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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Transportation Code section 502.010 and the reconciliation of Senate Bill 1386 and House Bill 2357 from the Eighty-second Legislature (RQ-1101-GA).

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document is an E-supplement to GAO-10-390. The 2000 elections in Maine and Arizona were the first in the nation's history where candidates seeking state legislative seats had the option to fully fund their campaigns with public moneys. In 2003, GAO reviewed the public financing programs in Maine and Arizona and found the programs' goals were to (1) increase electoral competition; (2) increase voter choice; (3) curb increases in campaign costs; (4) reduce interest group influence; and (5) increase voter participation. GAO reported that while the number of candidates who participated in the programs increased from 2000 to 2002, it was too soon to determine the extent to which these five goals of the programs were being met. Senate Report 110-129 directed GAO to update its 2003 report. This report: (1) provides data on candidate participation and (2) describes changes in five goals of Maine's and Arizona's programs in the 2000 through 2008 elections and the extent to which changes could be attributed to the programs. To address its objectives, GAO analyzed available data about candidate participation, election outcomes, and campaign spending for the 1996 through …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The military exchange services purchase alcoholic beverages for resale on military installations as part of their mission to provide quality goods and services at competitive low prices to their customers--primarily military service members and their families. The revenue generated from the retail sale of products, including alcoholic beverages, supports most of the operating costs of the exchanges and military package stores as well as Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs. Such programs generally provide for the physical, cultural, and social needs of service members and their families, and include fitness centers, child development services, libraries, and recreation centers. As primarily self-supporting enterprises, military exchanges and package stores are funded predominantly with nonappropriated funds, such as cash and other assets generated through business operations and sales to Department of Defense (DOD) authorized patrons, but certain administrative and support costs of the exchanges are paid by DOD using appropriated funds. In Guam, the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) operates exchange activities on Naval Base Guam and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) operates exchange activities on Andersen Air Force Base. Section 652 of the National Defense Authorization Act for …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to Congress' request for information on federal funds provided for fiscal years 2002 through 2009 to selected organizations involved in health-related activities and their affiliates: Advocates for Youth, the Guttmacher Institute, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Population Council, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Specifically, Congress requested that GAO identify the amount of federal funds provided to the selected organizations and their affiliates for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2009 and the sources of these federal funds (for example, family planning grants authorized under Title X of the Public Health Service Act). Congress also asked us to provide information on expenditures of federal funds reported by these organizations and their affiliates. For this report, GAO identified (1) reported obligations and disbursements of federal funds that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided directly to the selected organizations and their affiliates, and (2) expenditures of federal funds reported by organizations and their affiliates in instances in which an organization or an affiliate …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report is in response to section 352 of Public Law 111-84, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The statute requires the Comptroller General to conduct an assessment of the ground combat uniforms and camouflage utility uniforms currently in use in the Department of Defense and provide the results to the congressional defense committees not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the act."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The President's budget request for the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Health Program has increased steadily in recent years. For example, from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2009, the budget request for the program increased from about $17.6 billion to about $23.6 billion, an increase of about 34 percent. DOD has attributed a majority of this increase to growth in medical care, dental care, and pharmaceuticals provided in the private sector to active duty personnel and other eligible beneficiaries. These private sector expenses are funded through the Defense Health Program's Private Sector Care Budget Activity Group (BAG). From fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2009, the budget request for this BAG increased by about 36 percent--from about $9.0 billion to almost $12.2 billion. The Conference Report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations bill directed us to review the President's fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Defense Health Program's Private Sector Care BAG. To do this, we reviewed (1) DOD's justification for the request for the Private Sector Care BAG, including the underlying estimates and the extent to which DOD considered historical information; and …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003 and 2002. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application computer controls over key BPD financial systems."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A quality assurance program is required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to ensure that the Department of Energy (DOE) can safely construct and operate a high-level radioactive waste repository. DOE is currently preparing an application to NRC for authorization to construct the repository. The quality assurance program includes procedures to assure NRC that the information DOE provides is verifiable and well documented. DOE will use the results of a computer simulation to demonstrate that the repository can be safely operated over the 10,000-year period required by the Environmental Protection Agency's health and safety standards. This testimony is based on ongoing and published GAO work. The testimony provides the history of DOE's actions to correct quality assurance problems, the status of DOE's efforts to improve the quality assurance program, and preliminary observations on the effect of quality assurance problems on DOE's ability to successfully meet its 2004 milestone for submitting an application to NRC requesting authorization to construct the repository."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its audit for year 2001, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General found that $12.1 billion was improperly paid to Medicare providers. GAO's February report (GAO-02-249) showed that physicians often do not receive complete, accurate, clear, or timely guidance on Medicare billing and payment policies. At the carriers studied, GAO found significant shortcomings in printed material, web sites, and telephone help lines used to provide information and respond to physicians' questions. GAO concluded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) needed to initiate a more centralized and coordinated approach and provide technical assistance to carriers to improve provider communications. In fiscal year 2001, CMS revised its policy on conducting medical reviews. The policy directs carriers to differentiate among levels of billing problems and tailor corrective actions accordingly. As a result of this and other medical review modifications, the highest overpayment amounts assessed a physician practice by a carrier dropped substantially."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the Department of the Treasury's decision to change the calculation of the interest rates used since 1980 to determine the investment returns for a number of government trust funds, including Social Security and Medicare, focusing on: (1) how and why Treasury changed its rules for calculating interest rates in 1980 and 1998; (2) the effects of these changes on the unified budget and on the financial status of Social Security and Medicare trust funds; and (3) what other trust funds were affected by Treasury's decision."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal programs created to address the needs of at-risk and delinquent youths, focusing on: (1) identifying at-risk and delinquent youth programs that included mentoring as a type of service; (2) who administers the programs; (3) the objectives of the programs; and (4) the authorizing legislation for the programs."

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether article 6252-9b, section 7A(a), V.T.C.S., prohibits a former member of the Polygraph Examniers Board from appearing before the board in connection with sponsoring a polygraph intern (RQ-362)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Harris County Bail Bond Board is authorized to issue more than one bail bond license to a corporate surety, and related questions (RQ-463)

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Constitutionality of procedures employed by state universities in offering religion and biblical studies courses

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Applicability of the out-of-state bidder provisions of article 601g, V.T.C.S., to an Arkansas statute which gives preference to certain bidders on highway construction projects

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department under section 31.073 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, the Water Safety Act, to issue citations to persons using sailboards

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether interest on constitutionally dedicated funds may be diverted to general revenue by statute or by appropriations act rider

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether contributions to F.I.C.A. under article 695h, V.T.C.S., constitute a salary supplement to a county court-at-law judge

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, Mark White, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether insurance contracts purchased by school districts must be let on competitive bids

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, Mark White, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether cities may invest their funds in United States Treasury Bills and Notes instead of city depositories

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, Mark White, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Procedure in assessing costs in the Crime Victims Compensation Act, article 8309-1, V.T.C.S.

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, Mark White, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Constitutionality and interpretation of article 6701d, section 143A, V.T.C.S., regarding dismissal of charges on completion of a defensive driving course.

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 L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a city may contract with a private organization to restore and maintain an historic home.

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 L. Hill, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a natural gas pipeline is a common carrier subject to Railroad Commission regulation.