Federal Managers Association

To register for the Conference, the Management Training Seminar, the Retirement Planning Seminar, or for more information on the event please visit FMA online at www.fedmanagers.org. Registration is still available through August 17th!

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WHAT’S NEW ON CAPITOL HILL?

FARM BILL MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH THE HOUSE

On June 27th, the House of Representatives passed a five year agriculture policy bill after consideration of 31 amendments. The 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419), which passed by a vote of 231 to 191, will cost $286 billion over five years.

To offset the cost of the bill, House Democrats added a tax provision aimed at foreign-owned companies. While the bill enjoyed bipartisan support prior to the addition of the provision, only 19 Republicans voted for the bill’s final passage. Fourteen Democrats voted against the bill, citing it didn’t go far enough in the way of nutrition and conservation.

“This Farm Bill is about much more than farms. It is about the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and increasingly the fuel we will use. It assures that we will have a safe, strong food supply now and for years to come,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said of the bill’s passage.

Unfortunately, the bill did not eliminate the current farm loan term limits. As it stands, a customer who is unable to obtain credit from commercial sources can only receive loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency for seven to ten years, at which point the farmer or rancher must either have built up a strong enough credit to go to a private lender or face the alternative of being unable to sustain their operations. Term limits fail to contain any exemptions for farmers or ranchers faced with natural disasters, falling prices, or random occurrences that may negatively impact production capacity.

In several letters to the House Agriculture Committee, Federal Managers Association National President Darryl Perkinson implored the Committee to remove these arbitrary limits. “Approximately 2,500 borrowers will reach their term loan limit in 2007 and another 8,000 in 2008 and we at FMA firmly believe it is in everyone’s best interest to equip our farmers and ranchers with the necessary tools to continue growing in the face of fluctuating markets and unique agricultural environments,” Perkinson stated in his letters.

The current Farm Bill expires on September 30, 2007. It is likely the Senate will consider its version of the bill after the August recess. For more information on the bill, please visit: www.agriculture.house.gov or http://thomas.loc.gov/.

HOUSE CONTINUES TO MOVE ON APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

On July 19, the House of Representatives passed the fiscal year 2008 Labor/Health and Human Services/Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3043). The $154.2 billion bill funds the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education as well as the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Railroad Retirement Board. As the largest of all the domestic spending bills, it costs far more than the President requested and faces a veto threat from the White House.

Included in the bill was $9.7 billion for SSA administrative expenses. While this is $100 more than the President requested, the amount does not go far enough to allow the agency to work on the growing backlog of disability cases. Within the SSA Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), the backlog of cases is now over 745,000 requests for a hearing and it takes over 500 days to process a typical hearing request. The backlog exists simply because ODAR does not have the staff to handle the incoming cases, and the meager increase in funding will only allow the agency to replace 1,000 of the 4,000 employees lost in the last three years.

In other appropriations news, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 2638/S. 1644) passed the Senate on July 26 th by a vote of 89 to 4, with 7 not voting. The Senate Appropriations Committee allocated $900 million more than the House, raising total funding for the Department $1.83 billion over the President’s budget request.

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 2641/S. 1751), recently passed the House by a vote of 312-112, with 7 members not voting. The bill provides a total of $31.6 billion, over $1 billion more than the President requested. The Department of Energy saw the bulk of the funding with $25.2 billion. The bill now awaits further action in the Senate.

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 3161/S. 1859) passed both the House and Senate appropriations committees and now awaits a vote in the House. The bill provides $18.8 billion for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

In addition, the Commerce /Justice/ State appropriations bill (H.R. 3093) saw House passage as well with $53.5 billion in funding, more than $2 billion over the President’s request.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved a 3.5 percent pay increase for members of the military in 2008 as part of the Defense Appropriations bill. The pay increase matches the amount already approved by the House for civilian federal employees for 2008 and is half a percentage point higher than the Bush administration requested. The 3.5 percent increase was approved despite many other cuts by House appropriators that continue to slash funding from the President’s defense budget request.

