News Releases
GSA Announces Enhancement Act of 2008Comprehensive Legislative Package Sent to Congress Calls for Efficiencies GSA #10468 March 13, 2008 WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that the agency sent to Congress a comprehensive legislative proposal to improve the federal government by increasing its efficiency and effectiveness. “We have worked long and hard to develop a legislative proposal that captures a wide range of recommended reforms that will ensure efficiency within the federal government,” said Administrator Lurita Doan. “I look forward to working with Congress to enact this legislation into law.” The recommended changes to law will improve the management of federal real and personal property, reform the federal travel and relocation programs, enhance child care for federal employees, and expand the federal government’s use of renewable energy. “GSA is one of the primary gears to making the federal government work,” said Kevin Messner, Associate Administrator of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. “This expansive legislative proposal, ranging from child care to emergency leasing in times of disasters, will make the federal government work better for the country.” Highlights of the GSA Enhancement Act of 2008:
2) Expands executive agencies’ ability to exchange or sell personal property to include services related to personal property, and to apply the proceeds from the sale or exchange toward the purchase of similar property or related services, such as copiers and copy services.
2) Allows the agencies to pay for travel for federal employees’ immediate family members and agency representatives to and from the site of a disaster or catastrophic event, memorial services, a location where an employee has become seriously ill/injured/or died while performing official government travel, and any other location designated by the head of the employing agency. 3) Extends GSA’s authority to approve travel expenses test programs. GSA is particularly interested in travel expense programs that involve telework initiatives as several agencies have robust telework programs already underway with promising results. 4) Establishes that the mileage allowances for privately owned vehicles will be equal to the IRS optional standard mileage rates to eliminate redundancy within the federal government and save taxpayer dollars. 5) Addresses various relocation issues, many of which are based on recommendations of a GSA-sponsored federal advisory group known as the "Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board" and are based on private sector best practices. 6) Allows agency heads to require employees on official travel to stay in hotels contracted by the government, such as FedRooms.
1) Allows GSA to accept conditional gifts of property and services. 2) Increases child care center flexibility to improve care and allow onsite cost-reimbursable contractors to be considered as federal government users, enhancing a child care’s availability. 3) Permits GSA to enter into contracts for renewable energy utility services for periods up to 20 years. #### GSA provides a centralized delivery system of products and services to the federal government, leveraging its enormous buying power to get the best value for taxpayers. Index of News Releases
Last Reviewed 3/17/2008
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