Relocation board reviewing final recommendations

Recommendations that will be the basis for changing the policies on how the government relocates thousands of workers each year are being reviewed this week by an advisory board made up of government and private industry representatives.

The board began reviewing Tuesday morning about a quarter of the approximately 120 recommendations dealing with the administration and management portion of what will eventually be a report published by Runzheimer International, an independent contractor.

The recommendations are the culmination of a project that began in September 2004 after the General Services Administration convened the panel in July 2004.

Included in the recommendations discussed Tuesday were a rewrite of the Federal Travel Regulation's relocation section and having GSA work with a committee of experienced agency relocation specialists to develop best practices.

The board is also considering a proposal that would create a consulting group led by GSA that would consist of experts from the relocation industry to help agencies share best relocation practices and encourage agencies to work with private industry.

Among the board's other recommendations is proposed legislation that would give agencies greater flexibility to change their relocation policies. Board members said agencies lag private industry because they are not permitted by law to alter their relocation policies.

Under the proposal, Congress would give GSA broad authority to certify agencies' pilot programs. If the pilots were successful, then those programs would be allowed to continue.

The board's final report will be published in September.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Senate's Finance Committee chairman, has continually prodded agencies to develop more efficient and cost-effective relocation policies, and the advisory board is expected to address those issues and help agencies modernize how they move workers.