saved by reducing Federal agency paperwork and reporting burdens; by slowing the growth rate of Government funds expended on automatic data processing; by maintaining Federal employment ceilings; and by bringing pay for Federal employees into closer comparability with their private sector counterparts. We also look hopefully at the future savings to the taxpayers to be derived from better agency overhead cost control systems, from greater contracting out of in-house commercial and industrial activities to the private sector, and through major reforms taken in the acquisition and procurement activities of Federal agencies. These billions of dollars in savings, actual and prospective, mean a leaner, tighter, more efficient and more effective Government.

These initiatives build on a broad range of proposals and actions begun early on in my administration directed at improving the management of Government-such as block grants, regulatory reform, improving management in connection with the annual budget process, reorganizing and reorienting the intelligence community. At my direction nearly all departments and agencies are currently seeking ways to improve their decisionmaking processes and organizational structures, to improve evaluations of their programs, to reduce substantially the burdens imposed by Federal reporting and regulations, to hold down overhead costs, to increase the use of the private sector in carrying out Government's acquisition of goods and services, and to improve personnel management.

Pursuant to my direction, the Office of Management and Budget is issuing a circular which will serve to formally integrate the process for review of agency management plans with the annual preparation of the budget. I consider this a very important step toward better management of the Federal Government and look forward to using the process fully in connection with preparation of the budget for fiscal year 1978, to be submitted in January.

Gerald R. Ford, Statement Announcing Accomplishments of the Presidential Management Initiatives Program Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/257616

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