Conference on DoD Bill Upcoming

When Congress returns to work from its August recess, one of the orders of business will be a conference between the Senate-passed fiscal 2003 Defense Department authorization bill (S-2514) and the House version (HR-4546) that will involve several issues of importance to civilian employees of DoD. The House version: excludes certain expenditures from the requirement that at least half of depot maintenance work be performed in-house; change the definition of what is considered “core” logistics work to include acquisition logistics and certain management functions; makes “non-appropriated fund” employees-who work at self-funding operations such as officers’ clubs-eligible under the federal long-term care insurance program; extends through fiscal 2006 the agency’s authority to make severance payments as a lump-sum rather than biweekly; and establishes a common standard for both white-collar and blue-collar employees for payment of hazardous duty differential pay for exposure to asbestos.