A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The tax credit for qualified research expenses provides significant subsidies to encourage business investment in research intended to foster innovation and promote long-term economic growth. Generally the credit provides a subsidy for research spending in excess of a base amount but concerns have been raised about its design and administrability. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to describe the credit's use, determine whether it could be redesigned to improve the incentive to do new research, and assess whether recordkeeping and other compliance costs could be reduced. GAO analyzed alternative credit designs using a panel of corporate tax returns and assessed administrability by interviewing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and taxpayer representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO determined that the Department of Defense’s (DOD) March and June 2013 submissions on establishing a Defense Health Agency (DHA) to reform the governance of the Military Health System (MHS) met three statutory requirements to include information on goals, performance measures, and staffing; partially met one requirement to include information on timelines; and was not required to include information on shared services because the reporting time frame was not applicable. GAO also assessed the submissions to determine the extent to which DOD incorporated key management practices from GAO’s prior work on business-process reengineering. DOD’s submissions provided some useful information but did not fully incorporate some key management practices as explained below."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, the Department of State created the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization to coordinate U.S. planning and implementation of stabilization and reconstruction operations. In December 2005, President Bush issued National Security Presidential Directive 44 (NSPD-44), charging State with improving coordination, planning, and implementation of such operations and ensuring that the United States can respond quickly and effectively to overseas crises. GAO was asked to report on State's efforts to improve (1) interagency planning and coordination for stabilization and reconstruction operations, and (2) deployment of civilians to these operations. To address these objectives, we conducted interviews with officials and reviewed documents from U.S. agencies and government and private research centers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined the Bureau of the Census' estimates of e-commerce in 1999 to determine whether GAO should revise the results of its 2000 report on sales tax issues from e-commerce (GAO/GGD/OCE-00-165). This report uses private-sector forecasts of Internet and total remote sales as the basis for several scenarios illustrating the impact of such sales on state and local sales and use tax revenues. The scenarios show that considerable uncertainty exists about the size of the impacts and how various assumptions about sales, compliance, and other factors contribute to that uncertainty. Census' new e-commerce estimates do not provide a basis for revising the results GAO found in its 2000 report. Census' definition of e-commerce is broader than Internet sales. Because of the way firms provide information on their e-commerce sales to Census, Internet sales cannot be separated from the broader e-commerce sales at a level of detail that allows GAO to compare Census' results with the Internet sales estimates used in its 2000 report."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees individual loans that lenders originate. The agency uses its Loan and Lender Monitoring System (L/LMS) to assess the individual risk of each loan, and SBA's contractor developed a lender risk rating system based on L/LMS data. However, questions have been raised about the extent to which SBA has used its lender risk rating system to improve its oversight of lenders. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine (1) how SBA's risk rating system compares with those used by federal financial regulators and lenders and the system's usefulness for predicting lender performance and (2) how SBA uses the lender risk rating system in its lender oversight activities. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed SBA documents; interviewed officials from three federal financial regulators and 10 large SBA lenders; analyzed SBA loan data; and interviewed SBA officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress has provided about $542.9 billion, as of May 2007, to the Department of Defense (DOD) for the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Prior GAO reports have found DOD's reported GWOT obligation data unreliable and problems with transparency over certain costs. DOD made changes to its reporting procedures, requiring components to perform a monthly variance analysis on obligation data and to include affirmation statements attesting to the accuracy of cost data. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO assessed (1) the outlook of DOD's reported GWOT obligations for fiscal year 2007 and funding requests for fiscal year 2008, (2) the effect of changes in DOD's GWOT funding guidance, and (3) DOD's progress in implementing variance analysis and affirmation statements. For this engagement, GAO analyzed fiscal year 2007 GWOTrelated appropriations and reported obligations, as well as DOD's corrective actions."