Reps. James Moran, D-Va., and Frank Wolf, R-Va., just reintroduced a bill that would allow employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System to count unused sick leave as time toward their annuities. The sponsors of the FERS Sick Leave Equity Act, which has not yet been assigned a number, say it will save the government $68 million per year by cutting down on employees’ lost productivity. Because FERS employees currently lose all of their sick leave credit when they leave the government, Moran said many start to suffer from the so-called “FERS flu” as they near retirement: FERS’ use it or lose it system for…
Monthly Archives: February, 2009
We bring you House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s take on the new $1.5 trillion financial rescue program unveiled today by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. “What an era in which we live where a serious question can be asked whether $1.5 trillion is enough,” he said Tuesday after a reporter asked if $1.5 trillion would solve our economic woes.
Senate Democratic leadership has announced who will be serving on the conference committee to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran, R-Miss. Both Finance and Appropriations were heavily involved in the creation of the Senate version, with each committee holding markups on their portions. And for the House: Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Energy and…
The Federal Aviation Administration notified 45,000 employees and retirees yesterday that files containing their personal data were hacked and their information was electronically stolen. The hacker breached 48 FAA files, two of which contained the personal information. Only employees on the payroll as of the first week of February 2006 are affected. Those individuals will be notified by letter and law enforcement has been notified, FAA said. In a statement FAA said: The FAA is moving quickly to prevent any similar incidents and has identified immediate steps as well as longer-term measures to further protect personal information. The agency is…
The Senate approved its $838 billion stimulus bill by a vote of 61-37 at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. Three Republicans voted for HR 1: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Check Federal Times shortly for a full story about the bill, as well as a breakdown of spending projects allocated for federal agencies.
Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner just unveiled the Obama administration’s plan to revise the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the financial system bailout. We’re calling it “TARP 2.0.” A few of the highlights that impact federal agencies: The Treasury Department will “stress-test” banks. Presumably this is to ensure that banks receiving money through TARP 2.0 are actually solvent. There’s serious concern that many of the largest banks in America are insolvent. Treasury and the Federal Reserve will create a “bad bank” to buy toxic securities with a mix of public and private capital. The government will guarantee a larger percentage of Small…
We reported yesterday that President Barack Obama planned to order a 60-day review of national cybersecurity policy. The president officially made that announcement last night, just before his prime-time press conference. Melissa Hathaway, currently the top cybersecurity official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will lead the review; she’s expected to become the nation’s first “cyber czar” after the review is complete. The White House’s full announcement is after the jump.
The Senate voted 61-36 Monday to invoke cloture on the Collins-Nelson amendment, setting up a vote Tuesday on the full $827 billion stimulus package. The cloture vote ends debate on the Collins-Nelson amendment, a compromise amendment that cut more than $120 billion from the stimulus package to ensure enough Republican votes for passage. The Monday cloture vote is a strong indicator of what Tuesday’s vote will look like. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will likely vote on the stimulus at noon Tuesday and will then vote on presidential nominees later in the afternoon. After Tuesday’s vote, the…
The Government Accountability Office is warning the Transportation Security Administration that the agency’s 2007 study on the efficiency and effectiveness of private screeners doesn’t tell the whole story. In 2007, TSA studied the cost, wait time in security lines, customer satisfaction, threat detection capabilities and recertification test passage rates of private security screeners at six of the nation’s airports and compared the results to federal screeners. A newly released GAO report reviews a TSA assessment of cost savings and performance of private screeners and found the agency didn’t account for all costs in its study, which found private screeners were equal to…
The Council for Excellence in Government, a nonprofit group that advocates for improving the government, announced today that it is shutting down on Feb. 15. Most of the Council’s programs and staff will be absorbed into the Partnership for Public Service. John Macomber, chair of the Council’s Board of Trustees, released a statement today that blamed the recession: For more than 25 years, the Council has enjoyed a reputation for leadership and innovation and has served as a catalyst for constructive change at all levels of government. However, the current economic climate has made it extremely difficult to raise the…