Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As an important part of the economic stimulus efforts, Congress enacted the First- Time Homebuyer Credit (FTHBC) to assist the struggling real estate market and encourage taxpayers to purchase their first homes. Congress enacted different versions of the FTHBC--as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Housing Act); the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act); and the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (Assistance Act). The dollar amounts that can be claimed and rules associated with the credit, including potential repayment, vary depending on the version. Joint Committee on Taxation estimates suggest that the three FTHBC provisions combined may result in total revenue losses to the federal government of about $22 billion through 2019. In response to the request for updated information on the use of the FTHBC, our objectives were to identify (1) the number of FTHBC claims and dollar amounts claimed for each credit version by state and (2) state rankings, using selected statistics, such as the total dollar amount of FTHBC claimed in each state."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government supports numerous data programs that assemble and analyze quantitative measures of the nation's environmental conditions and trends (known as indicators). A substantial number of these data programs are housed in several federal agencies, and provide various types of data used routinely by decision makers from the private sector and all levels of government. As federal agencies take actions to improve the coverage and usefulness of these programs, it is equally important that the quality and availability of existing data generated by these programs do not erode overtime. In this regard, periodic uninterrupted monitoring to determine conditions and trends is important to accurately describe the extent or seriousness of environmental problems, or conversely, improvements in environmental conditions. GAO reviewed 20 data programs to determine whether federal agencies responsible for the programs anticipate that changes during fiscal years 2005 and 2006 related to funding, shifting priorities, or other factors will affect the ability of the programs to (1) continue to generate data comparable with data from past years, and (2) continue providing data used in a nationwide ecological indicator study by the H. John Heinz …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Women's Business Center Program, focusing on: (1) a description of the women's business centers, including their funding status, their experiences in raising matching funds, the types of services offered in a women's business center's first and last year of grant funding, and the differences between parent and satellite centers; (2) the extent to which SBA's award criteria predict long-term success or failure of women's business centers; and (3) the Office of Women's Business Ownership's compliance with legislative reporting requirements and the inherent difficulties with obtaining the required data from the women's business centers."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Authoritative bodies have promulgated laws, accounting standards, information system requirements, and related guidance to emphasize the need for cost information and cost management in the federal government. In particular, the (1) Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990, (2) Statement of Federal Accounting Standards No. 4: Managerial Cost Accounting Concepts and Standards for the Federal Government, and (3) Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's (JFMIP) Framework for Federal Financial Management Systems established requirements and accounting standards for managerial cost accounting (MCA) information at federal agencies. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) built on this foundation and required, among other things, CFO Act agencies' systems to comply substantially with federal accounting standards and federal financial management systems requirements. MCA involves the accumulation and analysis of financial and nonfinancial data, resulting in the allocation of costs to organizational pursuits such as performance goals, programs, activities, and outputs. The data analyzed depend on the operations and needs of the organization. Nonfinancial data measure the occurrences of activities and can include, for example, the number of hours worked, units produced, grants managed, inspections conducted, people trained, or time needed to …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) plans for operating the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), focusing on whether: (1) the law authorizing the MIP permits HCFA to assign responsibility for local Medicare coverage policy to the payment safeguard contractors (PSC) who will run the MIP under contract to HCFA; and (2) HCFA's proposed MIP regulations would provide an adequate legal basis for HCFA to conduct local policy-making through PSCs. GAO noted that HCFA reasonably interpreted the law to mean that its PSCs could set local Medicare coverage policy. GAO also noted that the proposed MIP regulations provide an adequate basis for HCFA's action."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Federal Housing Administration (FHA), provides insurance for private lenders against losses on home mortgages. FHA's largest insurance program is the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (Fund), which currently is self-financed and operates at a profit. FHA submitted a "reestimate" of $7 billion for the credit subsidy and interest for the Fund as of the end of fiscal year 2003, reflecting a reduction in estimated profits. Given this substantial reestimate, Congress asked GAO, among other things, to determine what factors contributed to the $7 billion reestimate and the underlying loan performance variables influencing these factors and to assess how the loan performance variables underlying the reestimate could impact future estimates of new loans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The State Department plans to spend at least $80 million to purchase and renovate a multibuilding facility in Frankfurt, Germany. The facility, known as Creekbed, is scheduled to open in mid-2005. The project is a key rightsizing initiative under the President's Management Agenda to reassess and reconfigure the staffing of the U.S. overseas presence. Creekbed is expected to achieve the department's major rightsizing and regionalization goals. The Office of Management and Budget expects the project to serve as a model for developing other regional centers. GAO was asked to determine whether State fully examined the potential for relocating regional staff from outside Germany to Creekbed."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2004, the Medicaid program financed about $93 billion for long-term care services. To qualify for Medicaid, individuals' assets (income and resources) must be below certain limits. Because long-term care services can be costly, those who pay privately may quickly deplete their assets and become eligible for Medicaid. In some cases, individuals might transfer assets to spouses or other family members to become financially eligible for Medicaid. Those who transfer assets for less than fair market value may be subject to a penalty period that can delay their eligibility for Medicaid. GAO was asked to provide data on transfers of assets. GAO reviewed (1) the level of assets held and transferred by the elderly, (2) methods used to transfer assets that may result in penalties, (3) how states determined financial eligibility for Medicaid long-term care, and (4) guidance the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided states regarding the treatment of asset transfers. GAO analyzed data on levels of assets and cash transfers made by the elderly from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national panel survey; analyzed states' Medicaid …