Federal Daily - September 26, 2008

House OKs 3.9 Percent Pay Hike for Military, Federal Civilians

The House on Sept. 24 approved a military personnel pay hike of 3.9 percent for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. The pay raise is part of the FY 2009 National Defense Authorization Bill (S. 3001) and represents a half-point increase over the 3.4 percent raise President Bush proposed for servicemembers earlier this year. Also on Sept. 24, the House approved a 3.9 percent pay raise for federal civilian employees as part of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 2638). That’s 1 percent more that the administration requested. To see more, go to: http://armed-services.senate.gov/press/Conference%2009%20Press%20Release.pdf

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Lieberman Supports Expanding Federal Benefits to Same-Sex Partners

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman, supported a bill giving same-sex domestic partners of federal employees the same benefits as married spouses, including participation in federal health benefits, long-term care and retirement. Lieberman chaired a hearing on Sept 24 concerning S.2521, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which Lieberman introduced last year with Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and 20 other co-sponsors. In addition to extending the benefits package, the bill also would make federal employees and their domestic partners subject to the same responsibilities that apply to married employees and their spouses, such as anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements, Lieberman said. Over 10,000 private sector companies—such as General Electric, IBM, Dow Chemical and Lockheed Martin—provide benefits to domestic partners. In addition, the governments of 13 states, 145 local jurisdictions, and over 300 colleges and universities provide such benefits. “This bill makes business sense and it is the fair and right thing to do,” Lieberman said. “We believe it will help the federal government attract and retain the high-quality employees we need.” But Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Deputy Director Howard Weizmann testified that same-sex domestic partners are not recognized for benefit entitlement purposes under any federal benefit programs. Such distribution of benefits would violate the 1996 Defense of Marriage law which defined a legal union as between one man and one woman as husband and wife, Weizmann said. To see more, go to: http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Press
Releases.Detail&PressRelease_id=24150ae2-9d43-4878-b9d6-cb498f0027e1&Month=9&Year=2008&Affiliation=C

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NTEU Critical of New OPM Privacy, Records Rules

National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley on Sept. 25 expressed concern over changes proposed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on how it handles employee requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. Kelley was critical of an OPM proposal to restrict an individual’s access to his or her own medical records, when those records are maintained by OPM. Kelley said OPM wants to provide disclosure to a designated representative only, without ensuring ultimate disclosure to the requesting individual. Such a rule appears to run afoul of the Privacy Act, said Kelley, and the federal courts have invalidated similar regulations on such grounds. Kelley was also uneasy with a provision that would provide OPM with an extension of the 20-day agency response period, as well as OPM’s proposed new fee schedule. The “OPM-proposed fee schedule for duplication and associated costs exceed those established by other agencies,” she said, adding that “the OPM proposal fails to acknowledge that duplication costs must be waived for certain categories of requestors if OPM misses the FOIA time limit for responding.” To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.

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