After more than five hours of debate, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23-12 on H.R. 2517 Wednesday, which would grant federal benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. The bill would entitle domestic partners to myriad federal benefits, including medical benefits and long-term care insurance. To receive the benefits, the partner and the federal employee would have to sign an affidavit affirming that they are in a committed, long-term relationship and live together except for financial, work or other reasons. Votes on the bill were split along party lines. Republicans spent several hours offering a series…
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Will the House’s health care bill change your Federal Employees Health Benefits Program? It depends who you ask on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees the FEHBP. Sixteen committee Republicans sent a letter to Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., on Nov. 4, calling on him to schedule immediate hearings to analyze the impact H.R. 3692 may have on the FEHBP. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Nov. 5 she has the votes to pass the health care bill on Nov. 7. In the letter, Republicans said they need clarification on what the bill could do to participants…
In the video game world, your Web site is ‘Pong.'” — Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., told Greg Long, executive director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, at a Nov. 3 hearing in reference to the state of the TSP’s Web site, comparing it to one of the first arcade games. The board is working to make its Web site more user friendly and improve the information available, Long told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s subcommitee on the federal workforce, postal service and the District of Columbia.
Senators unanimously confirmed Dr. Regina Benjamin Thursday as the next U.S. surgeon general. Benjamin is the founder of the Bayou Le Batre Rural Health Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., a fishing village, and has served as its chief executive officer since its founding in 1990. Benjamin has rebuilt the clinic several times, including after Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Atlanta neurosurgeon and CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta was rumored earlier this year to be Obama’s first choice for surgeon general, but Gupta pulled his name from consideration, citing his desire to spend more time on…
Here’s a few new details on the Defense Authorization Bill’s repeal of the National Security Personnel System that lawmakers on a House-Senate conference committee have agreed upon: All 205,000 employees currently under NSPS will be transferred back to their original pay system by Jan. 1, 2012, according to a statement from Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. The bulk of NSPS employees were originally under the General Schedule system. American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage — who in June compared NSPS to Dracula — thinks the Defense Authorization Bill will be the final stake in the heart of the program. But…
If you work at the Homeland Security Department, the House of Representatives has some kind words for you. Members of Congress love to bash DHS and interrogate officials at frequent congressional hearings, but the House voted Thursday to approve a resolution, H.Res. 731, expressing appreciation for the work DHS employees do. Here’s the official description of the bill: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the employees of the Department of Homeland Security, their partners at all levels of government, and the millions of emergency response providers and law enforcement agents nationwide should be commended for their dedicated…
The Senate may vote on a continuing resolution late this afternoon, just hours before the end of the fiscal year at midnight. The House passed the CR Sept. 25, which includes additional funding for veterans health care and the Census Bureau. All other federal agencies would operate under fiscal 2009 funding levels until their appropriations bills are passed or the CR expires Oct. 31. We’ll keep you posted on any congressional action on the continuing resolution.
Sen. Charles Grassley has introduced a health care amendment that would eliminate the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, but feds shouldn’t panic that they’ll be losing their health coverage as recent news stories have hinted. Grassley’s amendment would have ended FEHBP and required feds to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges, just as average civilians would. But a modified version of the amendment accepted Tuesday as part of the Senate Finance Committee chairman’s mark weakens the language, allowing federal workers the option of leaving the FEHBP and enrolling in state exchanges. Grassley, R-Iowa, offered his amendment to draw attention to a…
The House passed a temporary Federal Aviation Administration authorization extension Wednesday, giving the Senate until the end of the year to pass the full reauthorization bill. The temporary extension won’t be a surprise to the FAA, which has been operating under them since its authorization expired during the last Congress. The sixth temporary extension expires Sept. 30. The new extension goes until Dec. 31 and allows the FAA to continue to collect and spend revenues. The House passed a multiyear reauthorization bill, HR 915, in May, but the bill has stalled in the Senate, just as it did in the…
The House will take up a continuing resolution this week to keep agencies operating at fiscal 2009 levels while Congress completes the 12 annual appropriations bills, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced Sept. 17. The CR will not come up before Wednesday, according to the tentative House floor schedule. A final vote has not been scheduled, so it’s unclear if the CR will be finished this week. The House has passed all 12 of its fiscal 2010 appropriations bills, while the Senate has passed six. The end of the fiscal year is Sept. 30, and agencies have adapted to the…