FederalDaily - September 11, 2007
VA Announces Firms to Plan New Orleans Hospital
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Jim Nicholson announced Sept. 7 that his agency had
selected three architectural firms to design a new, 200-bed hospital in New Orleans to replace the
old VA medical center that flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Nicholson said the team would consist
of NBBJ of Columbus, Ohio; Eskew+Dumez+Ripple of New Orleans; and Rozas-Ward of New Orleans. The new
facility would replace the old Perdido Street hospital, which has been closed since the storm. The
VA plans to build the new Southeast Louisiana VA Medical Center on a 34-acre tract along Canal Street
in downtown New Orleans, he said. “These top firms, with both local and national experience in
VA and private medical facilities design, offer us promise for creative approaches to a sparkling,
next-generation health facility that will be the pride of Southeast Louisiana veterans,” Nicholson
said in a statement. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1382.
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GSA Makes Changes to Assisted Acquisition Service
The General Services Administration (GSA) launched a cost-recovery plan for the Federal Acquisition
Service (FAS) Assisted Acquisitions Services (AAS) business line and will move about 250 workers to
other positions within the agency. FAS is not planning to submit any early-out/buy-out request packages,
GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said on Sept. 7, nor are Reductions-in-Force part of the AAS Cost Recovery
Plan. AAS provides acquisition, technical and project management services for other federal agencies.
In addition, FAS is changing and adding to the types of services offered, expanding into new areas
in professional services-related acquisitions, Doan said. “We needed a plan to align AAS costs
with actual and projected revenue,” she said. “The steps we’ve outlined are key to
achieving our objective.” To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=8199&channelId=-13259&P=XI&contentId=23491&contentType=GSA_BASIC
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Bill Includes Loan Forgiveness for Public Servants
Congress has approved and sent to President Bush an overhaul of the federal student loan effort designed
to make college more affordable for students, families and those in public service. The College Cost
Reduction Act (H.R. 2669) was finalized in a conference committee and then cleared by the House and
Senate on Sept. 7. Bush, after making veto threats, now has agreed to sign it. The bill would make
it easier for college graduates who have high student loan debt to accept lower-paying government and
nonprofit jobs, noted bill sponsor Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and would pay for itself by cutting
federal subsidies to student loan lenders. The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant, cut interest
rates in half on need-based student loans and offer loan forgiveness to a broad category of public
servants. The bill would forgive $5,000 of loans for graduates who go into public service, as well
as forgive public servants for outstanding loans amounts after 10 years of payments while in public
service. “This legislation delivers urgently needed financial relief to qualified students and
families who are working very hard to pay for college,” Miller said in a statement. To see more,
go to: http://edlabor.house.gov/micro/ccraa.shtml.
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