FederalDaily - August 22, 2006

New Law Expands IRA Options for Military

The IRS is giving a break to military service members serving in hot combat zones by allowing them to put money into individual retirement accounts (IRAs), even if they received tax-free combat pay. The IRS said on Aug. 18 that Under the Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities (HERO) Act, taxpayers now can count tax-free combat pay when determining whether they qualify to contribute to either a Roth or traditional IRA. Previously, members of the military whose earnings came entirely from tax-free combat pay generally were barred from using IRAs to save for retirement. The HERO Act also allows military personnel who received tax-free combat pay in either 2004 or 2005 to go back and make IRA contributions for those years. To see more information, go to: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=161175,00.html.

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USPS To Begin Negotiations with Its Four Largest Unions

For the first time, the U.S. Postal Service will engage in separate contract negotiations with its four largest labor unions at the same time. Current contracts with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC); American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) all expire at midnight Nov. 20, 2006. The Postal Service said the following schedule has been set for negotiation opening sessions: Aug. 21, NPMHU; Aug. 25, NRLCA; Aug. 28, NALC; and Aug. 29, APWU. The four unions account for more than 99.5% of the Postal Service’s 676,000 bargaining unit employees. For more, go to www.usps.com/communications/news/press/2006/pr06_050.htm.

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GSA Offers Agencies Shared-Services Implementation of New ID Cards

The General Services Administration (GSA) on Aug. 18 announced it has awarded a contract to BearingPoint under which agencies in the same geographic location will be able to share implementation services to provide federal employees and contractors with new identity cards that comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12). GSA said it expects participating agencies that share services provided through GSA's HSPD-12 shared-services office to be able to issue the new cards by Oct. 27, 2006—the deadline set by the Office of Management and Budget. HSPD-12-compliant cards eventually will be interoperable among agencies, and will enable secure identity services across agency networks and the Internet.

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