Highlights
CPE
Opportunities
PMC Early Registration
Deadline Extended
Be sure to get your registration to AGA before
Friday, October 28. After that date, fees will increase to $425 for AGA
members and $470 for nonmembers. You can register
online or print the
registration form to send by fax or mail.
AGA’s PMC, set for November
14-15, 2005, will feature presentations by state and local government
officials who have been recognized for preparing top-quality Service
Efforts & Accomplishments (SEA) Reports. Click here to
view the conference program.
AGA Hurricane Relief Effort Tops $13,000
Click here to learn how you can donate and to view
the list of contributors.
Audio
Conference: Debt Collection and Interception of Federal Payments
NASACT, in
conjunction with AGA and N.A.L.G.A., has set its latest audio
conference for Wednesday, October 26. It will cover the federal offset
process currently used by states to collect delinquent child support
and state income tax obligations. By intercepting debtors' federal
income tax refunds and other federal payments, the U.S. Department of
the Treasury collects over $1.5 billion for states each year. The audio
conference will also cover future initiatives to expand the use of the
offset of federal non-tax payments to collect new types of debt owed to
states. Click
here to register.
Interested in the CGFM
Certification?
Sign up for AGA's special Intensive Review Course and
take the CGFM Examinations this February in Washington, D.C. Don't miss
this opportunity to earn your CGFM! Click here for
more information.
AGA Advertising
Opportunities!
Advertise in AGA's electronic
newsletters—TOPICS and AGA Today! Get maximum
exposure and build your brand. Click here for all the
information you need to run your ad! Or, you can contact
AGA's Director of Communications, Marie
Force.
Call for National Awards Nominations
Due Friday, October 28,
2005
The nominations deadline is quickly approacing for Federal
Leadership Awards, State and Local Leadership Awards and Private Sector
Leadership Awards.
* Nominees do not have to be AGA members.
These awards will be presented
at
AGA’s Fourth Annual National Leadership Conference on
February 2-3, 2006 in Washington, D.C. Click here to find out
more about the awards and the nomination process. |
October 24, 2005
• News from the Profession
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA
Corporate Partner Clifton Gunderson
 Clifton Gunderson's DC office is looking for
experienced professionals to join our public sector practice. The ideal
candidate will have 5+ yrs of Public Accounting or equivalent audit
experience along with your BA/BS in Accounting and CPA or CGFM. Duties
will include audits of Federal entities, State & Local audits
(GASB), A-133 audits, and compliance auditing. To apply please e-mail
Jennifer.Busse@cliftoncpa.com
Labor CFO: ‘Getting to
Green’ Just the Beginning
U.S. Department of Labor CFO Samuel T.
Mok, CGFM, believes that ‘getting to green’ is a
“continuous journey, not a race to the finish line.” Labor
recently became the first to achieve the most ‘green’
scorecard ratings on the President’s Management Agenda, which
guides federal agencies as they become more efficient and effective
with the goal of transforming the way government does business. The
‘green’ rating means the agency has met all the standards
for success under the most recent traffic-light style scorecard
developed for 26 major agencies by the U.S. Office of Management and
Budget (OMB). OMB has issued evaluations every quarter for three
years on budget and performance integration, competitive sourcing,
e-government, financial performance and human capital management.
Getting green lights across the board is no small
accomplishment—it meant major changes in how Labor’s 17,000
employees operated on a day-to-day basis. Success took time, commitment
from top to bottom, and leadership that made better management a top
priority. The result is improved performance and hefty cost-savings.
OMB now calls Labor ”the government leader in implementation of
the President’s Management Agenda.” —Christina
Camara, AGA. Click here to read the entire article.
States Protest
Contributions to Drug Plan
The Bush administration notified states last Monday that they
would have to pay billions of dollars to the federal government next
year to help finance the new prescription drug benefit for people on
Medicare. Administration officials said the 2003 Medicare law required
them to charge the states, in exchange for taking over the states'
Medicaid drug costs. But state officials immediately took issue with
the calculations, saying federal officials had overstated the amounts
owed by some states. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the
required state contributions will total $6 billion in the current
fiscal year and $124 billion from 2006 to 2015. Some states, including
Texas, are openly resisting the requirement for such payments. But
federal officials said that if states did not comply, the money could
be deducted from federal payments to the states for other programs like
Medicaid. One purpose of the 2003 Medicare law was to relieve states of
prescription drug costs for low-income Medicare recipients. But as
states do the arithmetic, many have concluded that they will lose money
because they must give back most of the savings. —Robert Pear,
The New York Times. Click here to read the entire article.
Successors for
Retiring
Government Managers Scarce
Hundreds of public agencies in California and other states will
soon face a shortage of senior managers because they have not
identified future executives and moved them through "a leadership
pipeline," a new study warns. Struggling with tight budgets,
hiring freezes and outsourcing, government agencies have failed to
groom the leaders needed to replace thousands of baby-boomer managers
retiring through 2010, said the study by Sacramento-based CPS Human
Resource Services. "The majority of managers and leaders will be
retirement eligible within the next five years, if not already,"
according to the study by researcher Mary B. Young. "Their
inevitable departure creates a new urgency to develop potential
successors, often on a faster track and with a shorter learning curve
than ever before.” She and other CPS officials interviewed
officials employed by 35 different governments before choosing 15 of
them for case studies, including the cities of Roseville and Anaheim
and the states of Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Michigan and New York.
