Citibank’s SpeedPay Service

The SpeedPay service allows individually billed travel cardholders to pay their Citibank bill by contacting Citibank to request initiation of payment by charging their personal bank account.  Citibank’s fee for the SpeedPay service is $14.95 and is not a reimbursable expense on the travel voucher.  If you have questions, please call Sharon Russell at (202)482-3267.

NBC New Point of Contact for Purchase Cards Statements

Effectively immediately,  Beverly King is the new National Business Center point of contact for receiving and processing monthly purchase card statements. Beverly can be reached at (303)969-5506 and her email address is Beverly_A_King@nbc.gov.  If you have questions regarding the purchase card program please contact Robin Carpenter at (202)482-4989 or via email at Robin.Carpenter@mail.doc.gov.

FY 2007 Budget

Congress has returned to work and may resume deliberation on Commerce / ITA's appropriation but conventional wisdom leads ITA to plan for a continuing resolution (CR) until a new Congress is in place in January. Each continuing resolution is uniquely crafted by the Congress but there are commonalities, for example: 

1. Organizations cannot stop or start projects during the CR period
2. Spending is to be restricted to the minimum possible
3. The amount of funding provided under a CR is based on the amount spent in the previous year

When definitive operating guidance is received from the Congress it will be made available in Administrivial Pursuits.  For information contact Doug Allis at (202)482-1951.

FY 2008 Budget

The next step in the Administration's FY 2008 budget preparation process occurred on Monday, September 11 when ITA's proposed budget request for FY 2008 was submitted by the Department to OMB. Over the next three months OMB will review the budget and passback. Initial OMB decisions, commonly called the Passback, are expected on Monday, November 27, 2006; although this date could change. For information contact Doug Allis at (202)482-1951.

OPM Selects Vendors for Supplemental Dental and Vision Benefits Program 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has awarded contracts to insurance carriers that will offer supplemental dental and vision benefits under the new Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program.  OPM has selected the Aetna Life Insurance Company, Government Employees Hospital Association, Inc. (GEHA), Met Life Inc., United Concordia Companies, Inc., Group Health, Inc., CompBenefits, and Triple-S, Inc. to offer dental benefits and BlueCross BlueShield Association, Spectera, Inc., and Vision Service Plan (VSP) to offer vision benefits.  The new program, which becomes effective on December 31, 2006, gives Federal employees additional healthcare choices.  Those covered will be able to enroll for comprehensive dental benefits, comprehensive vision benefits, or both, and will be able to use pretax payroll deductions to acquire their additional dental and vision benefits.  However, unlike the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, there is no Federal government contribution.  The new supplemental dental and vision program will be offered during this year’s FEHB Open Season which begins November 13, and ends December 11.  If you have any questions about benefit programs, please contact Vanessa Lewis at (202)482-8327 or Dottie Bowling at (202)482-3504. 

Question: How does a cardholder requesting a temporary increase to their purchase card?

Answer: The Approving Official for the cardholder must send an email notification to Robin Carpenter, Agency Program Coordinator, including the following information: 1. Cardholder name; 2. Dollar amount of the monthly increase requested; 3. Justification of need for temporary increase; 4. Goods or services the cardholder would like to purchase; 5. Number of cycles temporary increase is needed.  All supporting documentation must be faxed to (202)482-1584 simultaneously when submitting the request.  For additional information, please contact Robin Carpenter, Agency Program Coordinator, at (202)482-4989 or via email at mailto:Robin_Carpenter@ita.doc.govv.

Where do I find …. the status of my information collection package submitted to OMB for clearance?  Visit OMB’s website at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBINV.LIST.OF.AGENCIES.html
LIST.OF.AGENCIES.html.  Click on Paperwork Requirements then click information collection review, next click currently under review.  Performing these steps directs you to GSA’s Regulatory Information website.  Follow the instructions on the website to find out the status of your particular information collection package.  Also on this website, you can review OMB’s current inventory listing, which is a list of approved OMB information collections, collections review completed in the last thirty (30) days and a list of recently expired collections.  If you have questions regarding information collections please contact Jacqueline Harris at (202)482-4011 or Jacqueline.Harris@mail.doc.gov.