Happy Thursday! Federal employees ineligible to receive Social Security benefits would still get a one-time $250 payment next year if President Obama gets his way. The president wants Congress to make the one-time payments to roughly 57 million people, including roughly 1 million public sector employees ineligible for Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, or veteransRead… Read more »
Happy Monday! Most federal employees will spend Monday away from the office, celebrating the seventh of ten federal holidays they enjoy each year. But Conor Dougherty and Sudeep Reddy of the Wall Street Journal wonder if the holiday is on the outs: In California, Columbus Day is one of two unpaid holidays getting blown awayRead… Read more »
Federal employees and their unions should remember Oct. 7, 2009: It’s the day they got to cross several items off their wish list. The conference committee working on a compromise version of the Defense authorization bill (pdf) delivered several long-sought reforms impacting current and former federal employees, their salaries and the way the government measuresRead… Read more »
The Office of Management and Budget will release new performance guidelines Wednesday to collect deeper evaluations of federal offices and programs. The new Program Evaluation Initiative is voluntary but will help agencies make “evidence-based policy decisions” about what’s working and what needs improvement, White House Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients said in an interview Tuesday.Read… Read more »
Happy Monday! It’s an important day for lawyers, lobbyists, librarians, good government groups, Gov 2.0 junkies and citizens concerned about the business of the executive branch, because the White House, National Archives and Government Printing Office relaunch the online version of the Federal Register today in XML format at Data.gov. The “defacto newspaper of theRead… Read more »
Happy Friday! Approximately 5,000 full-time Postal Service employees eligible for retirement ended their Postal careers this week, accepting $15,000 buyout offers as part of a cost-cutting move. Another 18,0000 full-time workers have also accepted the offer, but have until Oct. 31 to complete the paperwork or opt out. The Postal Service announced the buyout programRead… Read more »
It’s day one of Fiscal Year 2010 (woohoo!) but the White House is already thinking about Fiscal Year 2011. As of last night, the Office of Management and Budget had received 10,266 cost-saving ideas from federal employees hoping to win the first Save Award. The winner gets a meet-and-greet with President Obama and their ideaRead… Read more »
In a move designed to improve morale and help reduce a growing backlog, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed changes Tuesday to its way of determining how long a patent examiner has to complete a patent examination and the incentive credits that examiners earn for each stage of the process. The modifications, which mustRead… Read more »
Senators debating health-care reform legislation have unanimously approved a proposal requiring members of Congress and their staffs to obtain health insurance through new state-based purchasing exchanges set up by the health-care reform bill under consideration. Lawmakers and their staffs could no longer buy health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program beginning in 2013Read… Read more »
Happy Wednesday! Local, state and federal officials continue to investigate the death of Census Bureau employee William Sparkman, 51, found dead on Sept. 12 in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Sparkman’s son Josh has told the AP that he’s frustrated with the slow pace of the investigation. Police and FBI searched Sparkman’s home, but haveRead… Read more »