FederalDaily - September 24, 2007
Bill Would Allow Rehiring of Retirees Without Penalties
Senior Republican lawmakers introduced a bill on Sept. 19 that would encourage federal retirees to
return to work in the government on a temporary basis without any reduction to their pension. The bill,
HR 3579, the Re-Employment of Annuitants Act, would allow rehires to assist with short-term projects,
fill critical skills gaps and train the next generation of the federal work force without losing their
annuity benefits. Under current law, if retired federal employees return to work as part-timers, they
either must suspend receiving their annuities or receive a salary reduced by the amount they would
have received from the annuity. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis III, R-Va., ranking minority
member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is similar to one introduced last month
in the Senate by Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine. Both bills would limit the number of days each year
that a retiree could work. Davis pointed out in a statement that experts say 550,000 federal workers—nearly
a third of the work force—will leave the government over the next five years, largely through
retirement. The Office of Personnel Management has endorsed the measure. To see more, go to: http://tomdavis.house.gov/davis_contents/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=48
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GAO Analysts Ratify First-Ever Union Representation
For the first time in the 86-year history of Congress’s watchdog agency, the Government Accountability
Office (GAO), an employees group has ratified union representation within the agency. GAO analysts,
by a 897 to 445 margin, voted to endorse representation by the International Federation of Professional
and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), which also represents employees at GAO’s sister agency, the
Congressional Research Service (CRS). The vote was conducted via mail and the results were announced
on Sept. 20. “We’re ecstatic!” said Jacqueline Harpp, a senior GAO analyst and one
of the union’s four official election observers at the vote count. “Our slogan for this
campaign was ‘band together’ and that’s exactly what we did.” Analysts began
to explore unionizing last year, after GAO completed a restructuring of the agency’s pay system
in response to an outside report showing some GAO analysts were underpaid and some overpaid. The next
steps will be to elect a council, write a constitution, determine bargaining priorities and then sit
down with management to negotiate a first contract, said IFPTE President Greg Junemann. To see more,
go to: www.ifpte.org/Downloads/Archives/Press%20Releases/2007/GAOGoesUnion.pdf
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Agriculture Secretary Johanns Resigns, Eyes Senate Seat
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns resigned Sept. 19, saying that he wanted to return to his home
state of Nebraska, where it is rumored that he may run for the Senate seat being vacated by Chuck Hagel
(R). In his resignation letter, Johanns gave no indication that he would seek the seat, but President
Bush, in accepting the resignation, hinted that he expected Johanns to run. “If it’s Mike’s
decision and Nebraska’s choice, he would make an outstanding member of the United States Senate,” Bush
said. “There is no doubt in my mind.” Johanns served as Nebraska’s governor before
becoming agriculture secretary in 2005. The son of a dairy farmer, Johanns said: “the decision
to leave this post has not been an easy one. I grew up with farmers and ranchers as my childhood heroes
and my mentors.” Johanns’s deputy, Chuck Connor, was named acting secretary. To see more,
go to: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070920.html.
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