FederalDaily - February 15, 2006

GAO Analyzes Federal Spending on PR

From fiscal year 2003 through the second quarter of fiscal year 2005 the federal government obligated $1.62 billion toward media contracts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last month in a report submitted to Congress. Seven agencies—the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs—accounted for nearly all federal spending on media, with a majority of the funds going to public relations and advertising firms. More than 90 percent of media contracts went through a competition process. GAO gathered the information from the Federal Procurement Data System and questionnaires submitted to each agency. The full report is available at www.gao.gov/new.items/d06305.pdf.

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Chertoff Announces FEMA Improvement Strategy

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hopes to increase its budget by 10 percent from the previous fiscal year to improve its information technology, procurement system and recovery capabilities, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced on Monday. Chertoff highlighted several planned FEMA initiatives, including:

• designing and installing a new procurement system to better track shipments and inventories and maximize readiness;
• improving the customer service system and processes for increased disaster assistance capabilities and fraud prevention;
• enhancing communications to ensure timely and accurate awareness of disaster conditions; and
• streamlining contracting and reimbursement procedures for more efficient debris removal.

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MREs Sold on eBay

Some servicemembers are selling military Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE) rations on the electronic auction Web site eBay, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in testimony before Congress. After one day of investigations, GAO confirmed that eight of the 12 individuals being monitored were selling MREs over the Internet. Two of the MRE sellers were victims of Hurricane Katrina. Three of the MRE sellers are active duty military—one in the National Guard, one in the Marine Corps and one in the Air Force. The Marine Corps member is already under investigation, and GAO suspected that the other servicemembers violated orders or obtained the MREs illegally. GAO referred those cases and several others to the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. The full report is available at www.gao.gov/new.items/d06410r.pdf.

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Pay Raises for Federal Judges

Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and John Kerry, D-Mass., this week introduced legislation to provide a 16 percent increase in the salary of federal judges. The senators said judges are leaving the federal bench in greater numbers now more than ever before. Since 1990, 92 judges have left the bench, and of those 21 left before reaching retirement age. Their new bill would:

• increase the salaries of all federal judges by 16.5 percent;
• terminate the linkage of congressional pay increases to judicial pay increases, so that Congress’ decision to deny itself pay raises will not also affect federal judges; and
• provide federal judges with annual cost of living adjustments based on the Employee Cost Index, an index already used by the federal government to help federal salaries keep up with inflation.

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