Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA) manages over 1,700 federally owned buildings with $5.7 billion in identified repair and alteration needs. GAO was asked to review the situation, but at the time the review started, the Public Building Service (PBS) also began a review, and, consequently, GAO reviewed the PBS review. PBS described the building inventory as predominantly aged with reinvestment needs that far exceed the capabilities of the Federal Buildings Fund--a revolving fund administered by the GSA. PBS analyzed 1,375 of GSA's 1,745 federally owned buildings. Each was placed into one of four categories. Buildings termed "nonperforming" do not generate sufficient income to cover their expenses and to set aside a minimal amount for future repair and alteration needs or replacement. Buildings termed "poor" generate sufficient income to cover their expenses and a minimal reserve. Buildings termed "good" pass the prior two tests and have a return of investment (ROI) of at least 6 percent, but their conditions are considered poor, and they have high reinvestment needs. Buildings termed "solid" are those that generate more than 6 percent ROI and are in good condition, thus having relatively low …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Department of Energy's (DOE) acquisition regulations, DOE can reimburse its contractors for reasonable legal costs associated with cases brought against them in such matters as equal opportunity employment, radiation and toxic exposure, personal injury, and wrongful discharge. Such costs are not reimbursable if there is liability related to the contractor's willful misconduct, lack of good faith, or failure to exercise prudent business judgment. In practice, DOE reimburses its contractors for most of the legal costs. From fiscal year 1995 through the third quarter of fiscal year 2001, there have been more than 2,100 cases and DOE has reimbursed its contractors more than $290 million for associated litigation and disposition costs. The contractors have spent $13 million in their defense. In the same time period, there have been nearly 400 equal employment opportunity cases for which DOE reimbursed its contractors $53 million. The contractors spent $2 million."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants to states, which emphasizes work and responsibility over dependence on government benefits. GAO found that impairments are common among TANF recipients and their children, with 44 percent of TANF recipients reporting that they or their children had impairments, compared with 15 percent of the non-TANF population. Moreover, recipients with impairments were more likely to be white and over age 35 than those without impairments. GAO found that people with impairments who left TANF were less likely to be employed than leavers without impairments, but many leavers with impairments received Supplemental Security Income, a federal program providing cash assistance to low-income individuals who are aged, blind, or disabled."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) submits an annual congressional justification for the funds and number of staff positions requested. For fiscal year 2002, IRS asked for $9.4 billion and 101,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff positions. Congress expressed concerns about the information in IRS's justification and asserted that other types of information and presentations would better help Congress evaluate IRS's budget. In the context of Department of the Treasury and Office of Management and Budget guidance, IRS has the flexibility to present more information than it included in the fiscal year 2002 justification and to display it in different ways. Congressional Justifications typically vary in form and content, reflecting the ongoing relationship between each agency and appropriations subcommittee. The main purpose of Congressional Justifications is to give the subcommittees more details about agency programs and their relationship to appropriation requests than the President's budget documents provide. IRS's fiscal year 2002 justification had a summary section and a section on each of IRS's five appropriations. The summary section explained the foundation of IRS's budget request and summarized the dollars and FTE staff positions being requested for specific appropriations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA) at the Army Research Laboratory and the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to determine whether the laboratories complied with export control laws. GAO found that the Army needs to clarify its guidance on technology transfers to ensure compliance with U.S. export control laws during the management review of potential CRADA under Army Regulation 70-57. However, the regulation does not require that laboratories consult with the Office of the United States Trade Representative when entering into a CRADA. A committee of legal and management officials from various Army commands is now revising Army Regulation 70-57."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The transition to broadcast digital television (DTV) will provide new television services and the improved picture quality of "high definition television." It will also allow some portions of the radiofrequency spectrum used for broadcasting to be returned for public safety and commercial uses. The Congress set December 2006 as the target date for completing the DTV transition and turning off the analog broadcast signals. However, this date can be extended if fewer than 85 percent of households in a market are able to receive the digital signals. GAO was asked to assess issues related to the DTV transition."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For a number of years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been promoting departmentwide use of purchase cards, and their use has dramatically increased. DOD reported that in fiscal year 2001, more than 230,000 civilian and military cardholders made 10.7 million purchase card transactions valued at more than $6.1 billion. The Navy has the second largest purchase card program in DOD. As was previously reported, there were significant breakdowns in internal control at two Navy sites that left those units vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. These weaknesses are representative of systematic Navy-wide purchase card control weaknesses that have left Navy vulnerable to fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive use of purchase cards. Since the original report, the Navy has been taking actions to improve the purchase card control environment and improve cardholder adherence to key purchase card control procedures. The Navy has also taken more aggressive actions to identify fraudulent, improper, and abusive or questionable purchase card acquisitions."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Hazardous substances that leak from underground storage tanks can contaminate the soil and water and pose continuing health risks. Leaks of methyl tertiary butyl ether--a fuel additive--have forced several communities to close their wells. GAO surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine whether tanks are compliant with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) underground storage tank (UST) requirements. About 1.5 million tanks have been closed since the program was created, leaving about 693,000 tanks subject to UST requirements. Eighty-nine percent of these tanks had the required protective equipment installed, but nearly 30 percent of them were not properly operated and maintained. EPA estimates that the rest were inactive and empty. More than half of the states do not meet the minimum rate recommended by EPA for inspections. State officials said that they lacked the money, staff, and authority to conduct more inspections or more strongly enforce tank compliance. States reported that even tanks with the required leak prevention and detection equipment continue to leak, although the full extent of the problem is unknown. EPA is seeking better data on leaks from upgraded tanks and is …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Farm Credit Administration's (FCA) regulation of the Farm Credit System (System) to ensure compliance with its statutory mission to serve young, beginning, and small farmers (YBS). FCA has issued YBS-related policies and guidance, designed and implemented a YBS examination protocol, and examined institutions for compliance with YBS requirements. However, FCA has not promulgated regulations to define standards and clarify what constitutes an acceptable YBS program. GAO also found that FCA failed to follow examination procedures and document examination conclusions in the YBS program. Slightly more than half of the institutions in the System had a YBS program or service in place. Nearly one third had set numerical goals for YBS service, although most were not conducting demographic studies. Half had YBS marketing and outreach efforts in place, and most were coordinating their YBS offerings with federal, state, or other governmental or private credit sources."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent about $3.0 billion on its outpatient pharmacy benefit in fiscal year 2001. After VA implemented the Veterans' Health Care Eligibility Reform Act in 1999, more veterans could use VA outpatient care, including the pharmacy benefit, than before. Increased eligibility contributed to a doubling of the number of Priority 7 veterans using VA health care. Priority 7 veterans are primarily veterans with higher incomes and no service-connected disability. GAO was asked to report on Priority 7 veterans' use of the outpatient pharmacy benefit and VA's expenditures to provide this benefit. To do this, GAO reviewed VA pharmacy data on use and costs from fiscal years 1999 through 2001."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony addresses GAO's fiscal year 2001 performance and results, current challenges and future plans, and GAO's budget request for fiscal year 2003."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of the Navy's internal controls over the government travel card program. The Navy's average delinquency rate of 12 percent over the last 2 years is nearly identical to the Army's, which has the highest delinquency rate in the Department of Defense, and 6 percentage points higher than that of federal civilian agencies. The Navy's overall delinquency and charge-off problems, which have cost the Navy millions in lost rebates and higher fees, are primarily associated with lower-paid, enlisted military personnel. In addition, lack of management emphasis and oversight has resulted in management failure to promptly detect and address instances of potentially fraudulent and abusive activities related to the travel card program. During fiscal year 2001 and the first 6 months of fiscal year 2002, over 250 Navy personnel might have committed bank fraud by writing three or more nonsufficient fund checks to Bank of America, while many others abused the travel card program by failing to pay Bank of America charges or using the card for inappropriate transactions such as for prostitution and gambling. However, because Navy management was often not aware of these …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of population growth, resulting real estate development, and rising real estate values in hazard-prone areas, our nation is increasingly exposed to higher property casualty losses--both insured and uninsured--from natural catastrophes than in the past. In the 1990s, a series of natural disasters, including Hurricane Andrew and the Northridge earthquake, raised questions about the adequacy of the insurance industry's financial capacity to cover large catastrophes without limiting coverage or raising premiums. Recognizing this greater exposure and responding to concerns about insurance market capacity, participants in the insurance industry and capital markets have developed new capital market instruments as an alternative to traditional property-casualty reinsurance, or insurance for insurers. GAO's objectives were to (1) describe catastrophe risk and how the insurance and capital markets provide coverage against such risks; (2) describe how risk-linked securities, particularly catastrophe bonds, are structured; and (3) analyze how key regulatory, accounting, tax, and investor issues might affect the use of risk-linked securities."

