Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "State and federal officials are concerned that as Internet cigarette sales continue to grow and as states' cigarette taxes increase, so will the amount of lost state tax revenue due to noncompliance with the Jenkins Act. The act requires any person who sells and ships cigarettes across a state line to a buyer, other than a licensed distributor, to report the sale to the buyer's state tobacco tax administrator. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for enforcing the Jenkins Act, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the primary investigative authority. However, GAO found that DOJ and FBI headquarters officials did not identify any actions taken to enforce the Jenkins Act with respect to Internet cigarette sales. Since 1997, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has begun three investigations of Internet cigarette vendors for cigarette smuggling that included the investigation of potential Jenkins Act violations. Overall, seven of nine selected states have made some effort to promote Jenkins Act compliance by Internet cigarette vendors by contacting Internet vendors and U.S. Attorneys' Offices, but they produced few results. GAO's Internet search efforts identified 147 website …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed two competitive sourcing initiatives to determine whether they are consistent with the sourcing principles recommended by the Commercial Activities Panel. GAO found that, based on their current design, the administration's "performance target" and the fiscal year 2003 Treasury and General Government Appropriations bill, are not fully consistent with the sourcing principles adopted by the Panel. The most relevant recommended principle concerning these initiatives is that sourcing policy should "avoid arbitrary full-time equivalent (FTE) or other arbitrary numerical goals." The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum in March 2001, setting goals for a percentage of agencies' FTE positions that are to be subjected to public-private competition or directly converted to contractor performance. This OMB initiative is not consistent with the Panel's recommended principles. There is no evidence to indicate that its numerical FTE goals were based on considered research and sound analysis. Any related goals should be based on a review of historical data on sourcing activity in the public and private sectors combined with an analysis of current and emerging market trends."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress appropriated $205 million to the Forest Service for fiscal year 2001 to reduce hazardous accumulated fuels. In an effort to put as much of these appropriated monies on the ground as quickly as possible in fiscal year 2001, the Forest Service identified and funded those hazardous fuel reduction projects for which it had completed the necessary environmental analyses. As of July 2001, the Forest Service had completed the necessary environmental analyses to implement 1,671 hazardous fuel reduction projects in fiscal year 2001. Of those, 20 had been appealed, and none had been litigated. Appellants included environmental groups and individuals."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to spend $2.9 billion to modernize its information systems. This report reviews the latest draft of IRS' Investment Decision Management Business Case Procedure, which guides the agency's information technology (IT) investments. GAO discusses changes to the guidance that would ensure that the economic analyses in IRS business cases are consistent with commonly accepted principles. IRS' draft guidance on business case documentation represents an important step toward ensuring that IRS management has relevant information on which to base its critical IT investment decisions. However, some aspects of IRS' guidance are inconsistent with commonly held principles of public sector cost-benefit analysis. Most important, the guidance does not require the computation of a comprehensive social net present value (NPV)--the standard for deciding whether a government investment can be justified on economic grounds. The two partial NPV computations that IRS' guidance requires are inappropriate because they do not incorporate the proper values for all relevant benefits and costs for investment projects with significant effects outside of IRS. In addition, IRS' two NPV's are not additive, so even if all benefits and costs were properly valued, decision …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Earlier this year, GAO began a governmentwide review of the implementation of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990. The act requires each federal agency to issue a regulation adjusting its covered maximum civil monetary penalties for inflation by October 23, 1996, and requires each agency to make necessary adjustments at least once every 4 years thereafter. During the review, the Customs Service's Office of Chief Counsel indicated that three of the agency's civil penalties are covered by the act but that the agency had not adjusted any of them for inflation."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO discussed human capital flexibilities as they relate to the specific authorities granted to GAO through legislation enacted in 1980 and 2000. The GAO Personnel Act of 1980 implemented a broad banded pay-for-performance system for GAO analysts and specialists and certain special Comptroller General appointment authorities that were granted by Congress. The October 2000 Personnel Flexibilities Act gave GAO additional tools to: realign its workforce in light of mission needs and overall budgetary constraints; correct skills imbalances; and reduce high-grade, managerial, or supervisory positions without reducing the overall number of GAO employees. GAO believes that these tools have provided the agency with much needed flexibility to perform its mission in an efficient, effective and economical manner while incorporating adequate safeguards to prevent abuse of employees."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the wake of the Enron collapse and the proliferation of earnings restatements and pro forma earnings assertions by other companies, questions are being raised about the soundness of private sector financial reporting, auditor independence, and corporate governance. In addressing these issues, the government's role could range from direct intervention to encouraging non-governmental and private-sector entities to adopt practices that would strengthen public confidence. GAO believes that Congress should consider a holistic approach that takes into account the many players and interrelated issues that brought about the Enron situation."