FederalDaily - July 28, 2005
Houses Passes Postal Reform; Administration Threatens
Veto
Although it would seem that legislation overhauling the U.S. Postal Service
(USPS) moved closer to passage when the House passed it on July 26, the threat
of a presidential veto is still looming. After under three hours of debate,
the House passed H.R. 22, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act by
a vote of 410 – 20. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who introduced the bill, said
it represents “our best chance at solving the structural, legal and financial
constraints that have brought the Postal Service to the brink of utter breakdown.” One
major provision of the bill would give responsibility for funding the military
cost of USPS retirees’ pensions to the Treasury Department (currently
USPS has responsibility for this cost). For more on this story, see the upcoming
Aug. 1, 2005, issue of Federal Employees News Digest.
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Dole Proposes Armed Forces Protection Bill
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., on Monday proposed legislation to provide consumer
lending protection for members of the armed services. The measure was proposed
as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2006. Dole’s amendment would provide new consumer lending protection
for consumer credit extended to a servicemember or a servicemember’s
dependent. The measure would cap interest rates charged on loans and includes
significant penalties for lenders who violate the mandatory disclosure requirements
and interest rate caps. “Recent studies indicate that some lenders are
blatantly targeting service men and women, and we must put a stop to this egregious
practice,” said Dole.
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Probing VA’s Patient Estimates
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined with several other Senators, on July 26 requested
an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the process
used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to estimate the number of patients
expected to seek health care services when making their annual budget determinations.
Last month, the Senate passed emergency supplemental funding for the VA to
fix a shortfall of more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2005. One of the primary
reasons for the shortfall, Durbin said, was the VA’s significant underestimation
of the number of recently returned veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
who would seek health care from the VA. “We are concerned that there
may be a systemic problem in the way that the department develops and validates
its patient estimates and that this may in turn be producing faulty budgets,” the
Senators’ letter to GAO stated.
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OPM Preparedness Survey Results
The Office of Personnel Management conducted a survey asking federal agencies
what steps they have taken to prepare for natural and man-made emergencies.
The 2005 survey responses showed:
- more than 95 percent of all agencies conducted evacuation
drills in the past year;
- 60 percent of all agencies have conducted shelter-in-place
drills in the past year;
- almost 95 percent of agencies have tested fire safety and
public address systems;
- almost 90 percent of agencies distributed emergency guides
to employees;
- more than 75 percent of agencies met with employees to discuss
risks and contingency plans; and
- roughly 90 percent of agencies sought employee input on improving
emergency plans and procedures, and more than 95 percent of
agencies contact all employees when emergency plans or procedures
change.
For more on the survey, go to www.opm.gov/emergency/EPSurvey2005/.
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