March 25, 2008
DO-08-010
MEMORANDUM
TO: Designated Agency Ethics Officials
FROM: Marilyn L. Glynn
General Counsel
SUBJECT: Increased Gifts and Travel Reimbursements Reporting Thresholds for Financial Disclosure Reports and Nonsponsor Widely Attended Gatherings Gift Exception Ceiling
A. Gifts and Travel Reimbursements Reporting Thresholds
The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has issued final rule amendments that in pertinent part revise the executive branch financial disclosure regulation at 5 C.F.R. §§ 2634.304 and 2634.907(g) to reflect the statutory retroactive increase, applicable as of January 1, 2008, of the thresholds for reporting of gifts, reimbursements and travel expenses for both the public and confidential report systems. See 73 Federal Register 15387-15388 (March 24, 2008). The new aggregation threshold for the reporting of gifts and reimbursements received from any one source on financial disclosure reports is "more than $335"; items worth "$134 or less" do not need to be counted towards that overall threshold.[1] The Ethics in Government Act and OGE regulations tie these increases to the increase last month by the General Services Administration of "minimal value" for purposes of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act to "$335 or less" for the three-year period 2008-2010. See 73 Federal Register 7475 (February 8, 2008).
The calendar year 2007 Public and Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports (SF 278s and OGE Form 450s) being filed this year are not affected by this change, because the new gifts and reimbursements thresholds only became applicable as of the beginning of 2008. However, any newly filed termination SF 278 public reports will be affected for the portion of 2008 covered. However, it is not necessary to contact termination filers regarding such reports already filed this year.
Departments and agencies should promptly notify their report filers of these new thresholds. OGE will include the new thresholds in future editions of the two report forms and post a notice thereof in the forms section of its Website (www.usoge.gov).
B. Nonsponsor Widely Attended Gatherings Gift Exception Ceiling
Similarly, in the branchwide standards of ethical conduct regulation at 5 C.F.R. § 2635.204(g)(2), OGE has raised from $305 to $335 the widely attended gathering gift exception ceiling for nonsponsor gifts of free attendance. That exception ceiling is based in part on the aggregate gifts and reimbursements reporting threshold. OGE made this regulatory revision, which does not reflect any underlying statutory increase, effective March 24, 2008, when the amendatory rulemaking was published in the Federal Register.