Young's study found that experienced public sector management talent is
scarce, and governmental middle-management ranks have thinned at the
very time mass retirements are coming. She concludes that public
agencies need to ramp up efforts to prepare the next generation of
managers for top executive jobs before they have a full-blown crisis on
their hands. The CPS Human Resources study and case studies are available online to public and
nonprofit agencies. Click on the "Leadership Pipeline" link.
—Andrew McIntosh, The Sacramento Bee. Click here to read the entire article.
Federal Accounting
Corner
Reimbursement Surpluses and Shortfalls
Whether authorized by a revolving fund or the Economy Act,
reimbursable activity is becoming more common in the federal
government. Reimbursements should include all associated costs, but
figuring those costs and funding them up front can be problematic.
—Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA. Click here to read the entire column.
Getting Ahead:
Climbing the Government Ladder
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson says
that crisis moments like Hurricane Katrina or September 11 can offer
proving grounds for those looking to work their way up the ladder in
the federal government. "In those kinds of situations, people in
my position look to who's volunteering to help," said Johnson, who
took the helm in May after starting at the agency as a health scientist
25 years ago. "Who's volunteering to sacrifice and sleep on a cot
in a conference room and to walk three blocks to get a shower
occasionally?" As Johnson stresses, the truisms about getting
ahead in Washington apply to federal agencies: You have to work hard,
know your stuff, and always seek ways to take on new tasks that broaden
your skills. But in this Washington realm, the people who ultimately go
the farthest aren't just the best wonks and most dedicated civil
servants. Climbers at federal agencies tend to be the people who
successfully navigate the tricky terrain where political appointees and
institutional career officials collaborate on policy-making.
—Mark Kukis, National Journal. Click here to read the entire
article.
18,000 Louisiana Job
Cuts Possible
Public health care, education and more than 18,000 state jobs
are
on the chopping block because of the blow the hurricanes dealt to
Louisiana's economy. The storms affected a third of the state's revenue
sources, punching a sizable hole in state government's $18.7 billion
operating budget. The loss in state revenue is expected to be at least
$1.5 billion. The loss will deepen as the state collects less money
from fees, such as driver's licenses and college tuition. "We have
a state government to manage," Commissioner of Administration
Jerry Luke LeBlanc told the Joint Committee on the Budget recently.
"It is in trouble, and we have some tough decisions ahead of
us." Most state departments are expected to be cut 20.5 percent,
with the Department of Health and Hospitals and higher education taking
even bigger hits. An alternative to cutting back specific programs
would be direct, massive layoffs. Reducing 21 percent of the state work
force would save $889 million. —Michelle Millhollon, The
Advocate. Click here to read the entire article.
Michigan Urges Local
Governments to Share Resources
Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has announced a plan to
encourage collaboration and resource sharing among local governments.
The Centers for Regional Excellence program will help communities work
together to share services, agencies, equipment and employees in order
to streamline government and save taxpayer money. Granholm said that
the state is seeking proposals from community partnerships interested
in obtaining a "Center of Excellence" designation and grants
of up to $25,000 over two years. Granholm pointed to examples of
neighboring communities sharing public safety dispatch, transportation
authorities and payroll systems as examples of ways that local
governments are spending taxpayer dollars more effectively through
collaboration. —Government Technology. Click here to read
the entire article.
Click here to read AGA's recently released
research paper on collaboration at the federal level, Financial Management Shared Services:
A Guide for Federal Users.
GASB’s 2005
Comprehensive Implementation Guide
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued the
2005 update to its Comprehensive Implementation Guide. The
guide is a compilation of stand-alone Implementation Guides issued
through June 30, 2005. It includes questions and answers related to
guides addressing the following issues, updated for the effects of
subsequently issued pronouncements through Statement No. 46, Net
Assets Restricted by Enabling Legislation:
- Statement 3 on Deposits with Financial Institutions,
Investments (including Repurchase Agreements), and Reverse Repurchase
Agreements
- Statement 9 on Reporting Cash Flows of Proprietary and
Nonexpendable Trust Funds and Governmental Entities That Use
Proprietary Fund Accounting
- Statement 10 on Accounting and Financial Reporting for
Risk Financing and Related Insurance Issues
- Statement 14 on The Financial Reporting
Entity
- Statements 25, 26, and 27 on Pension Reporting and
Disclosure by State and Local Government Plans and Employers
- Statement 31 on Accounting and Financial Reporting for
Certain Investments and for External Investment Pools
- Statement 34 on Basic Financial Statements—and
Management’s Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local
Governments, and related pronouncements
- Statement 40 on Deposit and Investment Risk
Disclosures.
The 2005 Comprehensive Implementation
Guide also includes questions related to certain GASB
pronouncements that are not the subject of stand-alone guides issued
after June 30, 2005. Ordering information is available by clicking here or by calling
800.748.0659.
Call for Nominations for AGA’s National and
Regional Leaders
Deadline: Friday, October 28, 2005
If you're interested in shaping Association
programs, advancing your profession, and representing members’
interests in the government accountability community then submit your
nomination TODAY for these National Board of Directors positions:
• National President-Elect
• National Treasurer-Elect
• Senior Vice President for Regional Services - Section I and
IV
• Regional Vice Presidents-Elect
Contact Rosanna Ortiz for more
information.
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