Federal Managers Association

Please continue to check the FMA Web site at www.fedmanagers.org for the latest updates on this proposal.

FMA LEADERS KEEP BUSY WHILE IN WASHINGTON

During their recent trip to Washington, D.C., the Federal Managers Association leaders, National President Darryl Perkinson and Vice President Jim Mahlmann, took time to meet with both agency and FMA leaders.

On November 5th, Perkinson, along with FMA members and staff, met with Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue to discuss the disability case backlog and staffing problems at the SSA Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). The Commissioner spoke openly about the backlog in ODAR and shared with the group his strategies for fixing the problem, including new medical guidelines and additional Administrative Law Judges. Astrue also discussed the success the agency had on completing cases that were over 1,000 days old. Carmine Borrelli and Kathy Meinhardt, both managers within ODAR, informed the Commissioner about the situation in their respective offices.

Later in the day, Perkinson and Mahlmann, along with FMA’s Government Affairs staff, met with six leaders of the FMA-Department of Agriculture Conference. The two-hour meeting involved a discussion of the priorities of the Conference and how we can pursue outstanding issues on the 2007 Farm Bill. The group also discussed their opinions on rumors of a potential reorganization of USDA.

“I value the time I’m able to spend in Washington,” commented Perkinson. “These meetings not only allow me to discuss FMA priorities with agencies and stakeholders, they also remind me of the dedicated work federal employees perform day in and day out.”

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WHAT’S HAPPENING ON CAPITOL HILL?  

SSA FUNDING INCREASED IN CONFERENCE, APPROPS BILLS STALLED

During consideration of the Fiscal 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043/S. 1710), House and Senate conferees voted to increase by $150 million the amount appropriated for the Social Security Administration's (SSA) administrative expenses account. This increase over the House-passed version of the bill will allow the SSA Office of Disability Adjudication and Review to tackle the nearly 750,000 pending requests for a disability hearing at a much faster rate.

In his FY08 budget request, the President proposed $9.597 billion for SSA Limitation on Administrative Expenses. While this is an increase from his FY07 proposal, and far greater than Congress appropriated for FY07, it still falls short of the SSA Commissioner’s request and prevents the agency from meeting its backlog challenges. Previously, the House approved only $100 million in funding for SSA administrative expenses over the President’s request. Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee went slightly further and allocated $125 million above the budget request. The additional $150 million (and $275 million more than the President’s request) will enable ODAR to dramatically reduce the backlog over the next five years. The House approved the conference report on November 6th. The House decided to maintain SSA funding at the level earmarked by the Senate.

FMA was among forty organizations which sent a letter to House appropriators asking them to support the Senate version of the bill, which originally included the $150 million increase. For a copy of the letter, please visit FMA’s “Members Only” section of the Web site at: www.fedmanagers.org.

In other appropriations news, an effort to combine the Labor/HHS/Education appropriations bill and the Military Construction-Veterans’ Affairs bill (H.R. 2642) has stalled in the Senate. On November 6th, the House of Representatives passed the combined bill, but it did not make it through the Senate. Instead, the Senate sent the Labor/HHS bill back to the House for a stand alone vote. The bill is facing a veto threat from the President and provides for $9.8 billion in spending more than the President requested.

The House and Senate conferees also agreed to the Department of Defense spending measure (H.R. 3222). The $471 billion bill does not include any additional funding for the war in Iraq and provides a 3.5% pay increase for military personnel. The measure also does not include a previously-passed House amendment which would strip funding for the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The House based the conference report on November 8th.

As of now, none of the twelve funding bills have been sent to the President for his signature. For more information on the appropriations bills, please visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/.

ANOTHER CONTINUING RESOLUTION IN THE WORKS

With the stalemate between an uncompromising Congress and a resolute President, none of the twelve fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills have been signed into law. The two branches of government have experienced a pitched battle between competing fiscal priorities. Because of this inability to ameliorate spending differences, the sparring continues and the House passed the continuing resolution via the Department of Defense conference report (H.R. 3222), extending the continuing resolution to December 14th.

