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Changes in the Works for Federal Travelers, Child Care Facilities

By Ralph Smith

Monday, March 17, 2008

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Here is some good news for those federal employees who drive their own vehicles when working for Uncle Sam. The General Services Administration is raising the mileage rate to $0.505 from the current rate of $0.485. The effective date of the change is March 19, 2008.

GSA is responsible for reviewing the privately owned vehicle mileage reimbursement mileage rate on a yearly basis but it cannot exceed the amount set by the Internal Revenue Service for a privately owned automobile. This often means that the rate for federal employees lags the decision already made by the IRS.

There may also be a change on the way for determining the mileage reimbursement rate for federal employees. Some readers have questioned why the IRS makes its determination and then GSA makes the same determination for federal employees--sometimes implementing the change for federal employees more than a month after the IRS has changed the reimbursement rate it sets for taxpayers. Why not just use the IRS rate for federal employees as well?

That is a reasonable question and it may happen as part of the General Services Enhancement Act if the bill is enacted by Congress.

There are also a couple of other items in this proposal that will interest readers.

The definition of "Federal children" would change when referring to the use of on-site childcare facilities. The definition would be expanded to include the children of federal contractors in addition to the children of federal employees. It would also change the definition of "Onsite Federal Contractors." The summary of the proposal states that the changes would give agencies "flexibility to extend care to dependent children of more employees, help enable facilities to fully utilize their capacity, improve their financial stability, and manage the inevitable fluctuations in an individual facilities enrollment...."

And, one other change that will interest those traveling while in the service of Uncle Sam's civilian army: Employees in a travel status may be required by an agency to stay in facilities contracted for by the government.

This is a change that will probably not appeal to some federal travellers as it will limit their flexibility to stay in a hotel of their own choosing. Currently, employees can stay at any hotel within the per diem rate set by GSA for a geographic area. Presumably, this proposed change would require employees to use hotels under the FedRooms program.

To find out more about GSA FedRooms® program, click here or visit the fedrooms.com website for reserving a room for your next official government trip.

For those with an interest in the topic, here is the latest FedRooms® newsletter.

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Readers' Comments

  • I was the child care coordinator for a large Federal agency. I observed, sadly, how low income employees could not afford the child care center located on the agency campus. The provider rates were so high that even GS 11's and 12's had difficulty paying $325 a week for infant care. The agency...
    Posted: June 24, 2008 12:54 PM
  • A good example of Government-contracted hotels is the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Brunswick Georgia. The Center contracts with local hotels for rooms for class attendees. Attendees have no choice. Twice I had to stay at a filthy, roach-infested hotel to attend classes. I and most of the oth...
    Posted: March 27, 2008 11:33 AM
  • I don't see how requiring employees to use hotels under the FedRooms program will work. Have you gone to their web site and looked at the number of hotels listed in some of the bigger cities? There are only a handful of hotels listed. We have trouble finding places to stay at per diem now, if we ...
    Posted: March 27, 2008 9:56 AM

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