ARE FEDERAL CONTRACTORS ACCOUNTABLE FOR PERFORMANCE?

On July 18, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement held a hearing to discuss federal contracting, specifically the subcommittee’s fear that federal contractors are rarely penalized for poor performance. The hearing, led by Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), featured testimony by government officials in charge of contractor oversight, along with employees of companies under contract. Entitled “Do Poor Performers Keep Winning?” the hearing focused on the importance of promoting competition for contracts in order to ensure taxpayers receive the best service for their money.

With over $400 billion allocated for purchases, the federal government is the largest single buyer in the world. As such, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management William Woods told the subcommittee that the task of reviewing and monitoring how that money is spent is a daunting challenge. With so many federal agencies relying on contracting to complete many of their missions, companies have their contracts renewed without a proper performance review. Chairman Towns highlighted several companies, including security and waste management corporations, that have failed to perform at adequate levels and have in some cases even engaged in corrupt practices, yet they continue to receive new contracts.

“I remember an old saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Well, in my view the taxpayers are being fooled time and time again,” Towns told the panel. Towns argued that he was not opposed to federal contracting, and acknowledged that so much money is spent by the federal government on contracts that it is inevitable some will not proceed as planned. “I am against weak management and shoddy work…The flaws in the system are just as frustrating for companies who do high-quality work as they are for Congress and the taxpayers,” the Chairman went on to say.

Towns and the rest of the subcommittee argued that better documentation of performance and company track records are vital if fair competition is to be achieved. Increased utilization of suspension and debarment processes designed to expose poor performers is also vital to cut off funding before a situation spirals out of control. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) recently reintroduced the Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act (H.R. 3033) that requires the formation of a database holding such information to help agencies determine who can serve their, and the taxpayers’, interests best.

OUTSOURCING OF DEBT COLLECTORS CALLED INTO QUESTION

On July 18th, the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Tax Collection Responsibility Act, H.R. 3056, which would relieve the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of its authority to establish contracts with private debt collectors. Reactions to the committee’s opinion have varied, as many within the IRS hold different beliefs as to how effective debt collection has been so far with outsourcing in place. While many IRS employees fear that they will not be able to handle all the cases currently managed by private collectors, even with increased staffing, other employees insist that such outsourcing is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

A report by IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsen argues that for every dollar spent on IRS staffing, $20 are collected, as opposed to the $4 collected for every dollar spent on private collectors. Olsen’s report, released a day after the committee passed H.R. 3056, opposes statements made by former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson before the Senate Budget Committee in February that outsourcing of debt collection is the only way for IRS to concentrate its efforts on the most complex cases. Everson argued that private collectors were only given authority to address simple cases that would not necessitate direct IRS involvement.

H.R. 3056 , sponsored by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), includes language that addresses concerns that disbanding private debt collectors will lead to a larger gap between what is owed by taxpayers and what is actually paid by increasing tax requirements of several large corporations and increasing information return penalties, along with several other measures. The bill passed the committee by a vote of 23-18.

A copy of Olsen’s report can be found at: http://www.irs-tas.com/.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH?

PAY SYSTEM REFORM DESIRED, AGENCY SIZE A FACTOR

To aid in federal agency recruiting and retention efforts, the Partnership for Public Service (PPS) and Grant Thornton, a global consulting firm, conducted a study that found that the majority of human resources officials across the government encourage increased effort by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Congress to develop a comprehensive performance and market based pay system. Interviews by PPS and Grant Thornton with human resources officials from 28 large agencies and over 12 smaller agencies revealed, however, that although significant pay reforms are desired, agencies are wary of moving too quickly.

The 55 officials interviewed stressed that OPM and Congress must acknowledge that federal agencies vary greatly, and that any pay reform proposals cannot be assumed to work across the board. It is therefore vital, the officials in the PPS and Thornton report stated, that broad guidelines be issued and that individual agencies then be given room to implement those guidelines in an appropriate manner.

