CUOMO ANNOUNCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION WILL REDESIGN PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS AT HUD

WASHINGTON - The National Academy of Public Administration will develop a top-to-bottom redesign of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's procurement system to help HUD save money and improve efficiency, Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced today.

"I'm pleased to have the National Academy of Public Administration join us in this important effort," Cuomo said. "This is another step forward in HUD's sweeping management reforms to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our programs. We are moving aggressively to improve our performance."

HUD's 2020 Management Reform plan calls on the Academy to redesign HUD's procurement system, emphasizing "safeguarding taxpayer dollars with a system that ensures quality and value."

The Academy is a Congressionally chartered institute dedicated to advancing excellence in government. It is made up of more than 400 scholars and practitioners of public administration with experience at all levels of government. The Academy has completed over 250 reports on government programs since 1967.

"The Academy looks forward to the opportunity to work on this important effort to improve procurement operations at HUD," said Academy President Scott Fosler.

HUD's procurement system purchased more than $3.2 billion in goods and services from 1992 to 1996.

The Academy's new Department-wide redesign, which will take about six months, follows an Academy report requested by HUD on the Federal Housing Administration's procurement system.