FederalDaily - November 29, 2006
IRS Cancels Computer Services Competition
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has canceled a planned $1 billion public-private competition that
could have put as many as 2,000 federal computer service jobs at risk. In a 91-word statement posted
last week on its Web site, the agency said it was searching—along with the Treasury Department
and the Office of Management and Budget—to find an alternative to the canceled A-76 competition.
The work that was going to be part of the competition included providing services for desktop and laptop
computers, peripherals and networks, managing the agency's information technology (IT) help desk, procuring
hardware and software and securing IT equipment. According to the IRS statement, alternative approaches
could include business process reengineering—which generally means emulating industry best-practice
techniques to make the existing federal workforce more efficient. A study detailing the IRS’s
computer services needs is expected to be finished next month. To see more, go to: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-procure/seat_mgmt_bulletin_4.pdf
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Senators Urge Restoration of $401 Million in SSA Funding
A bipartisan contingent of 54 senators is urging congressional leaders to restore $401 million slated
to be cut from the Fiscal Year 2007 budget of the Social Security Administration (SSA). In a letter,
Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., led a group of 54 senators in telling the
leadership of the Senate and the Senate Appropriations Committee that restoring the funding will help
alleviate SSA staffing shortages. National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley,
who applauded the move, said that unless the cuts are restored, SSA will be forced to furlough employees
for 10 days and make other cutbacks in hiring, overtime and operations. NTEU represents SSA employees
in the agency’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, formerly the Office of Hearings
and Appeals. The full Senate has yet to take up the massive Labor-HHS-Education 2007 Appropriations
measure, HR 5647/S 3708—which includes SSA funding. The Appropriations Committee’s proposed
allocation for SSA in FY 2007 is not only $401 million less than the Bush administration’s request,
but $54 million less than was provided for the agency in FY 2006, NTEU said. To see more, go
to: www.nteu.org
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ICE, County Officials Detain 1,000 Criminal Aliens
Under a new joint federal/local law enforcement effort, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department (MCSD)
officials in North Carolina have identified and charged almost 1,000 criminal aliens with immigration
violations, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ICE/MCSD 287(g) partnership—named
for Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act—began in February. Under the program,
specially trained deputies, working within the county jails, interview foreign national inmates already
detained on unrelated charges. The deputies determine whether there is probable cause for an immigration
violation and if so, initiate deportation proceedings. Mecklenburg County—which includes Charlotte—is
the only fully operational 287(g) program in North Carolina. Similar programs are in place in Alabama,
Florida, Arizona and California, ICE said Nov. 27. “The ultimate goal of partnership is to improve
public safety and homeland security,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary
Julie Myers. To see more, go to: www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061127charlotte.htm
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