Challenges arising based on the large turnover rate due to the anticipated retirement wave were also discussed. Nearly every human resources official agreed that recruiting and retention efforts should focus on skills required to run the agency effectively, as opposed to simply replacing each body lost.

Furthermore, they argued that increased training and greater funding for the over 20,000 human resources employees working in the federal government would allow them to acquire the skills and technology necessary to advance their operations.

A full copy of the report can be found at: www.ourpublicservice.org.

DOD FAILS TO PREDICT COST OF PERSONNEL SYSTEM

A recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that the Department of Defense (D0D) has not taken all costs associated with implementation of a new civilian personnel system into consideration. A November 2005 D0D estimate said that the new National Security Personnel System (NSPS) would cost $158 million to execute through 2008, far under what the GAO report states is the actual cost.

GAO highlighted research and technical support costs, rent, building maintenance fees, and equipment/utility costs as some of the major expenses not taken into consideration. DOD officials are offering few objections to the GAO report, but contend that they have already anticipated discrepancies in their initial cost projections and are acting to correct them. GAO marked DOD as a high-risk agency in 1995 due to poor accounting standards and has not relieved that status yet, and auditors are pushing DOD to make a more comprehensive report on all costs, both direct and indirect, of NSPS implementation from 2008 through 2011 to be presented before Congress.

Already facing intense criticism since its conception in 2004 as a response to feelings that the existing human resources system was too inflexible, NSPS continues to flounder in the face of numerous setbacks. Both the House and the Senate Armed Services Committees have ruled against the labor relations portions of NSPS in the 2008 Defense authorization bill.

PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS JOB VACANCIES

A report recently released by the Partnership for Public Service (PPS) found that roughly 193,000 federal job openings deemed “critical” need to be filled within the next two years. Entitled Where the Jobs Are: Mission Critical Opportunities for America , the report is based on a survey of 34 federal agencies and covers projected hiring needs through 2009. PPS believes the report will help address concerns over the large number of federal employees, approximately one-third of the 1.6 million full-time employees, expected to retire or resign over the next five years.

Over 83,000 of the projected mission critical job vacancies lie in agencies charged with securing our borders and protecting the homeland. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) predict they will require 47,897 and 35,505 new personnel respectively. Other occupations requiring increased staffing include medical and health care specialists, biological scientists specializing in bioterrorism, IT experts, air traffic controllers, and accountants, to name a few highlighted in the report.

The report also contains a thorough list of incentives available to job seekers interested in serving the government, from student loan repayment to relocation benefits. PPS encourages all individuals regardless of skill level to consider serving the public, and stresses that diversity in the government is highly valued. Students who will be entering the job market soon and all others in search of new careers are encouraged to visit www.USAJOBS.gov, created by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a full list of openings.

OPM is experiencing an unprecedented number of hits on their site as proof of its effectiveness, commented Bob Danbeck , OPM's associate director for human resources products and services, to GovExec.com . However, with the large number of vacancies forming across the board, with many more still to come, many management experts insist that the federal government may be losing a significant amount of potential hires by not expanding to such mainstream job-posting boards as CareerBuilder, Monster, and HotJobs.

The Partnership for Public Service report can be found at www.ourpublicservice.org.

DHS GRANTED EXTENSION TO INFORM COURT OF REFORM PLAN

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will have six more months to present revised plans or simply scrap proposed labor relations rules under its new personnel system, a federal district court ruled on July 17th. DHS was scheduled to present its plans that same day, but was granted the extension despite opposition by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) which first filed a lawsuit against DHS plans for new labor relations rules. DHS will now have until mid-January to announce its plans.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia first ruled against DHS’s labor relations system, Max-HR, in August 2005, saying it illegally restricts collective bargaining rights for employees by giving management the ability to revoke negotiated agreements after the fact. An appeals court upheld the ruling in June 2006, and the department decided against further appeals. The district court insisted DHS file a status report addressing its plans to revise or abandon the regulations by the July deadline.

