Federal Daily - October 8, 2009

Agencies Wrestle with In-Sourcing Guidelines

Civilian agencies are struggling with creating and implementing policies to reduce the government’s reliance on private contractors and bring back in house inherently governmental work that can be performed by federal employees, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report, released Oct. 6, looked at the progress agencies had made in meeting a July deadline for devising and implementing guidelines for in-sourcing new and contracted-out functions. None of the nine civilian agencies GAO visited—the Department of Energy, the General Services Administration, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Justice; NASA, and the Departments of State, Transportation and Veterans Affairs—met statutory requirements to develop and implement timely in-sourcing guidelines. Reasons varied, the report said. Some agency officials told auditors they were waiting for additional Office of Management Budget guidance and clarification regarding outsourcing and how to define inherently governmental functions, while others noted that developing effective in-sourcing guidelines is complex and involves many agency functions. One overarching factor GAO found is that the current agency culture is geared toward outsourcing and the hiring of private contractors. According to the report, “shifting to in-sourcing and a ‘total workforce’ approach—that considers both contractors and federal employees—will take time and requires flexibility to meet the needs of an agency within an ever-changing environment.” Over the last five years, civilian agencies have on average annually spent about $100 billion to obtain a range of services from contractors. However, earlier this year President Obama issued a memorandum on government contracting that expressed concerns as to whether agencies have become over-reliant on contractors. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d1058r.pdf.

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DOL Schedules Federal Disability Employment Jobs Fair

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) on Oct. 6 announced it will sponsor and organize a day-long federal government job fair early next year for people with disabilities. ODEP said it will collaborate with a series of agencies—including the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and DoD’s Computer and Electronic Accommodations Program—to present workshops at the job fair. These will include forums on Schedule A hiring authority, the right to the provision of reasonable accommodation, and information on assistive and communications technology. “At the Department of Labor, our goal is good jobs for everyone, and we mean people with disabilities too,” said DOL Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Kathy Martinez. To see more, go to: www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/odep/ODEP20091228.htm.

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NTEU Applauds Effort to Extend FEHBP Age Cap

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) applauded an effort by lawmakers to extend the age cap for health care coverage for dependent children under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) to age 26. The current cap is 22, which is largely inadequate for families covered under FEHBP, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. Four House members—Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Pa., Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.—are circulating a letter to include the cap language in the House health care reform package, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200). The lawmakers said that young adults between 19 and 29 comprise one of the largest segments of the U.S. population without health insurance—often losing coverage at age 19. This amounts to nearly 30 percent of all Americans lacking health coverage, they said. The issue affects many federal families, Kelley said. “Whether it affects a college student in a program extending beyond the traditional four years, or impacts a young adult just starting in the job market, this issue is real, it is serious and it is growing.” Kelley noted that approximately 30 states have changed their state laws to increase the age cap for health coverage of young adults still on their parents’ policies in the private sector. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1480.

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