Failure to pass appropriations bills before the start of the new fiscal year is far from unusual. Last year, only the Defense and Homeland Security appropriations bills were passed by the October 1st deadline. All other agencies were forced to budget at FY06 levels unless otherwise determined in FY07.

“Agencies are continuing to be hampered by Congress’ inability to get funding bills passed in a timely manner,” commented FMA National President Darryl Perkinson. “Each passing day without a proper budget forces the government to do nothing more than the status quo. I strongly urge Congress to diligently continue work on the FY08 appropriations bills.”

PERSONAL TESTIMONIES ON GPO AND WEP RESONATE WITH SENATE PANEL

Presiding over the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family, Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) convened a hearing last week on the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). 

The Social Security GPO law prevents government retirees (who were first eligible to retire in or after December 1982) from collecting both a government annuity based on their own work and Social Security benefits based on their spouse's work record. It is unfair to many spouses, especially widows, who often lose all of the Social Security protection their husbands had provided for them. Under current law, a Social Security widow’s benefit is reduced by $2 for every $3 earned or eliminated if the widow is eligible for a pension based on a public-sector job that was not covered by Social Security. Some 335,000 beneficiaries are currently affected by the GPO and that number grows by about 15,000 annually. No offset affects spouses receiving pensions from private-sector employers. 

The WEP is another aspect of Social Security that disadvantages many federal retirees receiving Social Security benefits. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefits that federal retirees receive based on the number of years they served in a federal position that did not require their payment of Social Security taxes.

Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Cali.) and Representative Howard Berman (D-Cali.) have introduced legislation (H.R. 82/S. 206) which would eliminate these unfair reductions in benefits for federal employees. 

Senator Susan Collins (R-Me) was the first person to testify before the Subcommittee. Sen. Collins focused on the financial impact the GPO has on government employees. She said the GPO has an acute impact on women, noting that 70 percent of those affected by the inequity are women. She also relayed the personal stories of women living in abject poverty due to the GPO reducing their retirement income.

Priya Sara Mathur , Elected Member on the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), focused her testimony on unequal treatment of government retirees compared to their private sector counterparts. Mathur requested Congress to reform the GPO and WEP so it will not adversely affect the retirement security of other public sector employees. Mathur described the current system as double taxation. Another panelist, Lawrence Thompson, Senior Fellow with the Urban Institute concluded that the GPO and WEP is a form of “rough justice” for public sector employees. 

To review the hearing testimony, please visit: http://www.senate.gov/~finance/index.html. 

For more information about the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, go to: http://www.ssa.gov/.

PANEL HIGHLIGHTS TELEWORKING SUCCESS AND CHALLENGES

The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce held a hearing on November 6th, delving into the telework debate. Chairman Danny Davis (D-Ill.) presided over the hearing, along with Ranking Minority Member Kenny Marchant (R-Tex.) and Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Darrell Issa (R-Cali.). The Subcommittee examined why telework continues to be underutilized by federal agencies and how to allow more federal employees to participate in telework programs. The Subcommittee highlighted the positive attributes of teleworking - increased flexibility for employers and employees, continuity of operations (COOP) during emergencies, and environmental considerations.

According to the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM), only about 119,000 of the approximately 1.8 million federal employees telecommuted in 2005. That figure represents only 6.6 percent of federal employees. Chairman Davis remarked that telework is inconsistently defined across agencies, but many agencies do not have a method to measure or track teleworkers. Davis also mentioned that he would like more agencies to incorporate telework into their COOP.

The first person to testify was Daniel Green, Deputy Associate Director for the Center for Employee and Family Support Policy at OPM, who noted figures, indicated a slight decrease in the total number of federal employee’s teleworking. In 2005, there were 119,248 and in 2006, the number dropped to 111,549. He attributed the decline to data gathering problems and data security dilemmas.