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; Constitutionality of a ban on testimonials by health care professionals (RQ-0411-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; County's and school district's obligations vis-a-vis a juvenile justice alternative education program , and relted questions (RQ-0420-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;Authority of a home-rule city to create a civil offense for the disregard of a traffic control signal and to use automated enforcement systems for traffic control(RQ-0426-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 federally funded state protective and advocacy system for persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities may have access to a person and his or her records over the objection of the person's guardian (RQ-0427-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 Insurance Code article 3.70-3C, section 3A(c), (i) and article 20A.18B(c), (i) authorize the Texas Commissioner of Insurance to promulgate rules requiring health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations to disclose their policies regarding fees, bundling, and downcoding to physicians and other health care providers (RQ-0461-JC)

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) relied on its 11 coal-burning plants to supply 60 percent of its electric power in fiscal year 2001. These plants account for almost all of TVA's emissions of two key air pollutants--sulfur dioxide (SO2), which has been linked to reduced visibility, and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which contribute to the formation of harmful ozone. To meet an increase in demand of 1.7 percent annually through 2010, TVA estimates that it will need to expand its current generating capacity of 30,365 megawatts by 500 megawatts annually. Building new generating capacity can produce more emissions, which raises environment concerns. To lessen the need for new capacity, TVA and other electricity suppliers promote the efficient use of electricity through "demand-side management" programs, which seek to reduce the amount of energy consumed or to change the time of day when it is consumed. Even though TVA intends to increase its capacity to generate electricity through 2005, it also expects to reduce its SO2 and NOx emissions during the same time period, primarily by burning lower-sulfur coal, installing devices to control emissions at its existing plants, and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1970's, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped Bolivian and Peruvian growers of illicit crops find legal ways to earn a living. The experiences in Bolivia and Peru indicate that effective alternative development demands a strong host government commitment to a comprehensive array of counternarcotics measures and years of sustained U.S. assistance. Chief among the specific lessons for Colombia are that progress requires host government control of drug-growing areas and a political will to interdict drug trafficking and forcibly eradicate illicit crops as well as a carefully coordinated approach to these efforts. USAID began targeting Colombia's poppy-growing areas in 2000 and expanded its program to include coca-growing areas in 2001, but most activities will not begin in earnest until 2002. The experiences in Bolivia and Peru suggest that alternative development in Colombia will not be successful unless the Colombian government controls coca-growing areas, has the capacity to carry out sustained interdiction operations, and the ability to effectively coordinate eradication and alternative development activities."

This report briefly describes the budget sequestration process, including the ways in which a sequester could be avoided under the regular process, and then discusses in more detail various techniques that have been used since FY1991 to prevent a sequester by intervening in the regular process.