Proposed rule would cut relocation benefits

The General Services Administration proposed rule changes to the Federal Travel Regulation that would trim federal workers' relocation allowances. The rule changes are GSA's attempt to better manage agencies' relocation costs and bring relocation practices in line with industry trends.

To find out how much agencies spend moving workers, the proposal requires federal agencies to acquire a relocation management program by Sept. 30, 2005.

The rule changes were written by GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy Relocation Best Practices Committee, consisting of government and private sector relocation experts. Published in the Federal Register on Nov. 23, the changes are based on private industry best practices.

• Reducing the maximum length of a move from four years to two.
• Reducing the maximum number of days for house-hunting trips from 10 to 8.
• Reducing the mileage reimbursement rate for relocation so that it's in line with the Internal Revenue Service.
• Requiring the commute to a new job location to increase by at least 50 miles to be considered a relocation.
• Limiting the number of days allowed for temporary storage at 60 days and requests for extensions at 90 days.
• Preventing agencies from transporting private vehicles for a cost greater than the value of the vehicle and limiting the number of vehicles to two.
• Encouraging the use of lump-sum payments for relocations, which GSA says will be more efficient and potentially save money.

The comprehensive relocation proposal changes were made after two years of consideration, according to Ed Davis, a program analyst in the Travel Management Policy division of GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy. He said the rule changes were written without the direct input of private industry experts, and "we lose something because of that."

"It's an initial step, but part of the problem is that you don't have any data.…the problem is that the data just isn't there or it's inconsistent," Davis said.

Davis' concern for the lack of data reflects the frustrations of Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who repeatedly has questioned GSA and the Office of Management and Budget on their failure to track agencies' relocation expenses.

"The proposed rule appears to be a step in the right direction," said Grassley in a news release. "Clearly, it didn't work to let agencies address relocation abuses on their own. Changes should be governmentwide to have a real impact and protect taxpayers from excessive moving expenses."

OMB and GSA say they are doing their best to collect the agencies' data, but a failure to know where to put decimal points and "not available" answers on requests for information have kept a mandated biennial Federal Travel and Relocation report from being published.

The data was so flawed and inaccurate that GSA and OMB admitted it was worthless. Some agencies' average expenditure per move in 2003 as reported in a report draft, ranged from $1.78 to $194 million. According to OMB, agencies just don't have the capability to report their relocation data consistently. The report has not been published in six years.

The proposed rule change comes as an advisory board made up of government and industry representatives prepares a June report that could recommend major legislative changes to the government's relocation policies. The Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board's next meeting is Jan. 26.