The next person to testify was Stanley Kaczmarczyk, Principal Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Governmentwide Policy, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Kaczmarczyk discussed teleworking’s success hinging on implementation guidance, effective tools, program support, a proactive senior leadership, and cultural change. He claimed that GSA’s goal is to have 50 percent of their eligible employees’ teleworking by 2010. Of the 12,205 employees at GSA, 11,190 or 92 percent are potentially eligible for telework based on their job classification.

The second panel included Margaret Peterlin, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Peterlin described USPTO’s telework program as the poster child for the federal government. She believed that the most important factor for telework’s success was also cultural change among agency managers. This cultural change should focus on performance based results, communicating expectations and managing results.

The third panel included members of the private sector who discussed the merits of teleworking. The Executive Director of the Telework Exchange, Stephen O’Keeffe, reiterated many of the points that were highlighted by the other participants. Ann Bamesberger, Vice President, Open Work Services Group, Sun Microsystems stated that telework is the way to go. She said teleworking has saved her company considerable sums of money and has increased their competitiveness. She said real estate was the second largest expense after salaries for her company and teleworking saved Sun considerable expenses. Haywood Talcove, Vice President, Public Sector Americas, Juniper Networks, said teleworking is the preferred mode of operating for his company. He noted that the number of baby-boomers leaving the federal government will be staggering and teleworking is a great way to retain retirees and obtain new employees. He also highlighted that teleworking is a necessary component to ensure the running of government during a calamity.

For more information on the hearing, please visit: http://oversight.house.gov/.

JUDGE MUKASEY CLEARS SENATE JUDICIARY HURDLE

The SenateJudiciary Committee approved Judge Michael Mikasey on November 6th to be the 81st Attorney General. Mukasey has served on the bench since 1987 when President Reagan nominated him to the U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York. While on the Federal bench, Judge Mukasey received praise for his handling of terrorism-related cases, including the trial of 10 defendants accused of plotting terrorist attacks in New York City and Jose Padilla's challenge to his detention as an enemy combatant.

In addition to judicial responsibilities, Mukasey was a partner in the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb, and Tyler In New York. He returned to his former employer when he retired from the court in 2006. Mukasey was grilled by Committee Democrats for not taking a stand on the interrogation technique conducted by the intelligent services known as “waterboarding,” where drowning is simulated.

For biographical information on Mukasey and his confirmation, please visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/.  

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH?

MORE DEFENSE EMPLOYEES TO CONVERT TO NSPS

In the coming months, an additional 75,000 Department of Defense civilian employees will enter the agency’s new pay-for-performance system (the National Security Personnel System).

The Department of Defense projects 18,175 will enter the system in Spiral 2.1 by the end of this calendar year. An additional 56,969 employees will convert by March 2008 under Spiral 2.2. The two spirals only include non-bargaining unit employees. Pending legislation and federal lawsuits will ultimately determine whether collective bargaining unit employees will enter NSPS.

Unlike their Spiral 1 counterparts, those converted under Spiral 2 will receive the full 2008 pay raise, likely to be 3.5%. Spiral 1, which commenced in April of last year, covers 110,000 employees.

Information on the conversion can be found at: http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/docs/Spiraltwo.pdf.

FEHBP OPEN SEASON UNDERWAY

The Office of Personnel and Management’s (OPM) health benefits Open Season has now arrived! The Open Season program runs from November 12th to December 10th and the policies go into effect January 1, 2008. During this time, federal employees may elect to change their health care coverage.

Premiums for Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) will rise by an average of 2.1 percent in 2008. The portion of that overall premium paid by the government will rise 1.7 percent while the part contributed by enrollees will grow 2.9 percent. For individual enrollees in the FEHBP, this translates to paying an extra $1.58 every two weeks for a total of $59.69. Those with family plans will pay an additional $4.11 for a total of $135.13. Enrollees have a plethora of options, including 283 providers from which to choose. Many plans have held the costs of their programs very near to 2007 levels, but there are some notable exceptions. The Blue Cross Blue Shield standard option, used by more than half of all FEHBP enrollees, will increase 8.1 percent.

