Federal Daily - May 22, 2008
House Panel Considers Easing Restrictions for Re-Hiring Retirees
Lawmakers are considering a bill that—if it becomes law—would ease the restrictions on
rehiring federal retirees, allowing them to receive the full salary of their new job without any offset
against their retirement annuity. Daniel Adcock, assistant legislative director for the National Active
and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), testified in favor of the bill, H.R. 3579, on May
20 before the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce. “Annuitants boast rare talents and
vast experience,” Adcock said. H.R. 3579 would cover only executive branch agencies and would
permit federal agencies to re-hire retired federal employees without offsetting annuity from salary.
They could be hired for a maximum of 520 hours in the first six months after retirement, a maximum
of 1,040 in any 12-month period and a total of 6,240 hours for any individual. While those reemployed
would receive both their salary and their annuity payments, they would earn no additional retirement
benefits based on this post-retirement employment. Maureen Gilman, legislative director for the National
Treasury Employees Union, urged caution. Reemployed annuitants would not be eligible for most benefits
that other federal employees receive. They would be short-changed, Gilman said, and would offer the
government a cheaper alternative to promoting fulltime non-annuitant employees. To see more, go to: http://federalworkforce.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1945.
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OPM: Agencies Increase Use of Hiring Flexibilities
Federal agencies are increasingly using special hiring authorities that allow them to more quickly
select employees compared to traditional federal hiring methods, said an Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) report released May 20. The OPM report is based on an online survey of supervisors, managers
and human resource practitioners who in general said that the special hiring authorities are more efficient
and effective than traditional ranking and selection procedures. The report focused on the following
appointing authorities: Direct-Hire Authority; Federal Career Intern Program; Presidential Management
Fellows Program; Individuals with Disabilities; Student Career Experience Program; Veterans Employment
Opportunities Act; Veterans Recruitment Appointment; and the Disabled Veterans Appointing Authority.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, 18.2 percent of all new hires were attributed to the eight special appointing
authorities and six of the eight showed an increase in the number of new hires between FY 2004 and
FY 2007. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/publications/special/hflex2008.pdf.
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Waxman Says White House Meddled in EPA Decision-Making
Citing depositions from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.,
said that the White House has unduly influenced EPA decisions on smog standards, a waiver for California
on global warming regulations and a decision on whether to regulate carbon dioxide. Waxman, chairman
of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, held a hearing May 20 to investigate claims
that the White House forced EPA staff to scrap an ozone standard supported by its independent panel
and do an emergency rewrite in the face of a looming court deadline. It is illegal for the White House
to dictate EPA regulations that would produce pre-determined results, Waxman said. “On key issues,
this administration has pushed ahead with its agenda despite the evidence.” For example,
on the evening before an air quality standard for ozone air pollution was to become final, President
Bush rejected the unanimous recommendation of both EPA’s experts and EPA Administrator Stephen
Johnson and instructed EPA to abandon the new standard for the one endorsed by industry, Waxman said. “Our
investigation has not been able to find any evidence that the president based his decisions on the
science, the record, or the law,” Waxman said. To see more, go to: http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080520141821.pdf or www.oversight.house.gov.
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VA Still Reporting Inaccurate Patient Wait Times
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare network continues to under-report patient wait
times and has failed to follow recommendations from the VA Inspector General (IG) to tighten up its
reporting methods, said a new IG report released on May 19. The IG audit, which focused on the Veterans
Integrated Service Network 3 (VISN 3) of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), found that VISN
3 was not producing accurate wait time records nor following proper scheduling procedures. Although
the IG found that there was no willful manipulation of wait-time information, the reporting process
was unreliable, the report said. The IG calculated that VISN 3 substantially understated the number
of veterans who waited over 30 days for treatment. The IG projected that about 28,000 veterans waited
more than 30 days—as opposed to the 2,900 reported by the Veterans Health Administration. Sen.
Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, expressed concern that VA continues
to report inaccurate data on wait times. “VA’s neglect of patient wait times is a breach
of the faith that servicemembers put in the system,” Akaka said. He noted that this is the third
time in three years that the IG has found VA under-reporting wait times. To see more, go to: http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=12&
release_id=11702
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