GSA Releases FY2015 Per Diem Rates for Federal Travelers
They will take effect Oct. 1, 2014, when the government’s new fiscal year begins.
The U.S. General Services Administration on Aug. 15 released the fiscal year 2015 travel per diem rates for federal employees. They'll take effect Oct. 1, 2014, when the federal government's new fiscal year begins. GSA sets the rates each year for travel in the continental United States, basing them on local market costs of mid-priced hotels. They're the maximum amount that can be reimbursed to federal employees for lodging and meals while they are on official travel.
The federal Office of Management and Budget has directed agencies to reduce their travel costs by 30 percent; GSA noted this has had a significant impact on travel spending, which has fallen from nearly $17 billion in FY2010 to less than $12 billion in FY2013.
Christine Harada, GSA's associate administrator of Government-wide Policy, reported that the agency's Governmentwide Travel Advisory Committee reviewed existing travel policies, processes, and procedures for federal government travelers and provided suggestions on ways the government can save money on other aspects of travel spending. This committee, made up of travel managers, travel industry representatives, and federal travel experts, will present its final recommendations to the GSA administrator at the end of calendar year 2014, she wrote in post on the agency’s homepage.