The average increase in vision plans will be less than 1 percent. Dental plans will have an average increase of 6.1 percent due to the 9 percent increase in MetLife’s plan. As specified by law, the federal government will not contribute any of its 72 percent to the dental and vision coverage.

The major addition to the Open Season program is the number of high-deductible health programs offered this year. There are now 32 high-deductible FEHBP programs compared to 29 offered last year. High-deductible plans feature health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements. The savings accounts allow enrollees to set aside tax-free dollars for their health needs, and the money invested rolls over annually, regardless of whether participants switch plans or leave the federal government. For 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mandates the maximum a federal employee can deposit into a health savings account is $2,900 for an individual and $5,800 for families. Employees who participate in this program must re-enroll.

Health plan information and explanations are available at: http://www.opm.gov/insure.

FOURTH QUARTER MANAGEMENT SCORECARD RESULTS ARE IN

The Executive Branch Management Scorecard for the fourth quarter was released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on November 5 th. Overall, agencies made significant gains in the e-government category in the last quarter of fiscal year 2007. Four agencies, the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CORP), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) improved to yellow in the final quarter. Two agencies, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Smithsonian Institution climbed to green status. Despite these improvements, four agencies were rated unsatisfactory.

In the controversial initiative known as competitive sourcing, the Department of Education and the DOL increased to green while the General Services Administration (GSA) and SBA dropped to the yellow level. Human capital was the only area without an agency scoring red. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was the only agency to receive a red score in budget and performance integration.

The Department of Defense (DOD), DHS, and OMB were the only agencies that did not receive a green score in any category. The only agency that was rated successful in all categories was DOL.

The Executive Branch Management Scorecard monitors how well the 26 departments and major agencies are executing the government-wide management initiatives as part of the President’s Management Agenda. The initiative monitors the change in an agencies status since it was last evaluated on December 31, 2006. The five initiatives include: human capital, competitive sourcing, financial performance, e-government, and budget and performance integration. The scorecard employs a grading system common today in business: green for success, yellow for mixed results, and red for unsatisfactory.

The scorecard can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/fy07q4_scorecard.pdf.

BUSH NOMINATES TWO MORE TO JOIN HIS CABINET

President Bush continues to nominate more people to fill vacancies in the Administration. On October 30th, Bush tapped retired Army Lieutenant General James Peake to be the next Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Peake is familiar with veterans needs and was the Army Surgeon General for four years before he retired in 2004, with a military career spanning three decades. As Surgeon General, he commanded 50,000 medical personnel and oversaw 16 hospitals across the globe.

Peake is a Vietnam veteran who was wounded in combat. Dr. Peake will be the first physician and the first general to serve as Secretary.

The next day, President Bush nominated former North Dakota governor Ed Schafer to be the next Secretary of Agriculture, replacing Acting Secretary Chuck Conner. As governor, Schafer opened up new markets for North Dakota farmers and ranchers by expanding trade with China. Schafer has to finish the work that his predecessor, Secretary Mike Johanns, began on the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007, H.R. 2419.

Leadership change is also taking place within the Department of Homeland Security. Secretary Michael Chertoff announced on October 29th that Elaine Duke will be DHS’s first Deputy Under Secretary for Management. Elaine has more than 25 years of federal service and was the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). She was also DHS’s Deputy Chief Procurement Officer from October 2004 to January 2006, when she assumed the position as the Chief Procurement Officer.

For more information on the nominations, please visit: www.whitehouse.gov.

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GET INVOLVED AT THESE EVENTS!

PRELIMINARY AGENDA SET FOR FMA’S NATIONAL CONVENTION!

Planning for the Federal Managers Association 70th annual National Convention is underway! The event will take place March 9 – 13, 2008, at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Delegates can expect to receive a wealth of knowledge from private sector and government leaders under this year’s convention theme, Empowering America’s Workforce for the Challenges of Today, Tomorrow and Beyond.

