The brainiacs at the General Services Administration (GSA) are hard at work to ensure that the rampant abuse of travel and meetings policies on the part of their peers will never, ever happen again. Because, err, if they can't do it...then nobody gets to do it. So there...na na da boo boo.
Their current point of attack is to slash the pier diem rate for any government lodging (though, I'm guessing, Congress gets a day pass). One proposal slashes the per diem by 30%. In one of the destinations in which we worked this year, that would force hotels desiring government business to offer a $49 rate. And, that is simply insane.
The U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association released some interesting responses to the proposals. These draconian measures would severely limit the number of hotels available to federal travelers, making it harder to find lodging close to places of business, increasing transportation expenses and making federal travel less efficient. They would also lead to an estimated loss of $750 million in lodging revenue and result in American job losses of at least 28,000 workers.
But, I'm sure GSA will fire back that these two associations have a bias and that their argument holds no water.
Fine...how about the government's own Congressional Budget Office, which has released a report that says that meeting the new requirements would actually create at least as much cost to the federal government as it would save.
Hey GSA? Here's a novel idea: why not just enforce the policies you already have on the books and quit playing with fire.
Just a thought...
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