Justification For A Nonmaterial/nonsubstantive Change

U. S. Office of Government Ethics

Justification for a Nonmaterial/Nonsubstantive Change

Oge Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel

Public Financial Disclosure Report

January 2018

In January, 2018, the Office of Management and Budget reviewed and approved a three-year extension under the Paperwork Reduction Act of the OGE Form 278e Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report. In May, 2017, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued final rule amendments that revise the executive branch financial disclosure regulation at 5 C.F.R. §§ 2634.304 and 2634.907(g) to reflect the retroactive increase, applicable as of January 1, 2017, of the threshold for reporting of gifts, reimbursements and travel expenses for both the public and confidential report systems. See 82 Fed. Reg. 22,735 (May 18, 2017). The Ethics in Government Act and OGE regulations tie these increases to the increase in January, 2017 by the General Services Administration of “minimal value” for purposes of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act to $390 for the three-year period 2017-2019. See Gen. Servs. Admin., FMR B-41, Foreign Gift and Decoration Minimal Value (2017). The new aggregation threshold for the reporting of gifts and reimbursements received from any one source on financial disclosure reports is “more than $390”; items worth “$156 or less” do not need to be counted towards that overall threshold.

These reporting threshold values are indicated on the OGE Form 278e in the instructions to Part 9: Gifts and Travel Reimbursements. OGE proposes to update these threshold values from “$150” and “$375” to “$156” and “$390,” respectively. These changes to the OGE Form 278e have no material effect on the burden to filers; rather, the changes simply update the form to provide the correct information to filers regarding the currently-applicable aggregation threshold for reporting gifts and travel reimbursements.

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