S. 1616 would increase oversight of federal agencies’ use of purchase and travel cards. The legislation would establish an Office of Federal Charge Card Analytics and Review within the Government Services Administration (GSA) to examine purchases made using federal charge cards. Under S. 1616, GSA also would establish an interagency task force to facilitate the sharing of information and to promote best practices to reduce fraud and improper payments. Finally, S. 1616 would require GSA to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of those efforts.
Based on information from GSA regarding the current government charge card program, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1616 would cost $65 million over the 2016-2020 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting S. 1616 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
S. 1616 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