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Title III of the proposed Department of Homeland Security legislation would task the new department with developing national policy and coordinating the federal government's research and development efforts for responding to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. It would also transfer to the new department responsibility for certain research and development programs and other activities, including those of the Department of Energy (DOE). If properly implemented, this proposed legislation could lead to a more efficient, effective and coordinated research effort that would provide technology to protect our people, borders, and critical infrastructure. However, the proposed legislation does not specify that a critical role of the new department will be to establish collaborative relationships with programs at all levels of government and to develop a strategic plan for research and development to implement the national policy it is charged with developing. In addition, the proposed legislation is not clear on the role of the new department in setting standards for the performance and interoperability of new technologies so that users can be confident that the technologies they are purchasing will perform as intended. Some of the proposed transfers of …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses federal agency processes for approval of state information technology (IT) projects supporting state-administered federal human services programs. Federal approval and funding processes for state IT development and acquisition projects for the Child Support Enforcement, Child Welfare, and Food Stamps programs require the establishment of federal funding participation rates, the documentation that states must submit, and the time frames in which the federal agency must respond to the request. Assessment of the federal approval and funding process requires complete and reliable data that track a request from agency receipt until the agency finally approves or disapproves the request. However, such information is not readily available and the process cannot be thoroughly assessed because (1) the system used by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) headquarters to manage the approval process does not track the life cycle of a request and (2) the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) and CMS regional offices do not have a central tracking system. However, in a vast majority of cases, agencies responded to states' IT planning and acquisition …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) paid $2.1 billion in medical and death benefits and received 174,000 new injury claims during fiscal year 2000. GAO found that (1) one in four appealed claims' decisions are reversed or remanded to OWCP district offices for additional consideration and a new decision because of questions about or problems with the initial claims decision; (2) OWCP set a goal of informing 96 percent of claimants within 110 days of the date of the hearing; (3) nearly all doctors used by OWCP to provide opinions on injuries claimed were board certified and state licensed and were specialists in areas consistent with the injuries they evaluated; and (4) OWCP has used mailed surveys, telephone surveys, and focus groups to measure customer satisfaction. The Labor inspector general is monitoring fraud within OWCP's workers compensation program and using the claims examiners as one source to identify potentially fraudulent claims. This testimony is based on a May report (GAO-02-637)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century changed the budgetary treatment of programs financed by the Highway Trust Fund. The act guaranteed annual funding levels for most highway and transit programs and linked highway user tax receipts, such as those from motor fuel and truck tire taxes, to the annual funding levels for highway programs. Revenue aligned budget authority adjustments are made to the annual guaranteed funding level provided in the act as highway account receipt levels change. For the first time, the adjustment for fiscal year 2003 is negative--decreasing the guaranteed level of highway funding by $4.369 billion. GAO found that the amounts distributed to the Highway Trust Fund for the first nine months of fiscal year 2001, as adjusted based on the Internal Revenue Service's certifications, were reasonable and adequately supported."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fiscal year 2003 budget request for the 2002 tax filing season. GAO found that IRS's plans for hiring and redirecting staff may be optimistic because budgets are prepared so far in advance of the fiscal year involved. IRS assumed (1) labor and nonlabor savings of 2,287 staff years and $157.5 million and (2) additional savings of $38.5 million from better business practices. IRS's justification does not always adequately link the resources being requested and the agency's performance goals. Although IRS provided adequate support to justify the $450 million request for its multiyear capital account for business systems modernization, it did not adequately support $1.63 billion of the $1.68 billion requested for its information systems. In the area of agency performance, GAO found that IRS has generally processed returns smoothly and seen continued growth in electronic filing. The one exception to smooth processing has been the large number of errors related to the rate reduction credit. IRS has had to correct millions of returns due to the credit, and taxpayers' call about the credit have greatly increased the demand on IRS's …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2002, U.S. Postal Service employees accounted for one-third of both the federal civilian workforce and the $2.1 billion in overall costs for the Federal Workers' Compensation Program (WCP). Postal workers submitted half of the claims for new work-related injuries that year. Postal Service employees with job-related traumatic injuries or occupational diseases almost always provided the evidence required to make a determination on their entitlement. In two percent of the cases, the Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) found that evidence was missing for one or more of the required elements. However, the length of time taken to process claims varied widely even though all were subject to the same OWCP processing standards. OWCP claims examiners took 59 days to process traumatic injury claims after receiving the notice of injury claim forms from the Postal Service--a process that should take 45 days for all but the most complex cases, according to OWCP performance standards. The case files lacked the information necessary to determine whether the claims for compensation were prepared and filed by the employees within the time frame set by OWCP regulations. OWCP