Registration for the convention will be available in the coming weeks. Please continue to check the “Events” section of the FMA Web site, www.fedmanagers.org, for the most up-to-date information. We look forward to seeing you in March!

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Long Term Care Partners, LLC , FMA Corporate Partner.  Long Term Care Partners is the administrator of t he Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.  Sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Program is available to Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees and annuitants, active and retired members of the uniformed services, and their qualified relatives.  With more than 210,000 enrollees, it is the largest employer-sponsored long term care insurance program in the country.  FLTCIP policies are simple to understand and offer enrollees some distinct advantages, including comprehensive coverage, competitive and stable rates, international coverage, and administrative service standards that are the highest in the long-term care insurance industry.  Policies are sold direct through a highly-trained, non-commissioned staff with no high pressure sales tactics – simply sound advice.  Visit www.LTCFEDS.com or http://www.opm.gov/insure/ltc/index.asp for more information.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Federal Employee Program , FMA Sustaining Corporate Partner:  The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association represents the independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. The 40 local member companies of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association have provided millions of families with top-quality, affordable health insurance for more than 70 years.  For the one in four Americans who carry Blue Cross and Blue Shield cards, the Blue Plans symbolize health security.  Visit www.fepblue.org and join the best, most-recognized group of health insurance providers in the world.

Wright & Co. , FMA Sustaining Corporate Partner:  Wright & Co. has provided supplemental insurance programs to the Federal government for over 40 years.  They have built strong relationships with insurance companies and service providers to offer these comprehensive benefits at low, affordable group insurance rates.  Benefits include: Dental Insurance Plans; Term Life Insurance Plans; Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan; and Personal Umbrella Plan.  Wright & Co. is also the originator of the Federal Professional Liability Program and provider of Disability Income Replacement coverage, underwritten by the Hudson Insurance Group, to all Federal employees.  For more information, please visit:  www.wrightandco.com.

GEICO , FMA Corporate Partner:  GEICO was created over 60 years ago to insure Federal employees.  Over the years GEICO has continuously strengthened its affiliation with the Federal workforce.  Today GEICO has a special program established to support the Federal community.  GEICO’s Federal program participates in the following organizations and programs: GEICO Public Service Awards, which  have honored Federal workers (active and retired) who have contributed to the public good since 1980; and GEICO Federal Leave Record Cards, which for over 40 years have been provided by GEICO to Federal employees, free of charge, to help them track their annual leave.  Find out how much you could save with GEICO auto insurance as an FMA member by getting a line-by-line rate quote at:  www.geico.com.

Shaw, Bransford, Veilleux and Roth, P.C. , (SBVR) concentrates its law practice on the representation of Federal employees, with a special emphasis on the representation of executives and managers.  SBVR serves as General Counsel to the Federal Managers Association and is uniquely situated to recognize the interests and viewpoints of Federal managers.  For up to two free half-hour legal consultations and reduced legal fees as an FMA member, please visit:  www.shawbransford.com.

The Federal Managers Association and Management Concepts have teamed up to present the Federal Managers Practicum — a targeted certificate program for Federal managers. As the official development program for FMA, the Federal Managers Practicum helps FMA members develop critical skills to meet new workplace demands and deepen their managerial capabilities.  FMA’s leadership fully recognizes the need to prepare career-minded federal employees to manage the demands of the 21st century workplace with greater competence and fully supports this unique and comprehensive certificate program.  For more information, please visit:  www.managementconcepts.com/fmp/fmpodp.asp.

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The Washington Report is published biweekly by the Federal Managers Association.
Jessica Klement, Editor; FMA Staff Writers.

The Federal Managers Association, established in 1913, is the oldest, largest, most influential association representing the interests of the nearly 200,000 managers, supervisors and executives serving in today’s Federal government.

1641 Prince Street ~ Alexandria VA 22314-2818 ~ (703) 683-8700 ~ FAX (703) 683-8707 ~ E-Mail Info@fedmanagers.org

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