FederalDaily - January 9, 2008
IRS Refunds Extended to More Disabled Vets
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) told vets on Jan. 7 that according to the IRS, payments made
to veterans under the Incentive Therapy (IT) program—as well as payments under the Compensated
Work Therapy (CWT) program—are not taxable. IRS last month announced that CWT payments to vets
were exempt from taxes. VA said that recipients of payments under these programs will no longer receive
Form 1099s from VA. IRS reversed its 1965 agency ruling on CWT following a 2007 U.S. Tax Court decision
that determined such payments are tax-free veterans’ benefits, VA said. In Fiscal Year 2007,
more than 19,000 veterans received CWT benefits, and 8,500 received IT benefits, according to VA. Disabled
vets who paid tax on these benefits in tax years 2004, 2005 or 2006 can claim a refund using an amended
Form 1040X, VA said. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1441
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AFGE Files Supreme Court Challenge to NSPS
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) petitioned the Supreme Court on Jan. 7 to hear
the union’s arguments against a lower court ruling that upheld the legality of DoD’s National
Security Personnel System (NSPS). While Congress passed legislation in the waning hours of 2007 that
included remedies to many of the union’s complaints over NSPS bargaining and pay-for-performance
issues, President Bush pocket-vetoed the bill because of concerns over other matters addressed in the
same legislative package. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that
under the 2004 law allowing NSPS, DoD has the authority to limit its civilian workers’ collective
bargaining rights through November 2009. That ruling came in a case brought by the United Defense Workers
Coalition, a group of nine labor unions which included AFGE. In its application for an appeal—which
the Supreme Court can reject without issuing an opinion—AFGE is the sole petitioner. AFGE argued
that the NSPS eviscerates employees’ rights to collective bargaining. The appellate court decision, “completely
subverts the Congress’ balance of competing interests by upholding the labor relations system
designed by the Department of Defense to eliminate both meaningful collective bargaining and objective
resolution of labor relations disputes by an independent third party,” AFGE said. To see more,
go to: www.afge.org
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Omnibus Bill Blocked Outsourcing of Some Interior Dept. Jobs
The recently signed FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriation Act contains language that effectively blocks administration
efforts to outsource thousands of natural resource and environmental protection jobs, according to
documents posted Jan. 7 by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As many as
two out of three Forest Service jobs were targeted for potential outsourcing, and similar efforts were
underway in the National Park Service (NPS) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), PEER said in a
statement. The budget bill, however, contained a complete ban on further activities directed toward
outsourcing any Forest Service jobs. That legislation also severely limits any outsourcing-related
activities within the Interior Department to $3.5 million to complete ongoing studies, PEER said. In
addition, the Interior Department—which contains NPS, FWS and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—would
have to assess the effects outsourcing would have on its fire-fighting and fire response abilities.
Staff at NPS, BLM, and FWS all have collateral fire-response duties, PEER said. To see more, go to: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=966
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