In speaking to GovExec.com, Larry Orluskie , spokesman for DHS, said, "We're continuing to weigh our options. We've made great progress with our performance management. We're focusing on advances in recruiting, hiring, training and fostering employee morale."

Issues of under-funding have already plagued the DHS plans, as the House has appropriated zero funds for the program in fiscal year 2008, and the Senate Appropriations Committee has agreed to only $5 million, far short of the $71 million the President requested.

GAO EMPLOYEES SET TO VOTE ON UNIONIZING

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) have agreed to terms by which a vote on September 19th may result in union representation for over 1500 GAO analysts. The agreement settled upon on July 18th followed weeks of deliberation and is at least partly a reaction to the new personnel system at GAO, under which 308 senior analysts were not given pay raises. This will mark the first time GAO employees have voted for union representation, and all members of Band I, IIA, and IIB of the GAO paybanding system will be able to participate.

Employees that work at GAO headquarters will vote by manual ballot, while employees in field offices will vote via mail. GAO’s Personnel Appeals Board will oversee the election, and if employees are in favor of unionizing, certification will be immediate. If certification is achieved, all employees who join will then elect officers and begin negotiating a new contract.

Increasing pay for performance transparency is considered by many GAO employees to be a driving factor in their decision to vote in favor of and then join the union. As part of the agreement settled on July 18th, IFPTE will drop an unfair labor practice charge filed against GAO Comptroller General David Walker.

VA SECRETARY RESIGNS, MORE CHANGES WITHIN ADMINISTRATION

Secretary of the Department ofVeterans Affairs (VA) Jim Nicholson resigned from his position in the Department after serving since February of 2005. Nicholson’s announcement came on July 17th and was prompted by his desire to return to work in the private sector. Nicholson will continue to serve as Secretary until no later than October 1, 2007.

Though his tenure was marred by several grievances in regards to budgetary issues and the leak of roughly 26 million individuals’ personal information following the loss of a laptop taken home by a VA employee, Nicholson received much praise for his efforts to improve medical care for the men and women who have served around the world in the fight against terror. Nicholson said he was proud of the direction the VA was heading and was confident the next Secretary would maintain the progress made.

“This is a very big Government agency that, among many other things, sees over 1 million patients a week in its health care system, and is doing a world class job,” Nicholson said in a statement released by the VA. “The American people can feel proud about the way we are treating our veterans.  The President and the Congress have been very supportive and for that I am grateful as well.”

Nicholson, a veteran himself having served in Vietnam, has no planned replacement as of yet.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is also experiencing a change in the hierarchy, as acting commissioner KevinBrown, who has served since May, will depart no later than September to become chief operating officer of the American Red Cross. Linda Stiff, who has served the IRS as deputy commissioner for operations support, will fill the void at least temporarily when Brown departs.

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GET INVOLVED AT THESE EVENTS!

STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR FMA’S 16TH MID-YEAR CONFERENCE!

Please join us for FMA’s 16th Mid-Year Conference and Management Training Seminar, August 22 – 25, 2007 in San Francisco, California! This year’s Conference, Federal Management: A Golden Gate to a Career of Service , will be held at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. Conference attendees will receive a special room rate of $130/night. You can make reservations by calling the hotel at 1-800-381-9552. Be sure to ask for the special rate for the Federal Managers Association group, code V65. Reservations must be made by July 21, 2007.

FMA members can register via FMA’s Web site at www.fedmanagers.org. Fees for the Conference are as follows: Regular: $365 (until August 3, 2007); and Late: $400 (until August 17, 2007). The training day of the conference has been finalized and posted on FMA’s Web site at: http://www.fedmanagers.org/public/events.cfm.

