FederalDaily - May 5, 2005
Conferees Agree on Emergency Funding
The Senate and House conferees agreed on May 3 to an $82.04 billion FY 2005
Emergency Supplemental bill, including funding for defense-related activities
and the global war on terrorism. The bill was filed in the House and the
Senate will take up the measure early next week. It authorizes $17,447 million
for military personnel, $211 million for the Defense Health Program, $389 million
for extra funding for enhanced life insurance and death gratuity benefits and
$291 for troop housing. The bill authorizes the Department of Defense to increase
to $500,000 the amount that can be paid to surviving families of deceased servicemen. Also,
a traumatic injury protection provision was included in the conference bill
that provides for additional insurance against traumatic injuries, up to $100,000. The
bill contains language that extends the period of temporary basic allowance
for housing for dependents of members of the armed forces who die on active
duty. The bill also includes $274 for 500 border patrol agents, 50 immigration
and customs investigators, 168 enforcement agents and detention officers, and
1,950 detention beds.
:: Back to Top ::
Scorecard Shows Agency Improvements
Federal agencies have improved more than a dozen progress scores, according
to the latest scorecard released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
For example, the Department of Education Federal Student Aid program showed “outstanding
improvement” by achieving green status and being removed from the Government
Accountability Office’s (GAO) high risk list. Also, the Department of
Defense Military Housing program upgraded to a green status score. The program
successfully demonstrated an ability to privatize or eliminate all inadequate
military family housing by FY 2007. The Departments of State and Labor lead
the Federal government with four green status scores and five green progress
scores. The scorecard also indicates a decline in 19 progress scores. The scorecard
can be viewed at: www.whitehouse.gov/results/agenda/scorecard.html.
:: Back to Top ::
DoD Resumes Anthrax Vaccinations
The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on May three it is resuming its
Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP). The under secretary of defense
for personnel and readiness signed a memorandum on April 29 saying military
commanders may resume the vaccination program upon authorization by their service. The
directive memos also will be available at: www.anthrax.mil/eua.
Servicemembers will have the option to refuse the vaccination without penalty.
Personnel will also be informed about the vaccine’s benefits and side
effects before they are asked to decide about vaccination, according to DoD.
Vaccinations will mostly be limited to military units designated for homeland
bioterrorism defense and to U.S. forces assigned to the Central Command area
of responsibility and Korea.
:: Back to Top ::
USPS Seeks Feedback on Phase 2 of Transformation
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is seeking input from customers as it moves
into the second phase of its Strategic Transformation Plan 2006-2010. During
the first phase in the last three years, USPS said key achievements included
debt reduction of $9.5 billion, net income of $6.3 billion, productivity gains
of 5.2 percent and the elimination of accumulated deficits. USPS is on track
to achieve or exceed the 2006 target in the Transformation Plan of $16 billion
cumulative and $5 billion incremental annual savings earlier than was planned,
the agency announced. Customers can submit comments through May 15, 2005, by
e-mailing transform@usps.gov or mailing
comments to: USPS Office of Strategic Planning, Stakeholder Feedback, Room
5142, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C., 20260-5142.
:: Back to Top ::
|
