TOPICS
TOPICS
OMB finalizes charge card guidance
The Office of Management and Budget finalized updated purchase and travel card rules last week, requiring agencies to develop a charge card management plan, perform credit checks on cardholders and use strategic sourcing for card purchases.
In a memo dated Aug. 5, OMB Director Joshua B. Bolten instructed all executive branch agencies to implement policies in an updated circular to include the latest governmentwide rules for charge cards. The revised guidance becomes effective Oct. 1, the start of the next fiscal year.
The new requirements combine and update previously issued guidances from OMB, the General Services Administration and other agencies.
To prevent travel or purchase card abuse, agencies now are required to perform credit checks on government employees before issuing them charge cards.
Agencies are also required to use strategic sourcing in their charge card purchases, which is a process of analyzing the way funds are spent with the intent of finding discounts on commonly purchased items.
In addition, agencies will have to identify managers responsible for their charge card program and create a formal process for appointing cardholders and guaranteeing their creditworthiness.
"This new guidance will help ensure that federal charge cards aren't misused, that the government pays its charge card debts on time and that government managers implement strategies for making smarter procurement decisions," said OMB Controller Linda Combs.
House Government Reform Committee spokesman Drew Crockett said the committee is pleased that OMB is taking these steps, but they are concerned that OMB is unfairly lumping purchase cards into the same category as travel cards.
He said purchase cards allow for "huge efficiencies" and permit workers to quickly and efficiently acquire the smaller items needed for agencies' day-to-day operations, including the SmartPay program which GSA says saves the government more than $1.3 billion annually.
"We must keep our eye on the purpose of the purchase card program in the first place and not add on so much 'stuff' that we will have to go out and create another program so we can buy small amounts of supplies easily and quickly," Crockett said.
In February, OMB issued a draft of the guidance. Members of Congress have introduced legislation to strengthen the laws governing the use of charge cards because of instances of waste, fraud and abuse by federal workers, including reports of purchases of a designer briefcase and Elvis Presley photos.
COMMENTS
- Credit checks affect your credit rating points. No one will want to be a cardholder and you can not force an employee to be a cardholder. This could kill the government purchase card program. It won't stop people from misusing the card either. If they misuse it make them reimburse the government and hold the billing officials responsible also. Terminate their employment if the case is severe. Management and Billing officials must use sound judgment when appointing cardholders. Strictly enforce the MAT codes. We insist on three levels of approval. It works well. There has to be a better way than what they are doing. GovExec.com reader Posted October 13, 2005 6:45 PM
- There are privacy and security concerns over performing and maintaining credit checks on government personnel. If we exercise and enforce our existing rules such as having the dollars removed directly from your paycheck if the bill is unpaid, there would be no need for this expensive task which is a waste of our time and tax dollars. Diane Schuman Posted August 16, 2005 8:28 AM
- Exactly WHY are Government personnel being asked to conduct credit checks -- at taxpayer expense -- for the benefit of the charge card contractors? These contractors SIGNED their contracts with the full understanding that conducting credit checks was THEIR responsibility; now, after making a contractual commitment, they lobby to change the rules and pass the cost on to Uncle Sam. If someone wants to hand them a sweetheart deal, why not just GIVE them a bucket full of taxpayer dollars; why waste the time of civil servants -- diverting them from their REAL jobs -- and insult them by making them act as agents of the Bank of America! By the time they're done tinkering with the charge card programs, the benefit to the taxpayer will be a distant memory and this will be just another exercise in the reallocation of pork. GovExec.com reader Posted August 12, 2005 1:12 PM
GovExec Live!
Ever hear about the manager who dodged a soda can, the boss who (shock!) said hello to his employees and the two-year bureaucratic oddysey of a manager who wanted to use 8½ x 11 rather than 8½ x 14 cover pages? Join "Management Matters" columnist Brian Friel at 12 p.m. EST on Wed., Aug. 17, when he will discuss these stories and respond to your comments and funny (or sad) tales of government service. Read his latest column and submit your stories and comments early or during the chat.