Additionally, FMA Chapter 307, host of this year’s conference, has dedicated its Web site as your one-stop shop for Mid-Year related events. Please visit http://home.earthlink.net/~fmachapter307/ f or more information on after hour events, transportation to and from the airport and what to do in San Francisco!

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(Promotion Ends 09/01/07)

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Long Term Care Partners, LLC , New FMA Corporate Partner.  Long Term Care Partners is the administrator of t he Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.  Sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Program is available to Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees and annuitants, active and retired members of the uniformed services, and their qualified relatives.  With more than 210,000 enrollees, it is the largest employer-sponsored long term care insurance program in the country.  FLTCIP policies are simple to understand and offer enrollees some distinct advantages, including comprehensive coverage, competitive and stable rates, international coverage, and administrative service standards that are the highest in the long-term care insurance industry.  Policies are sold direct through a highly-trained, non-commissioned staff with no high pressure sales tactics – simply sound advice.  Visit www.LTCFEDS.com or http://www.opm.gov/insure/ltc/index.asp for more information.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Federal Employee Program , FMA Sustaining Corporate Partner:  The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association represents the independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. The 40 local member companies of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association have provided millions of families with top-quality, affordable health insurance for more than 70 years.  For the one in four Americans who carry Blue Cross and Blue Shield cards, the Blue Plans symbolize health security.  Visit www.fepblue.org and join the best, most-recognized group of health insurance providers in the world.

Wright & Co. , FMA Sustaining Corporate Partner:  Wright & Co. has provided supplemental insurance programs to the Federal government for over 40 years.  They have built strong relationships with insurance companies and service providers to offer these comprehensive benefits at low, affordable group insurance rates.  Benefits include: Dental Insurance Plans; Term Life Insurance Plans; Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan; and Personal Umbrella Plan.  Wright & Co. is also the originator of the Federal Professional Liability Program and provider of Disability Income Replacement coverage, underwritten by The Hartford, to all Federal employees.  For more information, please visit:  www.wrightandco.com

GEICO , FMA Corporate Partner:  GEICO was created over 60 years ago to insure Federal employees.  Over the years GEICO has continuously strengthened its affiliation with the Federal workforce.  Today GEICO has a special program established to support the Federal community.  GEICO’s Federal program participates in the following organizations and programs: GEICO Public Service Awards, which  have honored Federal workers (active and retired) who have contributed to the public good since 1980; and GEICO Federal Leave Record Cards, which for over 40 years have been provided by GEICO to Federal employees, free of charge, to help them track their annual leave.  Find out how much you could save with GEICO auto insurance as an FMA member by getting a line-by-line rate quote at:  www.geico.com

Shaw, Bransford, Veilleux and Roth, P.C. , (SBVR) concentrates its law practice on the representation of Federal employees, with a special emphasis on the representation of executives and managers.  SBVR serves as General Counsel to the Federal Managers Association and is uniquely situated to recognize the interests and viewpoints of Federal managers.  For up to two free half-hour legal consultations and reduced legal fees as an FMA member, please visit:  www.shawbransford.com

The Federal Managers Association and Management Concepts have teamed up to present the Federal Managers Practicum — a targeted certificate program for Federal managers. As the official development program for FMA, the Federal Managers Practicum helps FMA members develop critical skills to meet new workplace demands and deepen their managerial capabilities.  FMA’s leadership fully recognizes the need to prepare career-minded federal employees to manage the demands of the 21 st century workplace with greater competence and fully supports this unique and comprehensive certificate program.  For more information, please visit:  www.managementconcepts.com/fmp/fmpodp.asp

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The Washington Report is published biweekly by the Federal Managers Association.
Jessica Klement, Editor; FMA Staff Writers.

The Federal Managers Association, established in 1913, is the oldest, largest, most influential association representing the interests of the nearly 200,000 managers, supervisors and executives serving in today’s Federal government.

1641 Prince Street ~ Alexandria VA 22314-2818 ~ (703) 683-8700 ~ FAX (703) 683-8707 ~ E-Mail Info@fedmanagers.org

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