Several Workforce Bills Advance
The House Government Reform Committee has approved legislation (HR-2751) to revamp personnel rules at the General Accounting Office, an agency …More
Fedweek
Sign up Now! Free eNewslettersImproved Pay for Reservists Idea Dropped
Congress has dropped, apparently at least for the year, a proposal that would continue paying federal employees their full salaries …More
SSA’s Views on Windfall, Offset
A recent Senate hearing on reducing or repealing the government pension offset and windfall elimination provisions of Social Security law …More
Pay Raise Still Short of Finish Line
The Transportation-Treasury bill also is the vehicle for the January 2004 federal pay raise, with both the House and Senate …More
Some Common Ground on Contracting Policy
Although the House and Senate took differing approaches to the government’s contracting-out policy in passing their versions of the Transportation-Treasury …More
TSP Stock Funds Post Strong Returns
All three stock-oriented Thrift Savings Plan funds posted strong gains in October, with the small capitalization (S) fund up 7.65 …More
FSA Rollover Idea Still Alive
Among the provisions being debated as Congress attempts to craft a Medicare reform bill is a proposal to allow $500 …More
Agencies Told to Pay FSA Fees
Another provision of the DoD authorization bill would require all federal agencies to pay the enrollment fees for their employees …More
Changes Could Be Some Time in Development
The pace of the changes to come at DoD is yet to be determined. DoD will have to issue implementing …More
DoD Personnel Reforms Advance
A bill (HR-1588) to significantly revamp the personnel policies for the Defense Department’s civilian employees is undergoing final congressional voting, …More
Crackdown on Card Abuse Urged
Recently introduced legislation (S-1744 and HR-3329) seeks to crack down on abuse of government-issued charge cards by requiring agencies to …More
Mileage Rate Could Rise
Reimbursement rates for using personal vehicles on official business could rise slightly in 2004 if past practice is repeated. The …More
GAO’s Take on Contracting Issues
One of the most controversial aspects of the Bush administration’s overhaul of contracting-out guidance was introducing the “best value” concept …More
Contracting Restrictions Take Hold
Although Congress is continuing to consider appropriations bills that would restrict the government’s contracting-out program at various agencies and in …More
Higher Loan Reimbursements Approved
The House has joined the Senate in passing legislation (S-926) to increase the lifetime maximum under the government’s student loan …More
Relationship Between FSAs, FEHB
One emphasis of the FSA open season will be to give employees a fuller understanding of how accounts work and …More
FSA Re-Enrollment Required
While FEHB enrollment carries over from one year to the next even if the individual makes no new election during …More
Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth From Your Health Plan?
Beginning next week, Federal and Postal employees have the opportunity to choose a better health plan through the American Postal …More
Dropouts Are Relatively Small
Of the HMOs dropping out of the program, most are relatively small, with the largest of them with about 4200 …More
FEHB Open Season Ahead
The annual open season in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program runs November 10-December 8, providing the chance for eligible …More
More Scrutiny of Employee Programs Sought
Although the federal retirement, health, and life insurance programs “do not appear to experience high rates of waste, fraud and …More
Personnel Reforms Clear Panel
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has approved a bill (S-129) containing revisions to federal personnel policies including: allowing compensatory time …More
Liability Case Before High Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on November 4 will hear oral arguments in what could be the only case it will …More
Administration Opposes Several Provisions
In a “statement of administration policy” on the Senate version of the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill, the Office of Management and …More
Contracting Policy Also in Dispute
During floor voting on the Transportation-Treasury bill, the Senate rejected on a 48-47 vote an amendment that would have barred …More
Senate Clears 4.1 Percent Raise
The Senate has joined the House in backing a 4.1 percent average general schedule raise for January 2004, approving its …More
If you could build a better health plan, it might look just like this!
Last year Walt Francis, principal author of Consumers’ Checkbook Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees had this to say …More
Important Decisions Still Pending
The senior review committee working on the DHS options did not exclude any of the myriad proposals from consideration the …More
Bargaining, Appeals Rights Also at Issue
Unions also urged that they should have a role in designing any new personnel system for DHS and that employees …More
Unions Argue Against DHS Changes
Leaders of the two largest federal unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, who …More
