Federal Daily - February 20, 2008

New Law Will Extend Financial Resources to Veterans, Reservists

President Bush signed a new law Feb. 14 that will offer reservists greater access to loans to keep their small businesses afloat during deployment, and provide veterans with help so they can become successful entrepreneurs. The law clears the way for the Small Business Administration to offer loans of up to $50,000 without requiring collateral from loan applicants. It also expands the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program by providing a longer application deadline, creating a pre-deployment loan approval process and expanding outreach and technical assistance. For veterans, it creates a loan participation program in which they can receive 7(a) loans while paying 50 percent of the fees. “With this bill, we have reaffirmed our commitment to helping America’s heroes successfully resume their lives at home,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa. To see more, go to: http://sbc.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=293057.

:: Back to Top ::

DHS Abandons Labor Relations Portion of Personnel System

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it has abandoned plans to further implement the labor relations portions of its proposed new personnel system, the Human Capital Operations Plan (HCOP), according to documents posted Feb. 15 by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). In a federal court filing, DHS attorneys said the agency was abandoning its efforts to install new labor relations regulations as part of its overall efforts to implement  HCOP, formerly known as MaxHR. Parts of the plan have been ruled illegal in court, and DHS attorneys pointed out that the Office of Personnel Management “will not revise the permanently enjoined regulations…at any time prior to the expiration of the agencies’ authority to revise those regulations.” That authority, which expires Jan. 23, 2009, was granted under the Homeland Security Act. NTEU President Colleen Kelley applauded the move. “This is a monumental victory,” Kelley said. “It puts to rest DHS efforts to gut employees’ collective bargaining rights.”  To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1219.

:: Back to Top ::

State Dept. Drops Blanket Ban on Hiring FSOs With HIV

The State Department has issued new guidelines rescinding a blanket ban that barred candidates with HIV from becoming Foreign Service Officers (FSO), according to a statement released Feb. 15 by Lambda Legal, a gay/lesbian advocacy group. The new guidelines were issued about two weeks before they were to be challenged in federal court in a lawsuit by Lorenzo Taylor, who was denied an FSO job in 2002 after he disclosed his HIV status. Following the release of the new guidelines, both sides reached an out-of-court settlement, said Lambda Legal, which represented Taylor in court. “We are extremely pleased with this change,” said Bebe J. Anderson, HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal. “At long last, the State Department is taking down its sign that read ‘People with HIV need not apply.’” Under the new guidelines, candidates for Foreign Service posts who have HIV will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, Anderson said. To see more, go to: www.lambdalegal.org/news/pr/foreign-service-drops-ban-on-hiv.html.

:: Back to Top ::