New per diem rates for 2000 and a boost in lodging rates during conferences are just around the corner for federal travelers.
The General Services Administration is scheduled to release the federal per diem rates for 2000 on Thursday, Dec. 2. The rates will be posted immediately on GovExec.com.
GSA is also planning to release a list of hotels that fall within the government per diem rates. More than 2,000 hotels across the country will be included in the GSA list, which will be posted to the agency's Web site. The list is expected to be released around Jan. 1, said Bill Rivers, acting director of travel management policy at GSA.
Also around Jan. 1, GSA plans to release a new rule that allows federal travelers attending conferences to stay at hotels up to 25 percent more expensive than the standard per diem rate would allow. So if the lodging rate in an area is usually $50 per night, a federal traveler attending a conference in that area could be reimbursed for staying at a hotel that charges $62.50.
Rivers said the special conference rate was requested by federal travelers and conference planners because conferences tend to be held in three- and four-star hotels, while the federal per diem rates are based on lodging rates at two- and three-star hotels. The new rule will allow more federal travelers to stay in hotels that are hosting the conferences they are attending, rather than having to stay at a less expensive hotel and travel back and forth between it and the conference hotel.
Another potential change on the New Year's horizon for federal travelers is the mileage reimbursement rate for personal vehicles. The current rate is 31 cents per mile for cars. The IRS recently decided to increase the rate to 32.5 cents per mile, so GSA is considering the same increase.
"We're reviewing a potential change," Rivers said.
Also, as of Jan. 1, federal employees will be required to use government charge cards for all travel-related expenses, under a law passed by Congress last year.
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