FederalDaily - January 4, 2008

TSP Monthly Returns for December 2007

Rates of Return were updated on January 2, 2008.

The monthly G, F, C, S, and I Fund returns represent the actual total rates of return used in the monthly allocation of earnings to participant accounts. The returns are shown after deduction of accrued TSP administrative expenses. The F, C, S, and I Fund returns also reflect the deduction of trading costs and accrued investment management fees. The most current G, F, C, S, and I Fund rates of return are shown above. Returns are updated after the monthly allocation of earnings, usually by the fourth business day of the month.

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GSA Announces Three HR Contracts

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced last week that it had awarded Human Resources (HR) Line of Business contracts to three companies in a government-wide effort to increase agency efficiency in payroll, personnel and other human resource operations. The private companies will compete for work against five federal agencies—the Departments of Defense, Interior, Treasury, Agriculture and Health and Human Services—which also offer HR shared services. GSA awarded the contracts to Accenture National Security Services and Carahsoft Technology Corp., both of Reston, Va., and Allied Technology Group, Inc., of Rockville, Md. The HR Line of Business initiative requires agencies to use government-wide technological solutions for basic HR functions to cut costs and improve efficiency. To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=8199&channelId=-13259&P=XI&contentId=23891&contentType=GSA_BASIC.

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CBP Creates New Border Ag Czar Slot

In an effort to improve supervision of border agricultural inspections, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Jan. 2 it had created the new post of deputy executive director in charge of agriculture oversight. Manning the slot will be Kevin Harriger, a 26-year agency veteran. Harriger is tasked with ensuring a more consistent application of agriculture inspection policy across all international ports of entry. He will be the primary point of contact for Joint Agency Task Force coordination issues for the Department of Homeland Security and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, CBP said in a statement. Prior to his appointment, Harriger was director of policy and planning for CBP’s agriculture programs. To see more, go to: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/01022008_2.xml.

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NATCA Urges DOT to Address Staffing Shortages

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) began the new year by urging Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to address staffing shortages at the nation’s airport control towers. In a letter to Peters released Jan. 2, NATCA cited increasing safety concerns caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers (ATC), and pointed to one near collision over Chicago last month that it said was narrowly averted when a veteran controller interceded with a trainee. NATCA also said more than 1,100 air traffic controllers—about 10 percent of the veteran ATC workforce—likely will retire over the next several months, making an already stretched staffing situation even worse. “Since the beginning of FY 2007, the agency claims to have brought in 1,800 new air traffic trainees,” wrote NATCA President Patrick Forrey. “At year’s end, only 40 of them had made it to certification, often at small-to-medium facilities with lower volumes of traffic.” The union said it sent the letter to Peters after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) refused to address NATCA’s concerns. “We simply cannot safely handle the volume of air traffic that the FAA is currently demanding of us, let alone even attempt to do so with further staff losses in the weeks ahead,” Forrey said. To see more, go to www.natca.org.

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