Legislation has been introduced in the Senate designed to cut down on travel costs, limit attendance and require online publication of all costs associated with conferences with the goal of reducing overall spending.
Introduced by Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and others, the bill would largely prohibit agencies from spending on travel for over 50 employees for any conference outside the U.S.; require agencies to post reports online itemizing conference costs and as well as an explanation and justification and other information; and prohibit agencies from spending more than 80 percent of their total conference expenditure of 2010 for the next four years.
The bill would cap spending on a single conference at $500,000, require OMB guidelines for what expenses constitute travel expenses for conferences, and prevent conferences at perceived resort or vacation destinations, among other restrictions.
