Can Agencies Learn Lessons from the Deficit-Reduction Efforts of the 1990s?

When the dust settles form the current budget battles in Congress, agencies and federal officials will still be expected to “do more with less.” But how? Are there any lessons they can learn from a similar period of budget cutting in the 1990s?

A 2011 report from The Partnership for Public Service (PPS), Making Smart Cuts:  Lessons from the 1990s Budget Front, offers insights into how federal leaders figured out how to provide services during an era of sustained, major budget cuts.  PPS, with Booz Allen Hamilton, interviewed more than 30 former and current senior federal officials to explore how they navigated agency missions in the face of major financial strain.

The PPS report offers federal leaders valuable insight into the lessons learned, strategies adopted, and potential outcomes for dealing with this extremely challenging budgetary environment.