(a) It is the intent of the Governor and the General Assembly that taxpayers' money be spent in the most effective and efficient manner possible in order to obtain the maximum benefit from such expenditures. In furtherance of this objective, the Governor, through the Office of Planning and Budget, shall assist the General Assembly in establishing an ongoing review and evaluation of all programs and functions in state government.

(b) The chairperson of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee shall maintain a list of those programs for which the committee is requesting evaluations. The chairperson shall provide the list, and any subsequent revisions to the list, to the director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget and to the state auditor.

(c) The Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, and the Research Office of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee shall undertake and complete evaluations on as many of those requested programs as resources will permit. The Office of Legislative Budget Analyst, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and all other state agencies are authorized and directed to provide assistance to the Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, and the Research Office of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee, as requested, in the performance of these evaluations. The Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, and the Research Office of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee are also authorized to contract with private contractors to perform, or assist in the performance of, these evaluations.

(d) The Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, and the Research Office of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee shall report to the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee on the results of program evaluations as such evaluations are completed. Such reports shall include:

(1) Appropriate background information on the affected program, including how and why it was initiated, its functions, what group it serves, how it is organized structurally and geographically, what are its staff size and composition, and what is its workload;

(2) Financial information including the source and amounts of funding and unit costs, where applicable;

(3) A description of the program's mission, goals, and objectives and an assessment of the extent to which the program has performed in comparison;

(4) Comparisons with other applicable public and private entities as to their experiences, service levels, costs, and staff resources required;

(5) Recommendations concerning the program, including whether it should be continued as it is currently operated, continued with identified steps to remediate deficiencies or institute improvements, or discontinued. Consideration should also be given to possible privatization or consolidation with other similar programs; (6) Information describing the locations at which the program is operated and administered and the extent to which the operation and administration could be decentralized; and

(7) Such other information as is identified as appropriate.

(e) It is the intent of the General Assembly that all programs be evaluated at least every ten years.

(f) Department heads shall respond, in writing, within 90 days of the receipt of the report to recommendations and findings by the Office of Planning and Budget or the Department of Audits and Accounts setting forth in detail the action to be taken by said department to address the recommendations and findings. Said written response shall be made to the Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, and the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee.

(g) The Research Office of the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee shall verify with state departments the implementation of the departments' plans set forth in their 90 day responses as submitted in accordance with subsection (f) of this Code section. The Research Office shall inform the Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee about each department's progress at reasonable intervals.