Federal Daily - June 2, 2009

Cash Bonus to Take Place of Stop Loss for National Guard

The Army National Guard on Sept. 1 will begin offering $6,000 cash bonuses to National Guard troops who deploy past their end-of-service dates, the National Guard Personnel office said on May 29. The Deployment Extension Stabilization Pay program replaces the Stop Loss program and pays a cash bonus to National Guard servicemembers in units set to deploy who elect to stay in past their end-of-service date in order to deploy, said Col. Marianne Watson, Army National Guard personnel officer. The bonus is not a lump-sum payment, and the amount of the incentive depends upon when the servicemember decides to extend their enlistment contract. For example, servicemembers who extend from 180 days to 365 days (prior to the mobilization date) will be offered $500 a month for each month they are in active duty status. The stop loss program has been used since 9/11 to extend servicemembers in critical jobs past the end of their enlistment contract. Those who elect to take advantage of this program would have their enlistment contracts extended for the length of the deployment plus 90 days, said Watson. However, those who have an enlistment contract that expires during the deployment and who choose not to extend may still have to deploy, Watson said. “The Guard program provides stabilization for units in the deployment window,” said Watson. To see more, go to: www.ngb.army.mil/news/archives/2009/05/052909-Cash.aspx.

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White House Broadens Recovery Act Lobbying Restrictions

The White House on May 29 issued new rules which expand some restrictions on lobbying for projects to be awarded by federal agencies under the $787 billion economic stimulus package. All people will now be forbidden to have oral conversations with administration officials about competitive projects funded by the Recovery Act, according to a memo posted online by Norm Eisen, the White House ethics official who has overseen the restrictions. Under a previous administrative mandate issued in March by President Obama, the prohibition on such conversations exclusively applied to registered federal lobbyists. However, the new ban only applies to discretionary grants that are awarded by a federal agency via a Recovery Act competition, the memo said. Registered lobbyists are now free to discuss with federal officials any other part of the stimulus package besides the competitive grants. The ban on oral communications on such grants runs from the time a grants application is filed until just before the awards are made, the memo said. The White House policy change narrows the circumstances when the oral communications ban applies—just during the time after a specific application is filed, said Michael Macleod-Ball, ACLU Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel. The ACLU had opposed the original lobbying ban as an infringement of free speech.  “The White House took a welcomed first step in reforming its lobbying restrictions,” said Macleod-Ball. To see more, go to: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Update-on-Recovery-Act-Lobbying-Rules-New-Limits-on-Special-Interest-Influence or www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/39698prs20090529.html.

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OPM Document Outlines Creditable Service Details

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on May 29 posted on its Web site a set of questions and answers that address issues related to creditable service for annual leave accrual. While the OPM document—posted last week under the site’s “What’s New at OPM” section—is not new, it does furnish answers to 18 common questions that today’s wave of newly appointed or reappointed federal employees may have on how and when they can receive credit for non-federal service or active duty uniformed service to determine annual leave accrual rates. To see the page, go to: www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2005/2005-07_QA.asp.

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