In this Issue

Features

Travelers Corner
Where Do I Find

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Training

Training on the Freedom of Information Act and how to handle FOIA requests is available to any interested ITA employee. An attorney from the Department’s Administrative Law Division will conduct the training. If you have new employees, or employees who have not had a lot of experience in responding to FOIA requests, please contact Linda Bell, ITA’s FOIA Officer, to schedule a training class. Classes usually last for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and we like to keep the class size limited to 20-25 people. Call Linda at (202)482-3032, or e-mail her at Linda.Bell@mail.doc.gov, to get the ball rolling.

Sign Up For SmartBenefit Cards

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has mandated that all federal workers participating in the Transit Benefit Program in the National Capital Region transition from Metrocheks (paper fare media) to SmartBenefits (electronic smart card technology) by January 2008. Participants that use commuting modes that have not adopted the SmarTrip technology by that date will continue to receive Metrocheks. The SmartBenefits program allows participants to digitally download the dollar value of the Metrochek benefit directly into the SmarTrip card. Participants can sign up for the program by purchasing and registering a SmarTrip card from Metro at WMATA.com or any Commuter Direct Store. After registering the card with Metro, complete the transit benefit application (ITA-2064), which is available on the ITA Intranet “Our Place” at http://ourplace.ita.doc.gov and the SmartBenefits Application found at: http://www.osec.doc.gov/oas/trans2.htm. Return both forms to Sharon Russell, ITA Transit Benefit Coordinator, in room 4001. All ITA Metrochek participants must be signed up for the program by August 31, 2007. ITA employees who participate in the Transit Benefit Program should have completed their recertification forms in order to remain in the program. If you have not done so, you have until August 17, 2007. If you have questions, please contact Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

FY 2008 Appropriations

Both Appropriations Committees have completed mark up of the FY 2009 Appropriations Bill for Commerce, Justice and Science agencies. Next step for these bills is for a floor vote by full membership before differences are ironed out in conference committee. The full texts of both bills and reports are available on-line thru Thomas at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html . If you would like more information please contact Michael House at (202)482-5739.

FY 2009 Budget

The Department completed its review of ITA’s FY 2009 budget proposal and ITA is now working to incorporate Departmental feedback into its budget justification document. The resulting FY 2009 budget document will be submitted to OMB on Tuesday, September 11 with the rest of the Department. Over the next three months OMB will review the budget and initial OMB decisions, commonly called the Passback, are expected on Monday, November 26, 2006; although this date could change. For more information on the status of ITA’s FY 2009 budget contact Michael House at (202)482-5739.

Department of Commerce Strategic Plan

The Office of Financial Management would like to announce that the final version of the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) strategic plan has been released! ITA readers can now view the official version at: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/07strplan/DOC07strplan.pdf. Upon reviewing the new strategic plan, ITA readers will find that the Department has updated its previous three strategic goals. The revised DOC goals include: 1) Maximize U.S. competitiveness and enable economic growth for American industries, workers, and consumers, 2) Promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness, and 3) Promote environmental stewardship. ITA’s performance metrics will continue to roll up to DOC Goal One. Now that the Department has released its official plan, the ITA Strategic Plan will soon be released. For additional information, please contact Ed Meyer at ed.meyer@mail.doc.gov, or via phone at (202)482-3304.

What Is Veterans’ Preference?

Since the time of the Civil War, Veterans of the Armed Forces have been given some degree of preference in appointments to Federal jobs. In recognition that sacrifices are made by those who serve in the military, Congress enacted laws to prevent veterans seeking Federal employment form being penalized because of the time they spent in military service. By law, veterans who are disabled or who served on active duty in the Armed Forces during certain specified time periods or in military campaigns are entitled to preference over non-veterans both in hiring from competitive lists of eligibles and in retention during reductions in force. Preference is not intended to place a veteran in every vacant Federal job; that would be incompatible with merit system principles. Nor does it apply to promotions or other in-service personnel actions. Preference does provide a uniform method by which special consideration is given to qualified veterans seeking Federal employment. Preference applies in hiring from civil service examinations, for most excepted service jobs, and when agencies make temporary appointments or use delegated examining authorities from the U. S. Office of Personnel Management. In future issues, other aspects of veterans’ preference will be discussed, including eligibility. For more information on veterans’ preference, go to http://www.usajobs.gov/ei3.asp. If you have additional questions on veterans’ preference, please contact Elvira Carter at (202)482-6184 or via email at Elvira.Carter@mail.doc.gov.

Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, such as your name, Social Security number, or credit card number without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is a serious problem. In some cases it can take time and money to resolve. The FTC has established a website to inform consumers how to avoid identity theft and learn what to if their identity is stolen. There are links to more information on the following: 1) if your information has been stolen and used by an identity thief; 2) if your information may have been stolen, but may or may not have been used by an identity thief; and 3) learn more about identity theft. To learn more about the problem identity theft, go to the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites
/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html. If you have any questions, please call Marcia Tyler at (202)482-2850 or via email Marcia.Tyler@mail.doc.gov.

Traveler's Corner

Question: Must a traveler use a contract carrier when traveling on official government travel?

Answer: Yes, a traveler must use a contract carrier when traveling on official government travel unless one or more of the following conditions exists which must be noted in Block #14 of the travel order: (a) Space or a scheduled contract flight is not available in time to accomplish the Department's mission or the use of a contract carrier would require the traveler to incur unnecessary overnight lodging costs which would increase the total cost of the trip; b) The contractor's flight schedule is inconsistent with policies of the Department with regard to scheduling travel during normal working hours; or (c) a non-contract carrier offers a lower fare available to the general public, the use of which will result in a lower total trip cost to the Government, to include the combined costs of transportation, lodging, meals, and related expenses. The GSA Federal Travel Regulations require that all airline tickets must be purchased from the Travel Management Center (SATO). If you have questions, call your travel contact or Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

Where Do I Find... Instructions on how to enter a procurement in C. Request (OOMS 48) and on how to approve a procurement action in C. Request (OOMS 49)?

The instructions can be found at http://www.ita.doc.gov/ooms/ooms48.htm, http://www.ita.doc.gov/ooms/ooms49.htm “Through the Maze”. If you have questions contact Robin Carpenter at (202)482-4989 or via email at Robin.Carpenter@mail.doc.gov.