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations of what might happen to federal deficits and debt levels under varying policy assumptions. We developed our long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress who were concerned about the longterm effects of fiscal policy. GAO runs two simulations: (1) "Baseline Extended" follows the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) September baseline estimates for the first 10 years and then simply holds revenue and spending other than large entitlement programs constant as a share of gross domestic product (GDP); and (2) The "Alternative" simulation is based on historical trends and recent policy preferences. Discretionary spending grows with GDP rather than inflation during the first 10 years, Medicare physician payment rates are not reduced as in CBO's baseline, and all tax provisions are extended until 2018 and then revenues are brought back to about their historical level. We update our simulations as new estimates become available from CBO and the Social Security and Medicare Trustees. This update incorporates CBO's most recent baseline projections that were released in September. This product responds to congressional interest in receiving updated simulation results."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To assess the risks and potential effects from disruptions in the Global Positioning System (GPS) on critical infrastructure, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the GPS National Risk Estimate (NRE) in 2012. In doing so, DHS conducted a scenario-based risk assessment for four critical infrastructure sectors using subject matter experts from inside and outside of government. Risk assessments involve complex analysis, and conducting a risk assessment across multiple sectors with many unknowns and little data is challenging. DHS's risk management guidance can be used to help address such challenges. However, we found the NRE lacks key characteristics of risk assessments outlined in DHS's risk management guidance and, as a result, is incomplete and has limited usefulness to inform mitigation planning, priorities, and resource allocation. A plan to collect and assess additional data and subsequent efforts to ensure that the risk assessment is consistent with DHS guidance would contribute to more effective GPS risk management."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia appropriations acts for fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001 limited the amount of appropriated funds that could be paid to an attorney representing a prevailing party in an action brought against the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The appropriations act for fiscal year 2002 lifted the caps on attorneys' fees and directed DCPS and GAO to report on judgments awarding attorneys' fees in excess of the limitations imposed in fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001. In May 2002, GAO reported that, for fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001, the appropriations acts' limitations had little if any impact on the total amount of attorneys' fees awarded to prevailing parties in judgments entered by the courts in judicial proceedings brought against DCPS and the act. The District's March 29, 2002 report showed that of the $12.7 million paid for attorneys' fees from its appropriations for 1999 through 2001, $10 million was related to administrative proceedings and $2.7 million was related to judicial proceedings. DCPS reported that the estimated total amount of fees that might have been paid as …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Established in January 2004 with a mission to reduce poverty through economic growth, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has committed $6.9 billion for compacts with 19 developing countries. MCC vests compact management with accountable entities in recipient countries, called Millennium Challenge Accounts (MCA). MCAs, with guidance from MCC, allocate resources, oversee and implement a financial plan, approve expenditures and procurements, and implement compact projects. This report, directed by the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, assesses MCC and MCA (1) financial controls; (2) procurement practices; and (3) development, implementation, and oversight of contracts and projects. GAO focused on financial and procurement transactions and projects at MCAs in Honduras, Georgia, and Cape Verde, countries with high disbursement totals as of the end of fiscal year 2008."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 10 federal information technology (IT) operations and maintenance (O&M) investments with the largest budgets in fiscal year 2012—and the eight agencies that operate them—are identified by GAO in the table below. They support agencies by providing, for example, global telecommunications infrastructure and information transport services for the Department of Defense."

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2012, GAO reported that 80 federal programs in eight different agencies fund a variety of transportation services for transportation-disadvantaged populations, which include older Americans. Within the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is a key source of federal transportation funding for older Americans. For example, some FTA programs provide formula funding to states to serve transit-dependent populations with special needs. States typically distribute these funds to local nonprofit human service agencies to buy vehicles to transport older adults and people with disabilities, and the funds may support transportation to access a range of activities, such as grocery shopping. While some federal funding programs are transportation focused, transportation was not the primary mission for the vast majority of the 80 programs GAO identified in 2012. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services' Medicaid program reimburses states that provide Medicaid beneficiaries with bus passes, among other transportation options, to access eligible medical services. Total federal spending on transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged remains unknown because federal departments did not separately track spending for roughly two-thirds of the programs identified in …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the 1960s, classified satellite information collected by intelligence agencies has been used, from time to time, by federal civilian agencies and other non-intelligence entities for civil, scientific, and environmental purposes (such as mapping, disaster relief, and environmental research). These uses have historically been coordinated by the Civil Applications Committee (CAC) led by the U.S. Geological Survey, a component of the Department of the Interior. Following the events of September 11, 2001, attention has turned to information sharing as a key element in developing comprehensive and practical approaches to defending against potential terrorist attacks. Having information on threats, vulnerabilities, and incidents can help an agency better understand the risks and determine what preventive measures should be implemented. The ability to share such terrorism-related information can also unify the efforts of federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as the private sector in preventing or minimizing terrorist attacks. Exchanging terrorism-related information continues to be a significant challenge for federal, state, and local governments--one that we recognize is not easily addressed. Accordingly, since January 2005, we have designated information sharing for homeland security a high-risk area. Citing a growing …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Domestic oil and natural gas production are important to meeting our nation's energy needs and represented more than 40 percent of the U.S. energy production in 2006. The Department of Energy (DOE) has undertaken research and development (R&D) for oil and natural gas since its inception in the late 1970s. Historically, the federal government has entered into cost-sharing agreements with universities, state agencies, and independent companies to help fund these R&D efforts, which were often long-term, high-risk projects with variable results. In recent appropriations, DOE's funding for oil and natural gas R&D was significantly reduced. In this context, Congress asked GAO to review DOE's R&D activities for oil and natural gas and provide information on (1) how much has been appropriated during the past 10 years, (2) how DOE expended these appropriations and its reported results to date, (3) the potential future results from continuing DOE-sponsored research in oil and natural gas technologies, and (4) the factors that could be considered when determining the federal government's role in oil and natural gas R&D."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 26 major federal agencies that were required to participate in the PortfolioStat initiative fully addressed four of seven key requirements established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). However, only 1 of the 26 agencies addressed all the requirements. For example, agencies did not develop action plans that addressed all elements, such as criteria for identifying wasteful, low-value or duplicative information technology (IT) investments, or migrate two commodity IT areas—such as enterprise IT systems and IT infrastructure—to a shared service by the end of 2012."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In September 2003, we responded to a request from Representative Elton Gallegly to provide information on the number of taxpayers who claimed more than 10 withholding allowances and taxpayers who claimed exemption from federal income tax withholding. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls such claims questionable Form W-4s. However, in the course of performing our work, we became concerned about the reliability of the information that IRS maintains on these taxpayers and decided that we could not use it to answer Representative Gallegly's questions. The objectives of this letter are to summarize our findings about the reliability of the information IRS maintains on taxpayers who claimed more than 10 withholding allowances or exemption from federal tax withholding and to bring to the attention of the Commissioner, Internal Revenue, some resulting questions about the value of IRS continuing to collect the information."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Long-standing financial management problems, coupled with ineffective oversight and management of the Department of Defense's (DOD) travel card program, which GAO has previously reported on, have led to concerns about DOD's use of first and business class airfares. At the request of the Subcommittee on Investigations, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Senator Grassley, and Representative Schakowsky, GAO performed work to identify problems in DOD's controls over premium class travel. This testimony focuses on (1) the extent of DOD premium class travel, (2) the effectiveness of key internal control activities and examples of improper premium class travel resulting from internal control breakdowns, and (3) DOD's control environment over premium class travel. In a companion report being issued today, GAO made numerous recommendations--that DOD concurred with--to strengthen key internal control activities and improve the overall control environment."