Everything that I have done in both legislation and the construction of a budget has always been guided by my own very deep concern for the American people consistent with wise management, of course, of the taxpayer's dollar. So this new system will identify our national goals with precision and will do it on a continuing basis. It will enable us to fulfill the needs of all the American people with a minimum amount of waste. And because we will be able to make sounder decisions than ever before, I think the people of this Nation will receive greater benefits from every tax dollar that is spent in their behalf. [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Monday, November 21, 1966, Vol. 2, No. 46] MEMORANDUM FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES ON THE GOVERNMENTWIDE PLANNING, PROGRAMMING, AND BUDGETING SYSTEM, NOVEMBER 17, 1966 There is no subject of greater importance to the people of this country and to me than the efficient and effective operation and evaluation of our programs. At my recommendation, the Congress has entrusted the executive branch of the Government with a wide variety of far-reaching social programs of unparalleled significance in the history of this country. It is essential that we in the executive branch, as the trustees of the public's funds appropriated for these programs, make certain that they are operated at a maximum level of efficiency and effectiveness for all Americans, and particularly for the people they are designed to reach. This can only be accomplished by bringing into the Federal Government the most modern management techniques available through our free enterprise system in American business. My deep concern to make certain that this be done was the basis for my memorandum of August 25, 1965. That memorandum directed the institution of a Government-wide planning-programming-and budgeting system of the type that has proven successful in so many wide ranging, large corporate and defense and space activities. We now are receiving the benefits of the first year's experience with this system. Some agencies have put it into effect even more rapidly than we anticipated. Too many agencies, however, have been slow in establishing effective planning-programming-and budgeting systems. And, even when established, they have often not been used in making top management decisions. It is my desire that every agency of the Federal Government have such a system, and use it effectively. For through this system, as I stated at the outset, we will have the ability to Identify our national goals with greater precision. Determine which of those goals are the most urgent. Develop and analyze alternative means of reaching those goals most effectively. Inform ourselves accurately of the probable costs of our programs. Improve the performance of the Federal Government to insure the American taxpayer a dollar's worth of service for each dollar spent. It is clear that these are not easy tasks. In too many cases the quality of analysis needs substantial improvement. I recognize that it takes time to develop the personnel, the skills, the data, and the understanding of what needs to be done. But it is essential that all of us work to reduce this time to a minimum. This means that you must: Train and recruit the necessary staff. Subject your objectives, programs, costs, and accomplishments to systematic and continuous review. Search for new and more effective ways of accomplishing their objectives. Relate analysis explicitly to budget requests so that those requests follow from and support comprehensive and wellthought-out agency plans. Most important, this effort requires your personal interest and participation. Objectives will not be questioned unless you make it clear you want them questioned. Existing programs will not be evaluated critically unless you insist upon it. Alternatives will not be presented unless you demand them. The hard choices will not be made well unless you make them, and do so on the basis of critiques and analyses prepared by your own staffs. Getting these things done is up to you. I intend, on a Government-wide basis, to question objectives, evaluate progress, seek alternatives, and make the hard choices on the basis of careful analyses. And I want you to do the same thing within your agencies. I have, therefore, asked the Budget Director to sit down with each of you to review your planning-programmingbudgeting systems and give you his objective analysis of its effectiveness. He will then report to me on a quarterly basis, beginning with the first quarter of calendar 1967, on the progress of your implementation of my directive. As I make my budget and legislative decisions in the period ahead, I will look to the materials you have produced in the planningprogramming-budgeting system process for your appraisal of priority needs and the most effective ways of meeting them. [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Monday, January 30, 1967, Vol. 3, No. 4] PLANNING-PROGRAMMING-BUDGETING SYSTEM, EXCERPT FROM THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET MESSAGE TO THE CONGRESS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1968, JANUARY 24, 1967 Our most comprehensive effort to improve the effectiveness of Government programs is taking place through the Planning-Programming-Budgeting system. This system, which was initiated throughout the executive branch a little over a year ago, requires all agencies to: Make explicit the objectives of their programs and relate them carefully to national needs; Set out specific proposed plans of work to attain those objectives; and Analyze and compare the probable costs and benefits of these plans against those of alternative methods of accomplishing the same results. This system is primarily a means of encouraging careful and explicit analysis of Federal programs. It will substantially improve our ability to decide among competing proposals for funds and to evaluate actual performance. The full effects of this effort will not be felt until next year and later, as the necessary data are gathered and analyses now in progress are completed. A few examples of the kind of work which is in progress indicate the wide range of matters to which organized analysis and programming can be applied. Disease control.