Reading Room Document

Use of General Agency Appropriations to Purchase Employee Business Cards

Nothing in the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 expressly provides for, or prohibits, the expenditure of appropriations of the General Services Administration for the purchase of employee business cards. In the absence of a contrary provision or limitation in its appropriations act or other applicable legislation, GSA may lawfully obligate a general or lump-sum appropriation for the purchase of business cards for suitable mission-related use by GSA employees. Depending upon the particular purpose for which they are to be used, GSA's purchases of business cards for its employees may be chargeable either to its limited appropriation for "reception and recreation expenses" or to its general appropriation. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/19771/download.

August 11, 1997