Federal Manager's Daily Report: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 FEDweek is the largest information resource in the federal government with now over one million weekly readers. To Subscribe, Go to http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm *********************************************************** Valuable Information for the Federal Family
Federal Job Search http://www.fedweek.com/Jobs/default.asp Job Bulletin Board http://www.fedweek.com/Jobs/default.asp Brand New Federal Manager's Daily Report--FREE Daily Electronic Briefing http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm ********************************************************** In This Week's Issue 1. GAO: Lack of Disciplined Process Puts HHS Financial System at Risk 2. Senate Approves DHS Financial Accountability Bill 3. Contractor to Manage Government Lodging Program ********************************************************** 1. GAO: Lack of Disciplined Process Puts HHS Financial System at Risk The Department of Health and Human Services lacks a "disciplined process" for implementing its unified financial management system, and it has not reduced associated risks to acceptable levels, the Government Accountability Office has said. It said HHS began replacing five outdated accounting systems in 2001 with the UFMS. However, according to GAO, "the problems that have been identified in such key areas as requirements management, including developing a concept of operations, testing, data conversion, systems interfaces, and risk management, compounded by incomplete IT management practices, information security weaknesses, and problematic human capital practices, significantly increase the risks that UFMS will not fully meet one or more of its cost, schedule, and performance objectives." HHS is scheduled to deploy the UFMS at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October 2004, but it lacks "sufficient quantitative measures for determining the impact of the many process weaknesses" GAO and others have identified to evaluate its project efforts, according to GAO-04-1008. The report called for well-defined requirements that could be traced from the beginning to assure the system would work as needed and that testing would root out defects before rolling out the entire system, and noted that HHS has little time in its schedule to correct those weaknesses and defects it does detect. HHS is at risk of "not achieving its goals of a common accounting system that produces data for management decision-making and financial reporting and risks perpetuating its long-standing accounting system weaknesses with substantial workarounds to address needed capabilities that have not been built into the system," said GAO. 2. Senate Approves DHS Financial Accountability Bill The Senate has passed final reform legislation bringing the Department of Homeland Security under the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, a measure aimed at increasing financial accountability in one of the government's largest agencies. Sponsored by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., S 1567 is a companion to a bill approved in the House in July -- H.R. 4259 -- sponsored by Rep. Todd R. Platts, R-Pa., and if signed by the president, would require DHS to submit audited financial statements to the Office of Management and Budget and Congress. It would also require the chief financial officer of DHS -- the only cabinet-level department not subject to the CFO act -- to be confirmed by the Senate and report directly to the agency head. 3. Contractor to Manage Government Lodging Program The General Services Administration has awarded a one-year, extendable contract to CW Government Travel Inc. to manage the federal premier lodging program. The award "plays an important role in the development of One-GSA-Travel,according to Tim Burke, GSA's eTravel Program Manager. GSA said contracting the program is consistent with a July 2003 government per diem advisory board recommendation to manage and market FPLP with an industry partner. A GSA and CWGT team will manage the transition, and CWGT will be expected to increase the number of hotels available through the program to federal travelers. Currently FPLP includes hotels in 90 cites that guarantee rooms. The FPLP program coordinator, Rick Freda, called the award a "logical step for such a successful government program," adding that GSA would oversee the "hospitality management company." More information on the program can be found here: www.gsa.gov/fplp. FEDweek 11541 Nuckols Rd. Suite D Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 288-5321 Website: http://www.fedweek.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are subscribed to federalmanagersdailyreport as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
