[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 457 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 457

To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue 
       guidance for, and provide oversight of, the management of 
micropurchases made with Governmentwide commercial purchase cards, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 18, 2005

  Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. Feingold) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue 
       guidance for, and provide oversight of, the management of 
micropurchases made with Governmentwide commercial purchase cards, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Purchase Card Waste Elimination Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR GUIDANCE.

    (a) Office of Management and Budget Policy Guidance.--Not later 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue guidelines to assist 
the heads of executive agencies in improving the management of the use 
of the Governmentwide commercial purchase card for making 
micropurchases. The Director shall include guidelines on the following 
matters:
            (1) Analysis of purchase card expenditures to identify 
        opportunities for achieving savings through micropurchases made 
        in economical volumes.
            (2) Negotiation of discount agreements with major vendors 
        accepting the purchase card.
            (3) Establishment of communication programs to ensure that 
        purchase card holders receive information pertaining to the 
        availability of discounts, including programs for the training 
        of purchase card holders on the availability of discounts.
            (4) Assessment of cardholder purchasing practices.
            (5) Collection and dissemination of best practices and 
        successful strategies for achieving savings in micropurchases.
    (b) General Services Administration.--The Administrator of General 
Services shall direct the purchase card program manager of the General 
Services Administration--
            (1) to continue efforts to improve reporting by financial 
        institutions that issue the Governmentwide commercial purchase 
        card so that the General Services Administration has the data 
        needed to identify opportunities for achieving savings; and
            (2) to ensure that the acquisition center contracting 
        officers of the General Services Administration actively pursue 
        point-of-sale discounts with major vendors accepting the 
        purchase card so that any Federal Government purchaser using 
        the purchase card can benefit from such point-of-sale 
        discounts.
    (c) Agency Reporting Requirement.--The purchase card program 
manager for each executive agency shall, as directed by the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget, submit to the Director periodic 
reports on the actions taken in such executive agency pursuant to the 
guidelines issued under subsection (a).
    (d) Congressional Oversight.--Not later than December 31 of the 
year following the year in which this Act is enacted, and December 31 
of each of the ensuing three years, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives a report summarizing 
the progress made during the fiscal year ending in the year in which 
such report is due--
            (1) in improving the management of the use of the 
        Governmentwide commercial purchase card for making 
        micropurchases; and
            (2) in achieving savings in micropurchases made with such 
        card, expressed in terms of savings achieved by each executive 
        agency and the total savings achieved Governmentwide.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement 
        Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403).
            (2) The term ``micropurchase'' means a purchase in an 
        amount not in excess of the micropurchase threshold, as defined 
        in section 32 of such Act (41 U.S.C. 428).
                                 <all>