FederalDaily - December 13, 2006
APWU: Reform Bill Bad for Postal Workers
William Burrus, president of the American Postal Workers Union, issued a harsh critique of the new
bill adopted by Congress reforming the United States Postal Service. Under the measure (H.R. 6407),
rate increases must be less than the rate of inflation. This limit on rate increases—without
regard to the actual costs the USPS incurs—will result in an artificial cap on postal workers’ wages,
Burrus said Dec.11. He also noted that the legislation imposes a three-day waiting period for compensation
payments to postal employees who are injured on the job. “The waiting period, which does not
apply to any other federal workers, is inhumane and wrong,” Burrus said. On the other hand, Burrus
said that APWU supported the transfer of USPS retiree military service obligations to Treasury and
the release of the money in the escrow account created after overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement
System fund were discovered. These will be used to fund retiree health benefits. The bill also included
a provision that would require public involvement in plant consolidations, a measure APWU supported.
To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/burrus/2006/update18-2006-111106.htm
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Bush To Extend Combat Pay Tax Break
President Bush is expected to sign a bill that would correct a discrepancy in the U.S. tax code that
penalizes lower-income servicemen and women serving in combat hot zones. Sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor,
D-Ark., the bill would allow soldiers to treat combat pay—which is not taxed—as income
for the purposes of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC element
of the bill was set to expire this year, but the measure extends the credit for another year, Pryor
said Dec. 11. Pryor said he would push for a permanent extension of the legislation in the 110th Congress.
The tax glitch affects as many as 10,000 lower-income soldiers serving in combat zones, who would be
penalized by as much as $4,500 for officers and $3,200 for enlisted members, Pryor said. “This
is make-or-break money for our soldiers and their families," said Pryor. "If we allowed this
tax benefit to expire we would have shortchanged the men and women serving heroically in combat who
are not making much money.” The combat pay tax provision was included in a larger bill that contained
other expiring tax provisions including tax deductions on college tuition and tax breaks for teachers
buying classroom supplies. To see more, go to: http://pryor.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=266827&
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Group Slams "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Firings
In light of the Iraq Study Group report, a gay rights advocacy group is asking that the White House
reconsider its support for the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” ban
on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) noted
on Dec. 8 that the bipartisan study group stressed the military importance of recruiting and retaining
language experts. The study panel said the Pentagon and CIA have too few people with the language skills
to operate effectively in Iraq. SLDN pointed out that in the past few years, the military has fired
more than 300 language experts under “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” including more
than 50 who were fluent in Arabic. “There is no doubt that ‘Don’t ask, don’t
tell’ is hampering our ability to fight the war in Iraq and the war on terror,” said SLDN
executive director C. Dixon Osburn. Experts cited by SLDN estimate there are about 41,000 gay Americans
could sign up for duty if the military’s ban were lifted and about 65,000 lesbian and gay service
personnel are serving in the armed forces despite the ban. To see more, go to: www.sldn.org/templates/press/record.html?section=2&record=3346
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