FederalDaily - July 22, 2005
Administration Opposes 3.1 Percent Raise
On July 19 the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation, Treasury,
and Housing and Urban Development included a 3.1 percent pay raise next year
for federal civilian employees. The Bush administration is opposing a 3.1 percent
raise for civil servants, instead proposing a 3.1 percent raise for military
members and a 2.3 percent raise for civil service employees. In a statement,
the administration said a 3.1 percent pay raise for civil servants would exceed
the average increase in private sector pay. The administration also specifically
stated it opposes the 3.1 percent raise to all civilian employees of the Departments
of Defense and Homeland Security because that would limit the agencies’ flexibility
to use the new pay-for-performance systems they have proposed.
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Preventing Identity Theft During Deployment
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a new way military members
can help minimize the risk of identity theft while they are deployed. An “active
duty” alert on a credit report requires creditors to take extra steps
to verify a person’s identity before granting credit in their name. When
military personnel ask for an “active duty” alert, they receive
a copy of their credit score, and their names are removed from prescreen offer
lists for credit cards or loans. There is information on how military members
can place the alerts on their report, and what happens when there is an alert
at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dutyalrt.htm.
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Senators Propose Increasing Border Employees
A new bill introduced in the Senate authorizes:
- 1,250 new Customs and Border Protection officers to work
at ports of entry;
- $5 billion over five years for accompanying technology (e.g.
cameras and sensors);
- 250 additional Department of Justice immigration judges;
- 500 Department of Homeland Security trial attorneys over
five years;
- 10,000 additional agents over five years to investigate
employers who hire illegal aliens; and
- 1,000 new investigators over five years to detect fraud
in the immigrant application process.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Immigration, Border Security
and Citizenship Subcommittee, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., chairman of the Terrorism,
Technology and Homeland Security Subcommittee, introduced the legislation.
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DOL First to Get Green
The Department of Labor (DOL) is the first federal agency to achieve the
highest score of “green” on all five major government-wide components
of the President's Management Agenda (PMA). The scores were noted in a report
issued by the Office of Management and Budget on PMA scorecard results for
the quarter ending June 30. “This is a tremendous achievement by DOL
employees,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. The PMA contains
five government-wide components as well as a number of agency-specific program
initiatives aimed at improving federal management. The five government-wide
initiatives are: Strategic Management of Human Capital, Budget and Performance
Integration, Improved Financial Performance, Expanded E-Government and Competitive
Sourcing.
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