Response to GSA Spending

[AnonymousIV]

Dear Calma,
Have you heard about the recent General Services Administration (GSA) conference where they spent $830,000 of your tax money at a posh Las Vegas hotel on such extravagances as a $7000 sushi display and a $3200 mind reader? Were you outraged when you heard that your tax dollars were thrown away on these ridiculous expenses? I know I was outraged, which is why I’ve decided to do something about it.

To stop abuses like those at the GSA, I recently introduced H.R. 4454, the Agency Conferences and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Transparency (ACCOUNT) Act. The ACCOUNT Act is a simple, commonsense bill that will ensure that agencies no longer treat your tax dollars like their personal piggy bank.

My bill is a commonsense oversight reform which brings needed accountability and transparency to agency expenses. For example, if a conference spends more than $25,000, it must be certified by the head of the agency as necessary to agency’s core function. Details of the conference must be posted on the agency website within 30 days after the conference, including a summary of the purpose of the conference, total cost and cost per employee attending. Finally, each agency would be required to submit an annual report on their conference activities to the relevant Congressional committee for the fiscal year. The armed forces, federal law enforcement, and conferences of a classified nature are exempt from this requirement in order not to compromise national security.

There is a ring of truth to the old cliché that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” By bringing transparency to the conference process within the federal government, federal agencies will now have an incentive to spend your tax money wisely because they will know that the American people are watching. In my office, our expenses are carefully managed and made public. It’s time we do the same for federal agencies, so that $830,000 conferences are a thing of the past. I hope you will join me in supporting the ACCOUNT Act.

Sincerely,



Chuck Fleischmann

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Dear Calma,
Have you heard about the recent General Services Administration (GSA) conference where they spent $830,000 of your tax money at a posh Las Vegas hotel on such extravagances as a $7000 sushi display and a $3200 mind reader? Were you outraged when you heard that your tax dollars were thrown away on these ridiculous expenses? I know I was outraged, which is why I’ve decided to do something about it.

To stop abuses like those at the GSA, I recently introduced H.R. 4454, the Agency Conferences and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Transparency (ACCOUNT) Act. The ACCOUNT Act is a simple, commonsense bill that will ensure that agencies no longer treat your tax dollars like their personal piggy bank.

My bill is a commonsense oversight reform which brings needed accountability and transparency to agency expenses. For example, if a conference spends more than $25,000, it must be certified by the head of the agency as necessary to agency’s core function. Details of the conference must be posted on the agency website within 30 days after the conference, including a summary of the purpose of the conference, total cost and cost per employee attending. Finally, each agency would be required to submit an annual report on their conference activities to the relevant Congressional committee for the fiscal year. The armed forces, federal law enforcement, and conferences of a classified nature are exempt from this requirement in order not to compromise national security.

There is a ring of truth to the old cliché that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” By bringing transparency to the conference process within the federal government, federal agencies will now have an incentive to spend your tax money wisely because they will know that the American people are watching. In my office, our expenses are carefully managed and made public. It’s time we do the same for federal agencies, so that $830,000 conferences are a thing of the past. I hope you will join me in supporting the ACCOUNT Act.

Sincerely,



Chuck Fleischmann

Do you have a link to the bills text you could include in the opening post?

 

[rightwinger]

Dear Calma,
Have you heard about the recent General Services Administration (GSA) conference where they spent $830,000 of your tax money at a posh Las Vegas hotel on such extravagances as a $7000 sushi display and a $3200 mind reader? Were you outraged when you heard that your tax dollars were thrown away on these ridiculous expenses? I know I was outraged, which is why I’ve decided to do something about it.

To stop abuses like those at the GSA, I recently introduced H.R. 4454, the Agency Conferences and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Transparency (ACCOUNT) Act. The ACCOUNT Act is a simple, commonsense bill that will ensure that agencies no longer treat your tax dollars like their personal piggy bank.

My bill is a commonsense oversight reform which brings needed accountability and transparency to agency expenses. For example, if a conference spends more than $25,000, it must be certified by the head of the agency as necessary to agency’s core function. Details of the conference must be posted on the agency website within 30 days after the conference, including a summary of the purpose of the conference, total cost and cost per employee attending. Finally, each agency would be required to submit an annual report on their conference activities to the relevant Congressional committee for the fiscal year. The armed forces, federal law enforcement, and conferences of a classified nature are exempt from this requirement in order not to compromise national security.

There is a ring of truth to the old cliché that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” By bringing transparency to the conference process within the federal government, federal agencies will now have an incentive to spend your tax money wisely because they will know that the American people are watching. In my office, our expenses are carefully managed and made public. It’s time we do the same for federal agencies, so that $830,000 conferences are a thing of the past. I hope you will join me in supporting the ACCOUNT Act.

Sincerely,



Chuck Fleischmann

I worked 33 years for the Department of Defense. At conferences and meetings, we were expected to pay for our own Coffee and pastries. Never went to one where a collection plate was not put out.