WASHINGTON, D.C.
The U.S. House of Representatives green-lighted the H.R. 313 bill curtailing spending on meetings conducted by federal agencies, eliciting a negative response from the U.S. Travel Association (USTA).
The bill is commonly referred to as the Government Spending Accountability Act of 2013—or the GSA Act.
It officially puts into law directives issued last year by President Barack Obama’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in reaction to the General Services Administration (GSA) meeting spending scandal of 2012.
Among the provisions in the new bill are requirements that federal agencies post on their public websites extensive information on employee presentations at meetings; a limit of $500,000 on what a federal agency can spend on a single meeting; and an attendee limit of 50 federal employees at international meetings.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the USTA, spoke out against the new legislation in a statement that included, "Travel for meetings and events is a proven tool to help government employees do their jobs more effectively, which in turn, benefits American taxpayers. Travel is a tool of productivity, which federal policies should support, not undercut.”
