OGE said it is not mandating that agencies use Integrity in calendar year 2015 and that each agency may decide whether to require its public filers to use it this year.
“Agencies have sole and exclusive authority to determine the means by which their employees must file their public financial disclosure reports,” the guidance says. “Accordingly, an agency that decides to use Integrity in calendar year 2015 may direct either all of its public filers or subsets of its public filers to file their reports through Integrity. Likewise, an agency may direct its public filers to file either all types of public reports or only certain types of public reports (e.g., new entrant reports, periodic transaction reports, etc.) through Integrity in calendar year 2015.”
Effective in 2016, OGE will use Integrity to collect public reports of those Senate-confirmed appointees whose reports are submitted to OGE. OGE is finalizing a processing sequence in Integrity for presidential nominees whose public reports are submitted to OGE and is coordinating with employing agencies regarding those reports, it said.
“As of this time, OGE has not made a determination that other public financial disclosure reports must be filed through Integrity in calendar year 2016; however, executive branch agencies are strongly encouraged to use Integrity for all other public financial disclosure reports,” OGE said in Program Management Advisory 15-01.