Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Dissemination Awareness

Are you sending Personally Identifiable Information (PII) within ITA or to other government/outside agencies? If so, you have a responsibility to ensure you are safeguarding this data. Within ITA, use coversheets, sealed envelopes and call contacts first to ensure you are able to hand PII to the intended receiver. When sending PII outside ITA/ DOC offices, consider all appropriate means of transmitting information including encrypted e-mails and secure fax lines. If possible, communicate with PII recipients so that they can anticipate the arrival of the information and take the necessary protection precautions. PII should be securely disposed of through shredding or other approved records retirement methods. If you have any questions regarding PII, please contact Liz Barnaby (202) 482-0482 or Elizabeth.Barnaby@mail.doc.gov.

CBS Helpful Hints

What is the difference between Fiscal Year and Fund Code Fiscal Year in the CBS reports and downloads parameter screens? The fiscal year represents the time period in which a CBS transaction takes place. The fund code fiscal year represents the year funding was appropriated and is comparable to the previous term, Budget Fiscal Year. Most transactions will have the same Fund Code Fiscal Year as the Fiscal Year in which the transaction occurred. How can I send documents to NIST via the daily courier service? The NIST Finance courier service picks up twice a day from room 4111 in OFM-Accounting. The box is labeled NIST Pickup. Place items in a government mailing envelope and address it to the NIST Finance office to receive the documentation. If you have questions, please call Danny Alley at (202) 482-2119.

FY 2008 Appropriations Status

For now, it is all quiet on the Appropriations front. The House of Representatives returned from Thanksgiving Recess at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4, 2007. The Senate met in only pro forma sessions on Tuesday, December 4, 2007. No business is scheduled for either the House or Senate. The Commerce Justice State (CJS) bill was supposed to go to a House-Senate Conference before the Thanksgiving Recess, but never did. We are on a CR thru December 14. There is no word yet on whether the CR will be extended, although it seems likely that it will be extended thru January, and may even be extended through the fiscal year. To get a complete picture of the status of all the Federal Government's Appropriations check out the table: Status of Appropriations Legislation for Fiscal Year 2008 at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html.
If you have questions contact Doug Allis at (202) 482-9151 or Michael House (202) 482-5739.

FY 2009 Budget Process

On November 26, the Government began the first step in the 10 step process of developing an FY 2009 budget and appropriation: the Department received its FY 2009 budget passback from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The passback outlines OMB's first draft of its FY 2009 budget proposal for the Department of Commerce, including ITA. The passback is considered "Sensitive, for Official Use Only", as is the Department of Commerce's response, which was submitted to OMB Thursday, November 29. If you have questions please contact Doug Allis at (202) 482-9151 or Michael House at (202) 482-5739.

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

The National Finance Center has announced that there are 27 pay dates in 2008. Therefore, employees participating in the Thrift Savings Plan program have 27 pay periods to spread out the 2008 Elective Deferral Limit of $15,500. These deductions could begin as early as December 9, 2007 (pay period 25) and will end December 20, 2008 (pay period 25). In order not to exceed the annual maximum prior to the end of the tax year, high-salaried FERS employees biweekly contribution may not exceed $575.00. If these employees reach the annual maximum too quickly, they could lose some Agency matching contributions because matching is given on the first 5% of pay the employee contributions. A reminder to eligible employees concerning TSP catch-up contributions. If you had TSP catch-up contributions in 2007 and wish to continue contributing in 2008, you must authorize the deductions to continue using the Employee Personal Page (MyEPP) or via form TSP 1-C. 2008 deductions will not be automatic. Keep in mind that you may contribute up to $5,000 in 2008 beginning in pay period 25 (effective December 9, 2007) and ending in pay period 25 of 2008 (December 20, 2008). If you have questions about TSP, please contact Karen Brown at (202) 482-8065 or via email at Karen.Brown@mail.doc.gov.

Certification for Training SF-182

The Request, Authorization, Agreement and Certification for Training, SF-182, is the primary Agency document used to nominate and authorize employee participation in training activities. It is also used to record all Government and non-Government training, to serve as a purchase order for the training provider, and in lieu of cash for registration at an educational institution. This form was recently updated by OPM in December of 2006. The link to the most up-to-date SF-182 training form is:

https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF182.pdf . Things to remember when preparing an SF-182 for submittal: Submit only completed, signed and approved pages 1 and 2 of the SF-182, and if applicable, the Continued Service Agreement on pages 4 and 5. Due to increased security awareness and protection of PII (Personally Identifiable Information), please provide only the last 4 digits of your social security number (SSN) in Section A, Box 2. Also, because of PII concerns, Date of Birth (DOB) is no longer required. You may leave Section A, Box 3 empty. If you have questions concerning the SF-182, please contact Lester Purnell at (202) 482-2262, or Lester.Purnell@mail.doc.gov.

Trivia Question

Can you answer the trivia question? Be featured in our bi-weekly Administrivial Pursuits by answering or providing trivia questions. Questions and answers may be submitted to Nina Harris via email Nina.Harris@mail.doc.gov.

Trivia Question: Is a traveler’s allowance for meals reduced if a meal is provided by a common carrier or a complimentary meal is provided by the hotel/motel?

Answer to Last Issue's Question: If your laptop or BlackBerry/PDA is lost, stolen, or missing, who do you need to report this to and how long do you have to do this? Answer: You must report any lost, missing, stolen, or damaged ITA personal property (including laptops, Blackberries/PDAs, and other mobile IT) within five (5) working days to: 1. Your Office Property Custodian, 2. ITA’s Property Management Officer (PMO), Jeff Scherr, at Jeffrey.Scherr@mail.doc.gov or (202) 482-3266, 3. The OCIO Customer Support Hotline at (202) 482-1955 or 1 (877) 206-0645 or OCIO.CustomerSupport@mail.doc.gov . If the equipment involved contained PII, you must report within one (1) hour.

Where Do I Find...How to Complete the Government Purchase Card Set-Up Form

A new Cardholder must fill out the ITA2058 (Government Purchase Card Set-Up Form) by accessing Ourplace, take the GSA on-line training located at the following website:
http://apps.fss.gsa.gov/webtraining/trainingdocs/smartpaytraining/index.cfm
/smartpaytraining/index.cfm and take the Section 508 training located at www.section508.gov. Both the application and generated certificates of completion from the on-line training must be submitted to Robin Carpenter, room 4001 with all required signatures. If you have questions, please contact Robin Carpenter at (202)482-4989.