FederalDaily - June 24, 2005
New TSP Call Center Coming
Soon
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) announced a new contract
to set up another Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) call center for federal employees.
The new center will be in Clintwood, Va. Currently there is a call center in
Cumberland, Md. According to the FRTIB, each of the two centers will provide
disaster recovery relief for the other. This way, callers will continue to
receive service in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency at either
site. The new contract is for five years for a total of around $18 million.
The FRTIB said before this contract was signed with SI International of Reston,
Va., the services were costing $12 million a year.
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FSA Deadline Extended for Feds
Following an IRS ruling in May, the Office of Personnel Management has decided
to give federal employees enrolled in the Federal Flexible Spending Account
Program (FSAFEDS) an additional two and a half months in 2006 to use up pre-tax
money they set aside for the 2005 plan year for medical and dependent care
expenses. This will give federal employees a chance to avoid losing money
they don’t spend because of the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule.
OPM is also increasing the annual health care FSA contribution limit from $4,000
to $5,000 beginning in plan year 2006. Employees will also be given an extra
month, until May 31, 2006, to file claims for reimbursement.
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Federal Government Still Lacks Hispanics
Overall Hispanic representation in the federal work force continues to lag
behind when compared to the civilian labor force (CLF), the June 2005 Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) report on Hispanic employment said. Hispanic
employment represents 7.3 percent of the total federal work force and 12.6
percent of the CLF. The total number of government-wide new hires dropped in
fiscal year 2004, according to OPM, so there was a corresponding decrease in
the number of Hispanics hired. Still, OPM reported that the number of Hispanic
new hires did increase last year at the higher grade levels and in senior pay
categories. In a memo accompanying the report, OPM Acting Director Dan Blair
said, “We must improve efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community.”
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GAO Says Government Owns Wasteful Property
In January 2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) designated federal
property as high-risk because of problems with excess and underutilized property
and deteriorating facilities. This week, GAO reported that the federal real
property portfolio includes hundreds of thousands of assets worldwide, including
facilities and land worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Unfortunately, many
of these assets are no longer as useful as they could be, GAO said. “Many
assets are in an alarming state of deterioration; agencies have estimated restoration
and repair needs to be in the tens of billions of dollars,” the report
stated. However, GAO did say some agencies—such as the Department of
Defense—have made progress in addressing property problems, pointing
to the planned round of base realignment and closures in 2005.
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