FederalDaily - June 9, 2005
OMB Touts Competitive Sourcing Successes
Competitive sourcing is generating significant savings, according to a report
released on June 7 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The report
details results of competitive sourcing in federal agencies and shows that
public-private competitions in FY 2004 are expected to yield $1.4 billion in
savings over the next five years. “Competition has opened the door to
new and better ways of completing jobs in government,” said David Safavian,
OMB’s administrator for federal procurement policy. According to OMB,
taxpayers save $22,000 in annualized net savings for every job examined through
competition, regardless of whether the work stays in-house or goes to the private
sector. Activities showing the highest savings after competition include information
technology, maintenance and property management, logistics, human resources
and finance and accounting. In-house government sources offered the best service
for more than 90 percent of the positions competed in FY 2004, the OMB report
said. To read the report, go to www.omb.gov.
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DoD Subpoenaed for BRAC Documents
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan
Collins, R-Maine, and Ranking Member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., on June 7 issued
a subpoena to obtain additional documents from the Department of Defense (DoD)
that are related to the military base closure process. They have been threatening
a subpoena, and DoD has issued more and more relevant information in
the past weeks. However, the two senators said DoD has been slow to
release this information. According to the senators, federal law requires
DoD to release all documents related to the base realignment and closure
(BRAC) process. "The law is clear about the department's obligations,
and further foot-dragging cannot be tolerated,” Collins and Lieberman
stated.
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Agencies’ Funding Threatened Over Telework
The House version of the FY 2006 Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations
Bill, which was approved on June 7 by the full Appropriations Committee, includes
language requiring several federal agencies to prove their number of teleworkers
is increasing—or risk losing funding. Last year, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.,
inserted language in the FY 2005 spending bill requiring that the Departments
of Justice, State and Commerce along with the Small Business Administration
and the Securities and Exchange Commission certify that their eligible workers
are permitted to telework, or each forfeit $5 million at the end of the fiscal
year. For more on this story, see the upcoming June 13, 2005, issue of Federal
Employees News Digest. To subscribe, click here.
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Crediting Military Retirees Medicare Premiums
Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., announced on June 7 that the federal government
will refund Medicare Part B premium overpayments to more than 500 military
retirees and spouses by the end of this month, reversing an earlier decision
to credit the amounts to Medicare premiums due in future months. Citing
lengthy delays, Cardin has been urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services to complete implementation of the 2003 Medicare law, which eliminates
normal Medicare Part B late enrollment penalties for approximately 84,000 military
retirees enrolled in TRICARE-for-Life. More than 17,000 checks totaling approximately
$5.2 million have already been mailed, but Cardin said more than 500 seniors
who do not receive monthly Social Security benefits have not received their
refunds. CMS had decided not to issue these beneficiaries a refund, but instead
to “credit” their refund amount to future premiums due, which Cardin
said was unfair.
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