Tag Archives: Jeffrey Zients

OMB: No More Lavish Government Conferences

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Originally posted by Elizabeth Flock on U.S. News

New guidelines from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget say it's time to cut back on conference spending in light of the sequester. In a document, the agency said it had "taken aggressive steps to curtail conference spending," such as ensuring conferences that cost more than $100,000 were approved by the head of an agency, hotel costs were within per diem rates, and that a cyber conference was considered before any in-person event was planned.

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Agencies Justify Conference Tabs Above $100,000

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

 

Agencies have submitted summaries of conference spending in fiscal 2012 to the Office of Management and Budget that include justifications for training events that exceeded $100,000. The reports are required by a May 2012 memo from Acting Budget Director Jeffrey Zients.

Expanding on a 2011 OMB directive and executive order from President Obama promoting efficient spending, the latest Zients memo requires reductions in travel and conferences in the wake of the spring 2012 scandal involving extravagant spending at a General Services Administration training conference. It prohibits conferences costing more than $500,000 and requires agencies to report on events costing more than $100,000. Reports from all agencies were due Jan. 31.

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