Federal Daily - April 20, 2009
PEER: Federal Whistleblower Protection Falling Behind States
Federal whistleblower protections are falling behind those available for state government employees, according to a government and environmental watchdog group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Numerous states have enacted laws in recent years, improving protections for civil servants who report waste, fraud and abuse, according to the group. Though the group acknowledged that state whistleblower protections vary, “several states are enacting safeguards that surpass those afforded to federal employees,” PEER said in a release. PEER began systematically tracking state laws in 2006. Since that time Minnesota and Wisconsin enacted protections for “scientists confronting suppression or manipulation of technical findings,” the group said, while another two states, New Hampshire and South Dakota, passed laws protecting employees’ free speech rights. Finally, PEER noted, 12 states now protect employees who disclose violations of health and safety regulations. “Whistleblower laws are a telling measure of transparency and accountability,” stated PEER Staff Counsel Christine Erickson, who compiled recent state legislation. “These laws open secure channels for public servants to communicate with their true employers—the citizens who pay their salaries.” For more, go to: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1181
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House Committee Seeks GAO Study of Coast Guard Diversity
Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure April 15 asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the efficacy of the Coast Guard’s efforts to improve civil rights and increase diversity in its ranks. In a letter to GAO’s acting Comptroller General, Gene Dodaro, committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., and the Committee’s ranking member, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., asked for the GAO probe in the wake of an outside study critical of the Coast Guard’s diversity efforts. The letter noted that the study—completed in February by a private contractor—found that the Coast Guard and its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) have “a number of shortcomings.” The study found that the Coast Guard “fails to fully protect the confidential personal information of Coast Guard employees,” the letter said. The service also did not conduct thorough analyses of barriers to equal opportunity in employment, nor did it develop specific plans to bring those barriers down. In addition, the personnel charged with protecting the civil rights of servicemembers are not adequately trained. OCR told lawmakers it is attempting to improve matters and a subcommittee is scheduled to hold a follow-up hearing on June 15 to assess the Coast Guard’s efforts in resolving these deficiencies, lawmakers said. To see more, go to: http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=882.
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Lawmaker Asks IGs For Update On 13,847 Open Recommendations
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on April 16 sent letters to 73 federal Inspectors General (IG), asking them to asses the status of thousands of unimplemented IG recommendations that were left over from the previous administration. In his letter, Issa asked the IGs to list all open recommendations each had under their jurisdiction, the estimated monetary benefit and how quickly each recommendation could be implemented. “Unimplemented IG recommendations need to be treated as more than just a legacy of the last administration. They are a roadmap for reform of the federal bureaucracy,” said Issa. “Understanding the benefits and a reasonable timeline for implementing each recommendation will add transparency and accountability to problems within our government.” Issa said his letter is a follow-up to a report issued earlier this year by the House Oversight Committee, which noted that between Jan. 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2008, the Bush administration failed to implement 13,847 recommendations—which, the committee concluded, could have saved taxpayers $25.9 billion. Almost half of these recommendations were made over a year ago, and more than a quarter were made over two years ago. To see more, go to:
http://issa.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=News.PressReleases&
ContentRecord_id=afd1191c-19b9-b4b1-12ab-48e97ed235eb&Region
_id=&Issue_id=&CFID=1346473&CFTOKEN=87269940 or http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2302.
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