-The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has completed an analysis of the relative cost and effectiveness of selected disease control programs. Cost per life saved and other criteria of relative effectiveness were developed. These programs are being reviewed and funding priorities are being re-examined in light of these findings. Child health. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare completed an analysis of alternative programs aimed at reducing infant mortality and improving child health. This analysis led to the legislative program focused on early identification and treatment of needy handicapped children and experimental projects aimed at improving delivery of medical care to children. Urban planning. Experimental projects in urban planning designed to link planning with budgeting are underway at the local level. These efforts should produce a more effective allocation not only of Federal outlays but also of local resources. Agricultural research. On the basis of a long-range study conducted by the Department of Agriculture and the land grant universities, a new set of priorities for agricultural research has been established. Increasing emphasis is being given to research on improvement of nutrition and health, efficient low-cost housing, improved community services, and other means which can help directly in raising the level of rural living. Tax administration.-As a result of intensive analyses of the tax administration system, Internal Revenue Service programs have been steadily improved to produce higher tax collections per dollar of cost, while strengthening the emphasis on equity and voluntary compliance on which our tax administration is based. With its emphasis on developing better methods of accomplishing program objectives, the new planning-programming-budgeting system is also helping our Government-wide cost reduction program. We will continue to offset a significant part of increased costs of important new programs by increasing efficiency throughout the Federal Govern'nent. Savings from this source have been substantial during the past year under our drive for cost reduction. I have made it clear to the heads of all Departments and agencies that they are to continue their emphasis on cost reduction in the coming year. The careful research and analysis which is required under the planning-programming-budgeting system does not just happen. It requires the efforts of intelligent and dedicated men and women. The number of analysts required is not large-but the need for them is great. I urge the Congress to approve the funds requested in the budgets of the various Federal agencies to make possible this improvement in the management of Federal resources. [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Monday, March 20, 1967, Vol. 3, No. 11] PLANNING-PROGRAMMING-BUDGETING SYSTEM (PPBS), EXCERPT FROM THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO THE CONGRESS, THE QUALITY OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, MARCH 17, 1967 1. Planning-Programming-Budgeting System (PPBS) More than a year and a half ago we began to apply a modern system of planning, programming, and budgeting throughout the Federal Government. This system-which proved its worth many times over in the Defense Department-now brings to each department and agency the most advanced techniques of modern business management. Analyzing other Federal programs from child development to tax administration, this system is forcing us to ask the fundamental questions that illuminate our choices. For example, how can we best help an underprivileged child break out of poverty and become a productive citizen? Should we concentrate on improving his education? Would it help more to spend the same funds for his food, or clothing, or medical care? Does the real answer lie in training his father for a job, or perhaps teaching his mother the principles of nutrition? Or is some combination of approaches most effective? Under PPBS, each department must now: Develop its objectives and goals, precisely and carefully; Evaluate each of its programs to meet these objectives, weighing the benefits against the costs; Examine, in every case, alternative means of achieving these objectives; Shape its budget request on the basis of this analysis, and justify that request in the context of a long-range program and financial plan. This new system cannot make decisions. But it improves the process of decision-making by revealing the alternatives for decisions are only as good as the information on which they are based. PPBS is not costly to operate, but the dividends it will yield for the people of America are large. The system has taken root throughout the government, but it will not be able to function fully until more trained men and women, more data, better cost accounting and new methods of evaluation are available. To continue this vital work I urge that Congress approve the funds for PPBS requested in the budgets of the various Federal agencies. |