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Social Security covers about 96 percent of all U.S. workers; the vast majority of the remaining 4 percent are public employees. Although these noncovered workers do not pay Social Security taxes on their government earnings, they may still be eligible for Social Security benefits through their spouses' or their own earnings from other covered employment. Social Security has provisions--the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)--that attempt to take noncovered employment into account when calculating the Social Security benefits for public employees. However, these provisions have been difficult to administer and critics contend that the provisions themselves are often unfair. The Committee asked GAO to discuss the issues regarding the coverage of public employees under Social Security, the provisions to take noncovered employment into account, and the proposals to modify those provisions."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The inability of first responders--police officers, firemen, hazardous materials teams, emergency medical service personnel, and others--to communicate effectively with one another as needed during an emergency is a long-standing and widely recognized problem in many areas across the country. When first responders cannot communicate effectively as needed, it can literally cost lives--of both emergency responders and those they are trying to assist. At the request of the Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, we are examining the barriers to improved interoperability and the roles that federal, state, and local governments can play in improving wireless interoperability communications."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For some time, there has been concern over the increases in the prices of weapon systems spare parts and the adverse impact higher prices have had on military readiness. Prices for aviation spare parts managed by the Navy increased at an annual rate of 12 percent from 1994 to 1999. Several factors have contributed to price increases. First, the cost of repairing an item has generally gone up over time. Second, the surcharge that is charged to customers has also increased over time. The Navy has tried to alleviate customer concerns about high surcharge rates by moving certain overhead costs from the surcharge to repair costs. But this approach simply moved the overhead costs instead of reducing them. Still, the Navy understands the need to control spare parts prices and plans to further investigate the underlying causes of the increases."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Telework continues to receive attention within Congress and federal agencies as a human capital strategy that offers various flexibilities to both employers and employees. Increasingly recognized as an important means to achieving a number of federal goals, telework offers greater capability to continue operations during emergency events, as well as affording environmental, energy, and other benefits to society. This statement highlights some of GAO's prior work on federal telework programs, including key practices for successful implementation of telework initiatives, identified in a 2003 GAO report and a 2005 GAO analysis of telework program definitions and methods in five federal agencies. It also notes more recent work where agency officials cite their telework programs as yielding benefits. As GAO has previously recommended, Congress should determine ways to promote more consistent telework definitions and measures. In particular, Congress might want to have the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council develop definitions and measures that would allow for a more meaningful assessment of progress in agency telework programs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a report issued in May 2006, GAO examined compliance with the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) physician credentialing and privileging requirements at seven VA medical facilities GAO visited. VA's credentialing process is used to determine whether a physician's professional credentials, such as licensure, are valid and meet VA's requirements for employment. VA's privileging process is used to determine which health care services or clinical privileges, such as surgical procedures, a VA physician is qualified to provide to veterans without supervision. Although GAO cannot generalize from its findings, GAO found that the seven facilities were complying with credentialing requirements. However, the facilities were not complying with aspects of certain privileging requirements. To better ensure that VA physicians are qualified to deliver care safely to veterans, GAO made three recommendations to improve VA's privileging of physicians. GAO was asked to testify on (1) how VA credentials and privileges physicians working in its medical facilities and (2) the extent to which VA has implemented the three recommendations made in GAO's May 2006 report that address VA's privileging requirements. To update its issued work, GAO reviewed VA's policies, procedures, and correspondence …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, Medicare spent $8.3 billion for durable medical equipment (DME) and related supplies. To reduce spending, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) required that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) phase in, with several rounds of bidding, a large-scale competitive bidding program (CBP) for certain DME and other items. DME suppliers began bidding in round 1 of the CBP on May 15, 2007. After contracts were awarded, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), was enacted on July 15, 2008. Because of numerous concerns MIPPA delayed the program, terminated supplier contracts, and required CMS to begin the CBP round 1 rebid in 2009. GAO was asked to report on (1) the results of CBP round 1, (2) the major challenges CMS had in conducting CBP round 1, and (3) the steps CMS has taken to improve future CBP rounds. GAO reviewed CMS data and relevant laws and regulations, and interviewed officials from CMS and its contractors, and DME suppliers and professional associations."