claims examiners …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses challenges in defining the federal role with respect to freight transportation issues. There are concerns that the projected increases in freight tonnage for all transportation modes will place pressures on the marine, aviation, and highway transportation systems. As a result, there is growing awareness of the need to view various transportation modes, and freight movement in particular, from an integrated standpoint, particularly for the purposes of developing and implementing a federal investment strategy and considering alternative funding approaches. The federal approach for funding the marine transportation system relies heavily on general revenues, although the approach for funding the aviation and highway systems relies almost exclusively on collections from users of the systems. During fiscal years 1999 through 2001, customs duties on imported goods transported through the transportation systems averaged $15 billion each year for the marine transportation system, $4 billion each year for the aviation system, and $900 million each year for the highway system. Customs duties are taxes on the value of imported goods and have traditionally been viewed as revenues to be used for the support of the general activities of the federal …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1998, the Congress amended the Higher Education Act (HEA) to enhance the quality of teaching in the classroom by improving training programs for prospective teachers and the qualifications of current teachers. This testimony focuses on two components of the legislation: one that provides grants and another, called the "accountability provisions," that requires collecting and reporting information on the quality of all teacher training programs and qualifications of current teachers. The Subcommittee asked that we provide information on (1) activities grantees supported and what results are associated with these activities and (2) whether the information collected under the accountability provisions provides the basis to assess the quality of teacher training programs and the qualifications of current teachers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Title III of the proposed Homeland Security Act of 2002 would transfer responsibility for certain chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear research and development programs and activities to the new department. The proposed Department of Homeland Security would develop national policy for, and coordination of, the federal government's civilian research and development efforts to counter chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. Although the new department could improve coordination of existing research and development programs, the proposed transfer of control and priority setting for research from the organizations where the research would be conducted could be disruptive. Transferring control over these programs, including priority setting, to the new department has the potential to disrupt some programs that are critical to basic public health. The President's proposal is not clear on how both the homeland security and the biomedical research objectives would be accomplished. However, if an agency's mission fits with homeland security, its transfer to the new department is appropriate."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As in the past four years, GAO was unable to express an opinion on the federal government's consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 because of material weaknesses in internal control and accounting and reporting issues. These conditions prevented GAO from providing Congress and American citizens with an opinion as to whether the consolidated financial statements are fairly stated in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Until these problems are adequately addressed, the government will continue to have difficulty (1) reporting its assets, liabilities, and costs; (2) adequately measuring the full cost and financial performance of programs and effectively manage related operations; and (3) adequately safeguarding significant assets and and properly recording transactions."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On June 18, the President transmitted draft legislation to Congress for the creation of a Department of Homeland Security to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recovery from attacks that do occur. As proposed, functions of the Homeland Security Department's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Division would include (1) receiving and analyzing law enforcement information, intelligence, and other information to detect and identify potential threats; (2) assessing the vulnerabilities of the key resources and critical infrastructures; (3) developing a comprehensive national plan for securing these resources and infrastructures; and (4) taking necessary measures to protect these resources and infrastructures, in coordination with other executive agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector. To create this division, six federal organizations that currently play a pivotal role in the protection of national critical infrastructures would be transferred to the new department. Potential benefits for this division include more efficient, effective, and coordinated programs; better control of funding through a single appropriation for the new department and through establishing budget priorities for transferred functions based on their homeland security …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether city police officers acting as drainage-district peace officers under section 49.216 of the Water Code may issue traffic citations for traffic violations committed within the drainage district (RQ-0510-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county civil-service commission or a sheriff's department civil-service commission may adopt a rule that permits an award of back pay to an employee after the commission modifies a disciplinary action taken against that employee (RQ-0504-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Public Finance Authority is authorized to issue bonds on behalf of the Texas State Technical College System (RQ-0493-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county commissioners court may deny or alter the budget request of the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region (RQ-0494-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Engineering Practice Act permits in-house engineers to include their job titles on business cards, cover letters, and other correspondence (RQ-0495-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Duties of the county clerk with regard to financing statement filings.