OPM Director John Berry earlier today, on the chances for resolving the ongoing brouhaha over federal pay: I’ve been in this business 25 years, and in 1985, the same ideological argument was drawn. I don’t expect any sort of kumbaya moment where suddenly this 25-year battle is drawn to a conclusion. I think we might have a better shot at Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton succeeding in the Middle East.
Monthly Archives: September, 2010
President Obama is urging the Senior Executive Service to embrace his accountability agenda, according to a memo released today. “As the most senior managers in the federal government, you know how essential the work you and your colleagues do is to the nation,” Obama told more than 7,000 SES members. “You also are aware what happens when your best efforts are thwarted by outdated technologies and outmoded ways of doing business. “You understand the consequences of accepting billions of dollars in waste as the cost of doing business and of allowing obsolete or under-performing programs to continue year after year.”…
The Energy Department announced $3.5 million in proposed penalties against 27 companies and manufacturers of products that have not complied with energy efficiency certification requirements. The latest proposed penalties are part of a new effort to enforce compliance on energy efficiency, according to the Energy Department. Scott Blake Harris, the Energy Department’s general counsel, wrote on the agency blog that that when he arrived in his position, the agency was not enforcing 35-year old energy efficiency standards. He said that these standards are a critical part of future national energy plans. He also said that stepped-up enforcement is a minimum…
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., sounds like he’s feeling a little unappreciated for helping pass a tax cut last year as part of the stimulus. From his comments today at a NARFE luncheon in Bowie, Md.: How many of you know that a third of the recovery act was a tax cut? $260 billion of the $780 [billion] was a tax cut. It was a tax cut that not many people really [said], “Oh, I got a tax cut!” The reason is because it was about $20, $25 a week extra in their take-home pay. The reason it was…
Do you dislike where you work? Do you think you can do better? If you are a professional or amateur within the field of green and sustainable design, you are in luck. The General Services Administration is once again soliciting ideas for its Design and Construction Awards Program. In a letter to possible participants, Martha Johnson, GSA administrator, said that “In their design and construction, the products of GSA’s Design Excellence Program have represented our nation’s core values of transparency, democracy, and individualism, and they have realized those principles functionally and efficiently.” The contest is open to: Contract design professionals,…
After more than eight years on the job, Kenneth Donohue is stepping down Oct. 1 as inspector general for the Housing and Urban Development Department for a position with the Reznick Group, P.C., a national accounting firm, according to news releases from his office and the company. Donohue will be a principal in Reznick’s government services group, where he will focus on compliance, internal controls and other matters for the company’s federal, state and local clients. A former Secret Service special agent appointed by then-President George W. Bush, Donohue has served as inspector general since March 2002. Among other milestones…
The Health and Human Services Department has awarded an additional $20 million to aid critical access and rural hospitals in adopting electronic health records. The added boost will provide technical support to about 1,655 critical access and rural hospitals in 41 states and the nationwide Indian Country, according to a Sept. 10 news release. The money will flow through regional extension centers (REC) that were created to help health care providers adopt electronic health records and achieve meaningful use. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology awarded more than $640 million earlier this year to 60 existing…
Printing government budgets year after year may have gotten a little stale for the Government Printing Office, so they’ve decided to spice things up a bit. GPO today announced the publication of its first comic book, “Squeaks Discovers Type!” In the comic, the titular hero traces the history of printing, from cuneiform, to medieval illuminated manuscripts, to Gutenberg’s printing press, to the Internet age. (You can read a few sample pages here.) The whole thing was handled in house — GPO promotions manager Jim Cameron wrote the story, graphic designer Nick Crawford illustrated and colored it, and the agency printed…
The Office of Personnel Management this afternoon released the latest Benefits Administration Letter detailing how health care reform is going to affect federal employees. One of the bigger changes affecting Federal Employees Health Benefits Program enrollees is the extension of coverage for adult children of feds. Currently, only unmarried dependent children younger than 22 are eligible for coverage. But the health care changes will expand coverage to adult children up to age 26, as well as removing residency and dependency requirements for coverage. And there’s a few other firsts for adult children (younger than 26, of course): Married adult children of feds…
Stephen Colbert welcomed troops returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom to his show last night, with plenty of surprises — beer, pretty girls, Joe Biden serving hot dogs, Yogi Berra, and a toilet fit for Saddam. Check out the video below, and others after the jump: [HTML1]