While the PI on a federal grant awarded a New York State agency
all of our conference travel were subject to the same controls as any
travel done with state agency funds.  We were even included in agency
"conference quotas" which limit how many individuals within the agency
attend a particular conference.  This policy was the result of previous
audit concerns and recommendations.  The only leaway we found was if we
had stated actual costs for a conference in the grant proposal budget
(prepared 3 or 4 years in advance) and the costs met our budget estimate.
These were almost always registration costs however, not room, board,
car rental, mileage, airfare, etc.  We even had to comply with New York's
policy of no lunch reimbursement even though at the time the federal
travel rules allowed it.

Barbara Nichols Randall
Siena College
515 Loudon Rd.
Loudonville, ny 12211
e-mail: xxxxxx@siena.bitnet