MD and VA lawmakers want bigger raise for feds in 2017

In today's Top Federal Headlines, Senators and Representatives from Maryland and Virginia plead with President Obama for a bigger pay raise for federal employee...

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In today’s Top Federal Headlines, senators and representatives from Maryland and Virginia plead with President Barack Obama for a bigger pay raise for federal employees next year.

  • Both Maryland and Virginia senators want President Barack Obama to authorize a new pay raise for federal employees in 2017. In a letter to him, Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) say all civilian feds should get a 2.1 percent raise next year. They say that all feds should get the same increase. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also signed the letter. Obama authorized a 1.6 percent raise in 2017. But military members will a 2.1 percent raise. (Sen. Ben Cardin)
  • The American Federation of Government Employees said it’s already talking to Republican and Democratic lawmakers about a 2018 pay raise for feds. AFGE National President J. David Cox said pay must go up by 1.9 percent in 2018, according to the pay schedule formula. But he believes he can help strike a deal to get feds more. He said he’s hopeful about the impact the Donald Trump administration will have on his members and the issues important to them. (Federal News Radio)
  • The Defense Department has said it expects to forgive the debts of most of the 17,000 National Guard members who were ordered to repay their recruiting bonuses. The Pentagon said its initial review shows the vast majority of the improper payments were because of missing paperwork or other situations in which troops got the bonuses through no fault of their own. Officials said they expect to be able to whittle those cases down to about 2,000 that need more investigation. Most of the improper payments originated in the California National Guard, which found poor oversight within its own program. Several generals have already been fired there, another 26 people have been convicted of fraud and other charges. (Federal News Radio)
  • There’s potential telework and time attendance abuse at the Patent and Trademark Office. A congressional oversight committee investigates reports that more than $18 million was wasted on falsified examiner hours. Patent officials said  the incidents are limited to a handful of individuals, rather than proof of a widespread problem. (Federal News Radio)
  • House members have introduced legislation on election tampering. Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) are announcing a bill Wednesday to address foreign interference in the 2016 elections. The legislation comes as other House lawmakers ask President Obama for a classified briefing regarding Russian influence on the election. (Rep. Steny Hoyer)
  • Changing the culture around cybersecurity takes more than just training. Rod Turk, acting deputy chief information officer for the Commerce Department, said cybersecurity culture goes as deep as coding. He said agencies can no longer think of security as an add-on when coding, and it needs to be planned, built-in early and upfront. (Federal News Radio)
  • A solution has emerged to the challenge of moving agencies to shared services. The Unified Shared Services Management Office released a new vision for shared services across government. The USSM said the goal is to ease the burden of funding IT upgrades for federal shared service providers. It also will give industry a larger role in bringing innovation to the government. The USSM wants to implement a subscription based model for human resources, financial management and other common back-office services. Under this approach, federal providers would serve as an integrator of sorts for the assorted private sector services that reside in the cloud. (General Services Administration)
  • If programs are the basic building blocks of government, should program managers get more care and feeding? The Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act passed the House last year and the Senate, unanimously, last week. The President is expected to sign it. It creates a career path and job series for program managers. It requires agencies to appoint a senior executive concerned with program management. And it sets up an inter-agency council of program managers.
  • Internal agency documents uncovered by USA TODAY reveal the Veterans Affairs Department’s use of a star-rating system for gauging its medical centers. Centers can be rated from one to five stars. Many of the highest-rated ones are located in the northeast and upper Midwest, while hospitals in Dallas, Nashville, and Phoenix received one-star ratings. Undersecretary for Health David Shulkin said the ratings are used to show where improvements are made more than a ranking tool. (USA TODAY)

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