Wednesday, May 01, 2002

ITA travelers are reminded that reimbursement for telephone calls to their residence or immediate family while in official travel status is based on actual expense, i.e. no calls, no reimbursement. If you have questions, call your travel contact or Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

ITA Speakers' Series for MAY 2

The Speakers' Series invites in-house speakers to discuss current issues and their impact on the rest of ITA. The Series is designed to meet monthly and informally for an hour. Mark your calendar and join us on the following date:

Date and Time: Thursday, May 2, 2002 at 10:00

Location: Room 1414

Speaker: Ed Meyer, Senior Performance Analyst, Office of Financial Management

Topic: Do you have a copy of ITA's Strategic Plan? Do you know where to find ITA's current performance measures? Do you know how these measures impact you? Do you know how ITA is performing based on these measures? ITA recently revamped its approach to strategic planning. Ed Meyer will discuss ITA's Strategic Plan, the current performance measures and how ITA and you are performing based on these measures. For further information, call Rosemary Pappas at (202)482-0482.

FY 2003 Budget

Markup of the Appropriations Bills is expected to begin around mid-May. For more information, contact Alan Zegas at (202)482-5739.

FY 2004 Budget

The formal call for budget proposals from the Deputy Under Secretary to the Assistant Secretaries was issued. Program units have submitted their increase to CFO Linda Cheatham. Final decisions (by the U/S or DUS) on which increase request will be included in the Secretarial Budget will be made by May 17, 2002. For more information, contact Alan Zegas at (202)482-5739.

Department of Interior National Business Center has Restored E-mail and Internet Services

NBC has restored its e-mail and Internet capability pending a final review by a team of technical representatives appointed by the Court. If this team discovers a significant problem with network security, NBC may be ordered to disconnect from the Internet again. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please call Michael Gendron at extension (202)482-8364 or visit NBC's web site at www.nbc.gov.

Trivia Question!!

Who is the Chief of Staff for the Department of Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans?

Aswer to Last Issue's Question:

What is ICASS?

Answer: ICASS is The International Cooperative Administrative Support Services. The ICASS system is the principal means by which the U.S. Government provides and shares the cost of common administrative support at its more than 200 diplomatic and consular posts overseas.

Traveler's Corner

Question: Are hotels required to accept a generic federal, state or local tax exempt certificate?

Answer: Exemptions from taxes for Federal travelers, and the forms required vary from location to location. The GSA Travel Homepage lists jurisdictions where tax exempt certificates should be accepted. If you have questions, call your travel contact or Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

Where Do I Find....

The Fiscal Year 2003 Budget that was transmitted to Congress on February 4, 2002 and covers the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2002. It is now available online. You can find it at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/budget/fy2003/index.html.

The ITA Yardstick

Understanding the President's Management Agenda

President Bush has established several management priorities for the Administration intended to result in improvement and reform throughout the Federal Government. The President's Management Agenda is a starting point for management reform and consists of 14 initiatives, five government-wide and nine program-specific, to improve federal management and deliver results that matter to the American people. ITA staff should be aware of the five government-wide items since these will impact the Federal Workforce. The following link provides information on the President's Management Agenda: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf. We hope you enjoy the information and welcome any suggestions and feedback. For more information on ITA's performance program or about ITA's efforts to implement the President's Management Agenda, contact Ed Meyer at (202)482-3304.