I was hoping to get some fed input on the results of our new poll on the Combined Federal Campaign, which was based off of some comments we have received from feds across the government… Sep 30, 2010 – Appeals for pledges to the Combined Federal Campaign at my agency are: Overbearing. People feel pressured to contribute whether they want to or not. : 60 % Appropriate. Pledges are for good cause. : 35 % Insufficient. More effort should be made to increase donations. : 5 % Do you feel pressured to give to the CFC, even if you don’t…
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As October kicks into full swing, it will take some sorting to figure out what month it really is. President Obama and various federal agencies have issued statements about various causes and concerns for this month. Click on links for the President’s statement on each of these months. National Arts and Humanities Month National Breast Cancer Awareness Month National Disability Employment Awareness Month National Domestic Violence Awareness Month National Cybersecurity Awareness Month National Energy Awareness Month Also, it is Fire Prevention Week. Also, feel free to comment below on any other commemorations that are happening this month, and we will…
Postmaster General John Potter is standing by his agency’s policy of paying the full cost of health insurance premiums for senior executives. According to a recent audit, the U.S. Postal Service could save about $567 million in fiscal 2011 if its employee contribution rate matched that of the federal government. For most employees, the Postal Service contributes 79 percent, compared to 72 percent elsewhere in the government. But postal executives don’t do as well as feds in other ways, Potter suggested at an end-of-the-fiscal-year news conference Friday. “Postal managers do not get locality pay,” he said. “Postal managers only get…
Things might get tricky over the next few days. This was part of an article in Roll Call. The idea is that the House and Senate “hot line” bills toward the end of a legislative session, and they are all voted on by unanimous consent. However, if one senator objects, the Senate must go through complicated and time consuming procedural votes requiring a 60 vote super majority. So what’s going on exactly? Sen. Jim DeMint warned his colleagues Monday night that he would place a hold on all legislation that has not been “hot-lined” by the chamber or has not…
While Congress might be having trouble scheduling, debating and passing numerous pieces of legislation, it seems one of the few bills that has not suffered are the resolutions to rename postal facilities. These resolutions have been on the rise for more than 13 years. In the 105th Congress spanning 1997 to 1998, there were 9 resolutions. In the 108th Congress from 2003 to 2004 there were 117. In the years 2007 to 2008 there were 169. There have been 111 in the current Congress. 1997-1998 9 1999-2000 46 2001-2002 92 2003-2004 117 2005-2006 135 2007-2008 169 2009-2010 111* *So far…
RIK, RIP. That’s the message from the Interior Department accompanying its next-to-last annual report about the “royalty-in-kind” program tarnished by repeated scandals. The program, dating back to 1998, allows energy companies to pay royalties to the federal government with oil and gas instead of cash. After Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last year that he was shutting it down, the program officially ends this Thursday, when the final contracts expire, the department said in a news release. For fiscal 2009, the initiative generated benefits estimated at $23 million “depending on various assumptions regarding markets and administrative costs,” the newly issued…
It’s down-to-the-wire time again for the U.S. Postal Service as it seeks congressional help in dodging much of a $5.5 billion payment due next Thursday into its retiree health benefit fund. “We’re in discussions with committee staff,” USPS spokesman Gerry McKiernan said today. While a continuing budget resolution is a likely vehicle for a partial waiver, he said, “there’s nothing definitive yet.” Last month, the Postal Service warned of a cash crunch if it had to make the full payment, which is required under the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Under similar circumstances last year, Congress allowed the Postal…
Making it a twofer kind of week for Jacob “Jack” Lew, the Senate Budget Committee voted 22-1 today to confirm him for the job of director of the Office of Management and Budget. But that’s where the good times ended, at least temporarily. Soon after, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she will block a final confirmation vote by the full Senate until the Obama administration drops or makes major changes to its six-month moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The moratorium, in effect since late May, could lead to thousand of job losses in…
The Senate Budget Committee plans a Thursday afternoon vote on the nomination of Jacob “Jack” Lew to become Office of Management and Budget Director, a spokesman said this afternoon via e-mail. The vote is set for around 12:45 p.m. Lew, who served an earlier turn as OMB director from 1998-2001, won unanimous approval from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. If the budget committee concurs Thursday, his nomination will go to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. President Obama announced in July that Lew was his choice to succeed Peter Orszag, but only submitted…
Don’t expect much to happen in this year’s fast dwindling congressional session, but a bi-partisan group of senators today introduced legislation to bolster the Federal Protective Service, responsible for security at some 9,000 federal buildings. The bill would push FPS to hire 500 more full-time employees over the next four years, require the agency to do more to ensure the competence of contract guards, and mandate standards for checkpoint detection technologies for explosives and other threats at federal facilities, according to a news release from Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.…