FederalDaily - May 27, 2005

OPM Reports on Minority Recruitment

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) just issued its report on the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (FEORP) in FY 2004. The FEORP is a recruitment program designed to eliminate under-representation of minorities and women in federal service. The FY 2004 FEORP report made three major findings:

• The representation of minorities in the federal government increased from 30.9 percent in 2003 to 31.5 percent in 2004.
• Overall, minority groups are better represented in the federal workforce than in the civilian labor force, with the exceptions of Hispanics and women.
• The representation of women in minorities in GS 13-15 increased from 2003 to 2004.

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Boosting Retirement Savings for Reservists

The Treasury Department and IRS issued proposed regulations on May 25 that will allow National Guard and Reserve members to continue to contribute to their employer's retirement plans while on active duty. "We believe it is important that members of the National Guard and Reserve not lose the opportunity to save for retirement while they are serving our country," said Eric Solomon, Treasury's Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Treasury said plan administrators can rely on the new proposed regulations immediately to allow servicemembers to contribute to qualified retirement plans. The proposed regulations will go into effect beginning in 2007. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for August 17.

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Squeezing More Out of Agencies

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is once again instructing federal agencies on how to save money. The federal government spends approximately $300 billion on goods and services each year, according to OMB. Now there is a new requirement that agencies use “strategic sourcing” to leverage buying power. Agencies have to analyze what it spends and use that information to come up with new strategies to reduce the prices for goods it buys. A memorandum OMB sent to agencies asks agencies to identify three commodities by October 1 that could be purchased “more effectively and efficiently.” Also, beginning in January 2006, each agency will have to report annually on reductions in the prices of goods and services it acquires, reductions in the cost of doing business and improvements in performance.

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500 Veterans Play Golden Games

A record number of veterans age 55 and older have registered to compete in the 19 th annual National Veterans Golden Age Games. This year's event includes competition in 14 sports, such as swimming, bicycling, discus, shot put, bowling and golf.  It is open to all  U.S. military veterans age 55 or older who are receiving care at any Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility. More than 550 participants have signed up. This year's program will be held May 21-26 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., as well as other local venues. The games are sponsored by the VA, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Ladies Auxiliary, and the Veterans Canteen Service.

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