FederalDaily - April 15, 2005
USPS in Overdrive for Tax Day
On any given day, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)responds
to about 150,000 calls from customers—but that number is expected to
swell to more than 500,000 on April 15, tax day. Almost 75 percent of those
calls will be from people looking for the nearest post office and its hours
of operation. And almost 90 percent of those callers will hear the information
they requested from an agent within 20 seconds of dialing 1-800-ASK-USPS. More
than 538,200 calls were logged last year on April 15. USPS will be extending
hours of operations for people wanting to mail their taxes. Also, taxpayers
may call and speak to a Spanish-language operator or use TTY or TDD options.
The IRS estimates that, on average, 10 percent of Americans wait until the
last day to file or mail their taxes or ask for an extension. That means USPS
will handle more than 6.5 million tax forms on April 15.
:: Back to Top ::
Bill Would Require Transportation Benefits
Last month a bill was introduced that would require that transit pass transportation
fringe benefits be available to all qualified federal employees in the National
Capital Region. The bill would also allow passenger carriers which are owned
or leased by the government to be used to transport government employees between
their place of employment and mass transit facilities. The bill, H.R. 1283,
was introduced by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. It has been referred to the House Committee
on Government Reform.
:: Back to Top ::
House Committee Passes Postal Reform Bill
The House Government Reform Committee recently unanimously passed USPS reform
legislation. If it becomes law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
would modernize the USPS for the first time in more than 35 years. “In
the 10 years that I have been working in Congress to enact postal reform, we
have never had a more workable, effective piece of reform legislation on the
table,” said Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., one of the bill’s sponsors.
The bill would make pre-approval for bonuses easier. It also authorizes the
Postal Service Board of Governors to compensate no more than a dozen senior
executives at higher levels of pay than permitted under current law.
:: Back to Top ::
Whistleblower Protection Passes Senate Committee
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously
approved the Federal Employees Protection of Disclosure Act, S. 494, on April
13. The bill would amend the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) by ensuring
protection against reprisal for federal employees who disclose government wrongdoing
publicly. Under the current version of the WPA, from 1994-2004, of the 97 claimants
bringing cases to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, only one has prevailed
on the merits, according to the Government Accountability Project (GAP), which
supports the new bill. GAP said S. 494 would establish reasonable burdens of
proof, close the coverage loopholes, restore access to appeals courts and extend
protection to national security whistleblowers that lose their security clearances.
:: Back to Top ::
|
