SBA: Investigation of an SBA Employee's Travel (Correspondence,
12/21/2000, GAO/GAO-01-274R).
From October 1998 through August 2000, the Small Business
Administration's (SBA) Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications
made 50 trips at a total cost to the government of $58,840. At least 39
of these trips were made in conjunction with trips by the SBA
Administrator. Of the remaining 11 trips, the travel vouchers and
authorizations for eight contained no reference to the Administrator and
the other three were to attend training sessions.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-01-274R
TITLE: SBA: Investigation of an SBA Employee's Travel
DATE: 12/21/2000
SUBJECT: Travel
Federal employees
Travel costs
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GAO-01-274R
An SBA Employee's Travel
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
December 21, 2000 The Honorable Christopher S. Bond Chairman Committee on
Small Business United States Senate
Subject: SBA: Investigation of an SBA Employee's Travel Dear Mr. Chairman:
As requested, enclosed with this letter is a copy of a briefing that we gave
to your staff on November 21, 2000. At that time, we briefed your office on
our investigative findings concerning travel by the Deputy Associate
Administrator for Communications at the Small Business Administration (SBA).
This included determinations of the official's travel costs for fiscal years
1999 and 2000 and of the tasks undertaken by this official while in travel
status.
To make these determinations, we interviewed the SBA Chief of Staff, Deputy
Chief of Staff/ White House Liaison, Associate Administrator for
Communications and Public Liaison, and Deputy Associate Administrator for
Communications. We also reviewed travel vouchers, authorizations, and
itineraries for the Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications and
the SBA Administrator for fiscal year 1999 and the first 11 months of fiscal
year 2000. 1 We conducted our investigation, in response to your October 13,
2000, request, from October to November 2000 in accordance with
investigative standards established by the President's Council on Integrity
and Efficiency.
In brief, from October 1, 1998, through August 31, 2000, SBA's Deputy
Associate Administrator for Communications made 50 trips at a total cost to
the government of approximately $58,840. He made at least 39 of these trips
in conjunction with trips by the SBA Administrator. Of the remaining 11
trips, the travel vouchers and authorizations for 8 contained no reference
to the Administrator; and the other 3 were to attend training sessions.
According to SBA's Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff, when the Deputy
Associate Administrator for Communications travels with the Administrator
his role includes speech review/ rewrite and coordinating press activities,
such as interviews and media contacts. Prior to and during a trip, he and
other SBA employees do whatever needs to be done in or outside their
assigned roles, including “advance” work, to accomplish the
trip's mission.
1 Travel vouchers for September 2000 were unavailable at the time of our
request.
GAO- 01- 274R An SBA Employee's Travel Page 2 ----
We are sending copies of this letter to interested congressional committees.
The letter will also be available on the GAO home page at www. gao. gov. If
you have any questions, please contact Assistant Director William Hamel at
(202) 512- 6722. Senior Special Agents Mary Balberchak and Andrew O'Connell
made significant contributions to this case.
Sincerely yours, Robert H. Hast Managing Director Office of Special
Investigations
Enclosure
Enclosure I GAO- 01- 274R An SBA Employee's Travel Page 3
BRIEFING PAPER Investigation of an SBA Employee's Travel
For the Senate Committee on Small Business
� QUESTIONS
What was the cost of travel for the Deputy Associate Administrator/
Communications for FY 1999 and FY 2000?
What tasks did the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications undertake
while in travel status?
� FINDINGS
Cost and Number of Trips
� The travel vouchers for the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications
for FY 1999 and the first 11 months of FY 2000 show the following:
FY 1999 and FY 2000 (first 11 months) Total amount/ number
Amount claimed $60,436.97 a Amount paid $58,840.51 Trips 50 b Trips with the
Administrator 39 minimum c
a The combined totals of $29,120.43 for FY 1999 and $31,316.54 for FY 2000.
b Includes one trip for which no travel voucher was filed. c The other 11
vouchers for the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications
reflect that he was attending training (3 trips), or they do not make
reference to the Administrator (8 trips). In addition, no corresponding
travel vouchers for the Administrator for these 11 trips were available to
us.
� In most cases- 25 trips, the Deputy Associate Administrator/
Communications arrived at the travel destination on the same day or up to 2
days prior to the Administrator's arrival. In two instances, he arrived 3
and 4 days, respectively before the Administrator. (See table below.) For
the remainder of the 39 trips, we do not have the vouchers for both the
Administrator and the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications and
cannot determine whether the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications
arrived prior to the Administrator.
Enclosure I GAO- 01- 274R An SBA Employee's Travel Page 4
Arrival at destination in relationship to arrival of SBA Administrator Of
the 27
determinable trips
Same day 6 trips 1 day before 10 trips 2 days before 9 trips 3 days before 1
trip
(Cairo, Egypt) 4 days before 1 trip
(Guadalajara, Mexico)
� Of the 36 travel vouchers and attached itineraries that we reviewed for
the SBA Administrator, encompassing October 1, 1998, through August 31,
2000, it appears that the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications
traveled with the Administrator on all but 7 trips.
Tasks When Preparing for and During Trips
� According to SBA officials we interviewed, the Deputy Associate
Administrator/ Communications accompanies the Administrator on most trips
that involve a communications component. The decision on whether or not he
will travel is generally made collectively by the Administrator, the Chief
of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Associate Administrator/
Communications, and the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications. The
decision is based on the level of priority for media, the theme of the trip,
the workload, and the availability of appropriate public affairs personnel
and resources at the travel destination. The Deputy Associate Administrator/
Communications is usually notified of his assignment by either the Associate
Administrator/ Communications or the Deputy Chief of Staff.
� There are 70 SBA district offices and 10 full- time public information
officers at the district level. Other public information officers at the
district level have collateral duties and a wide range of experience among
them.
� According to the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications, for each
trip, the communications department in Washington, DC, starts making
telephone calls to local field offices/ district offices directing staff
there to reach out to the local media for the event. The Deputy Associate
Administrator/ Communications tries to be on site at least 1 day prior to
the event to evaluate what the field personnel have done, to coordinate with
news media, and to make sure the necessary media is in place. According to
the Associate Administrator/ Communications, the Deputy Associate
Enclosure I GAO- 01- 274R An SBA Employee's Travel Page 5 Administrator/
Communications is “self- directed” and makes decisions about
what needs to be done once he is on- site. The Deputy Chief of Staff stated
that when the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications travels with
the Administrator, his role includes press coverage, speech review and
rework, and arranging interviews and media contacts.
� According to the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff, the SBA does
not have an “Advance Team” such as that used for the President
and the Vice President of the United States. On occasion, someone, such as
the Deputy Associate Administrator/ Communications, will
“advance” a trip because it is his job to coordinate press
activities. Because SBA is a small agency, employees “wear many
hats” on trips and may double up on duties when necessary to
accomplish the trip's mission. The Deputy Chief of Staff stated, “We
all do advance [work].” She explained that whoever is on- site does
whatever they have to do to get the job done, including some activities that
may not be part of their assigned role but need to be addressed. The Deputy
Associate Administrator/ Communications stated that he may, on occasion, do
other things, such as getting the hotel keys in advance for the
Administrator and accompanying SBA personnel and meeting the Administrator
at the door when she arrives. However, he said that these tasks are done as
a courtesy only and are neither required nor expected of him.
� The Administrator's staff/ scheduling personnel, not the Deputy Associate
Administrator/ Communications, make the Administrator's hotel and
transportation reservations.
� Setting up hair and makeup appointments for the Administrator, for
example, for the taping of communications videos if the taping crew does not
provide such services, is standard operating procedure for the Office of
Communications.
(600793)
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