The General Services Administration (GSA) announced the daily Per Diem reimbursement rates for federal employees in FY2014. GSA sets per diem rates for locations in CONUS. These rates are the maximum amounts a federal employee can receive as reimbursement for allowable expenses while on official duty travel.
Per Diem rates in Standard areas in the Continental United States (CONUS) for lodging will be $83, up from $77 in FY2013, and rates for and meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) will remain unchanged at $46. The Standard area rate covers most of the continental CONUS counties.
The GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 14-01 states that Per Diem rates for lodging for the some 400 Non-Standard areas (NSAs) will vary depending on local conditions. The MIE rate for NSAs will to range from $46 to $71, unchanged from FY2013. All rates are effective on October 1, 2013.
There will be two new NSAs in FY2014: Big Spring, TX (Howard County), and Pearsall, TX (Frio, La Salle, and Medina counties).
GSA also announced changes for some locations in FY2014. Hershey, PA will become a separate NSA (from Harrisburg, PA), while Hendry County, FL will be included with the Palm Beach County, FL NSA. In addition, Pasco, WA (Franklin County) and Richland, WA (Benton County) will merge into a single NSA.
In addition, GSA listed twenty nine areas that will move from NSA rates to Standard rates in FY2014.
Anne Rung, Associate Administrator of Government-wide Policy, said in a GSA blog post that the Conference Lodging Allowance was eliminated. Canceling this allowance, which allowed federal employees to spend 25 percent above the per diem rate for conferences, will save $10 billion in FY2014, according to Rung.
