Thursday federal headlines – March 3, 2016

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive.

• A leading Silicon Valley executive will lead a new Defense Innovation Advisory Board. Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt will be serve along with 11 other people yet to be named. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he hopes the board will enhance the Department’s ability to adopt new technology faster and generally become more agile. The board will advise the department on rapid prototyping, mobile and cloud technologies, and organizational information sharing. (Defense Department)

• Elliot Branch, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for acquisition and procurement, defends the sometimes frustrating bid protests. Speaking on a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Branch said the protest process helps ensure integrity in procurement, even if it causes delays and can be open to abuse. (CSIS)

• Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced legislation to solidify protections for federal employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act looks to codify existing anti-discrimination policy. Supporters want to make sure future presidents can’t roll back those policies. (Rep. Tammy Duckworth)

• Agencies will soon be able to share information with each other about qualified job applicants. The Competitive Service Act cleared the House and now heads to President Obama’s desk. Agencies can share information about job candidates with each other under current law, meaning they can’t tap into the a qualified pool of people for other jobs at another agency. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) sponsored the bill. The Senate version had a bipartisan group of seven sponsors. (Rep. Gerry Connolly)

• Two federal real property bills pass the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act would streamline federal leasing and encourage agencies to consolidate office space. The Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act would establish a Public Buildings Reform Board  to identify opportunities to trim inventory. (Congress)

• Women-owned small businesses won a higher percentage of government contracts in fiscal 2015 than ever before. The Small Business Administration said agencies awarded a little more than 5 percent of all eligible federal contracts to women. This achievement was one of four highlighted by SBA. Agencies also awarded more contracts to small businesses, easily surpassing the governmentwide goal of 23 percent. Service disabled veteran-owned firms and small disadvantaged businesses also topped their respective goals for 2015.

• The Library of Congress is trying to get back on track in how it uses technology. After a harsh GAO report in 2015, the Library issued its IT strategic plan yesterday detailing  how it will modernize its infrastructure and systems. The plan calls for the Library to embrace cloud services, and utilize mobile technologies. The Library also would prioritize data integrity and security controls while phasing out legacy systems. The Copyright Office will lead the modernization effort in four phases with initial capabilities coming on line in three years. (GPO)

• The Arizona Republic reports Sharon Helman has pleaded guilty to lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts from a lobbyist. Helman was director of the VA’s Phoenix Health Care system. She’d been fired when long patient-wait times and falsified lists came to light. The gifts, from former boss Dennis Lewis, amounted to $50,000 and included a car. Helman’s plea gives her probation rather than time in prison. (Arizona Republic)

• The Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics says “revolving door” laws are too stringent and are keeping talent from serving in the government. Frank Kendall said the laws do little for ethics. But the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found 84 percent of senior officials leaving the department had at least one specific company or organization in mind, and defense companies dominated the list of prospective employers. (Federal News Radio)

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