Federal Daily - December 17, 2008

AFGE Applauds VA Plan to Keep N.C. Medical Center Open

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) applauded a plan by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to keep open until 2013 emergency and inpatient health care services at the Salisbury VA Medical Center in North Carolina. However, AFGE was critical of what it said was VA’s continued intent to privatize the medical center. VA officials are “are claiming that they want to do what is in the best interest of veterans and save this hospital, but all they have really done is committed to giving it a slow death,” said AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox in a Dec. 15 statement. “We refused to let that happen and we’ll fight every day until 2013 to make sure it doesn’t.” VA announced plans to eliminate inpatient, emergency, and surgical services at the medical center in September, but backed away after protests from the veterans’ community and VA employees. AFGE also filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office on Oct. 21, questioning whether VA could make the move without consulting House and Senate Veterans Affairs committee members. The union said that the proposed changes at Salisbury largely are driven by a new VA leasing program that emphasizes leasing facilities or purchasing care from outside providers, while downsizing efforts to construct new facilities. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=915.

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GAO: Many SES Members Clustered at Top of Rating Scale

A majority of Senior Executive Service (SES) members at six agencies sampled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had performance ratings near the top of two ranking scales, said a GAO report released on Dec. 15. Such clustering of SES performance ratings raises questions about the extent to which meaningful distinctions based on relative performance are being made at those agencies, the report said. GAO looked at the policies in place for a half-dozen agencies—the Departments of Defense, Energy, State and Treasury; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and the Agency for International Development (AID)—that require senior executives’ performance expectations to be aligned with organizational results. In general, all of the agencies had programs in place that made meaningful distinctions in senior executive performance, and five of the selected agencies have appropriate tier structures or prescribed performance payout ranges. However, at almost all of the agencies, the highest-performing executives rated as “outstanding” (Level 5) made up the greatest percentage of eligible executives receiving bonuses—and they also had the largest bonuses on average, the report said. For example, at the State Department and AID, about 69 percent and 60 percent of senior executives, respectively, received the top performance rating. GAO recommended that the Office of Personnel Management provide specific guidance to agencies on how to make meaningful distinctions in senior executive performance—while avoiding the perception of forced distributions of performance ratings. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d0982.pdf.

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DoD Releases 2009 BAH Rates

Servicemembers will receive an average housing allowance increase of 6.9 percent next year under new Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates released Dec. 15 by DoD. The new rates take effect Jan. 1. For servicemembers with dependents, average increases in the BAH are approximately $95 per month. A typical junior enlisted servicemember with dependents, for example, will find his or her BAH about $68 per month higher than last year, while a senior non-commissioned officer with dependents will receive about $93 more than last year, DoD said. Total housing costs are calculated for six housing profiles (based on dwelling type and number of bedrooms) in each military housing area. The BAH rates are then calculated for each pay grade, both with and without dependents. An estimated $17.4 billion will be paid to nearly 950,000 service members in 2009, DoD said. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12391.

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Army Creates Virtual Recruiting Center

Federal Computer Week—A virtual Army recruiting center will be launched on Second Life in January 2009, according to the Army Training and Doctrine Command. Two islands will be on the Second Life virtual platform, the command said Dec. 10. Second Life is a virtual world where users are able to interact with each other through avatars. The Army Second Life islands will be information hubs for interested candidates and their families. It is designed to be a relaxed way to learn more about what it is like to be a soldier, command officials said. Army recruiters will be available to answer questions about career opportunities in that service. To see the rest of this story, go to: www.fcw.com/online/news/154660-1.html.

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