Federal Daily - February 7, 2008

Bush Proposes More BP Agents as Part of DHS Budget

President Bush’s $50.5 billion Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) includes a 6.8 percent increase in funding over last year to cover a range of targeted projects. Proposed funding for these efforts include $442 million for the addition of 2,200 new Border Patrol agents, $30 million to support Transportation Security Administration (TSA) vetting programs, and $1.1 billion in funding for TSA explosives detection technology at airports. Also, the agency is seeking $209 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster work force, to transition 4-year Cadre On-Call Response Employees from temporary to permanent full-time personnel. The budget also calls for an increase of $6.4 million for the DHS Office of Inspector General to expand staff oversight of DHS preparedness programs. To see more, go to: www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1202151112290.shtm.

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OPM Names New Director of Modernization

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Feb. 5 announced the appointment of Reginald M. Brown as the agency’s director of the Office of Modernization and HR Line of Business. Brown comes to OPM from DoD, where he was the Director of the Transformation Planning and Performance Directorate at DoD’s Business Transformation Agency (BTA), said OPM Director Linda Springer. At DoD, Brown pioneered multiple improvements to business operations, Springer said. “As Director of Modernization at OPM, he’ll help us achieve the same kinds of transformative leadership in systems development, systems implementation and project management,” she said. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/reginald-brown-tapped-as-agencys-director-of-modernization,1357.aspx.

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NTEU, FDIC Agree to Suspend Pay-for-Performance

In response to employee complaints, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) have agreed to suspend the FDIC’s pay-for-performance system covering employees in the 2007 performance cycle. Both sides will work to develop a better system that is “more transparent, credible and fair,” NTEU said in a Feb. 4 statement. The agency’s pay-for-performance system has generated broad criticism among FDIC employees and was having a detrimental impact on morale, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. An independent survey found that employees felt there was weak linkage between employee performance and pay raises; that special assignments and relationships with supervisors had the biggest impact; and that the pay-for-performance program was draining away employee motivation and teamwork, the union said. In lieu of the pay-for-performance plan, employees with a performance management program summary rating of “meets expectations” will receive an across-the-board 3.75 percent basic pay adjustment, plus 0.75 percent of basic pay in a lump-sum payment, NTEU said. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1211.

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