Federal Daily - April 17, 2008

Subcommittee OKs Bill to Give Feds Four Weeks of Paid Parental Leave

The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce on April 15 approved legislation that would provide four weeks of paid parental leave to federal employees. The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, H.R. 5781, introduced this week by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., originally would have required eight of the 12 weeks of parental leave offered to federal employees to be paid leave. The longer period was halved in committee because of cost considerations. The bill currently has 21 co-sponsors. “The lack of paid family leave puts federal agencies at a disadvantage when competing for the best and the brightest employees,” Maloney said last month at a joint hearing of the Joint Economic Committee and the federal workforce subcommittee. “Our federal workforce is aging, as agencies have found it difficult to recruit and retain younger workers. Providing paid parental leave would encourage younger workers who may be considering having a family to stay with the federal government.” To see more of her testimony last month, go to: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1582&Itemid=61.

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DoD Still Struggling With Travel System Upgrade

DoD’s 13-year effort to streamline the Defense Travel System (DTS) remains mired in administrative problems and continues to be underused because it competes with 31 other legacy travel systems operating within the department, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. GAO delivered its report April 15 at a hearing before a House Armed Services subcommittee that is looking into the viability of DTS. GAO found that DoD still hasn’t resolved weaknesses in its management and system testing practices and that its estimated net savings with DTS—$56 million—was probably overblown. DTS has had trouble generating cost savings in part because the system is underused, GAO said. Some of the existing travel systems, such as the Integrated Automated Travel System, could not be completely eliminated because the systems performed other functions—such as permanent change of station travel claims—that DTS could not process. In other cases, DoD was spending funds to maintain duplicative systems that performed the same function as DTS, but which couldn’t be shut down because the Project Management Office-Defense Travel System (PMO-DTS) lacked the necessary authority. “We have anecdotal evidence that DTS is difficult and time-consuming to use for the average traveler; and it detracts from their primary duties,” said Rep Vic Snyder, D-Ark., panel chairman. “We also wonder about the cost effectiveness of the system versus hidden costs and opportunity costs.” To see more, go to: http://armedservices.house.gov/hearing_information.shtml.

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Panel Hears Testimony on Failures of Military Voting System

Lawmakers expressed concern over what they described as a “failing” military voting system in light of a report showing that more than two-thirds of absentee ballots sent overseas were rejected as undeliverable. In addition, according to testimony presented at a hearing before the Committee on House Administration on April 15, 23 percent of the ballots that were received overseas and returned were rejected by election officials here because they were returned after the deadlines stipulated by state laws. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told the committee he has introduced legislation that would address the problem of late delivery of completed ballots. The Military Voting Protection Act, McCarthy said, would direct the Secretary of Defense to collect the absentee ballots of overseas military voters and deliver them via air transport with tracking capabilities. McCarthy acknowledged that his legislation addressed only a portion of the problem. “This bill is by no means a comprehensive solution to assuring our military servicemen and women that their votes will count,” McCarthy stated. “However, I believe it is a good first step that we can build upon in a bipartisan fashion.” To see more, go to: http://gop.cha.house.gov/MediaPages/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1520.

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House Votes to Eliminate IRS’ Private Tax Collectors

The House voted 238 to 179 on April 15 to eliminate an IRS program that pays private collection agencies a bounty to collect unpaid federal taxes. H.R. 5719, the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act, was approved when 14 Republicans joined 224 Democrats in voting to close down the two-year-old program—which the IRS admits will lose more than $37 million. National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley applauded the vote. The “House vote shows clearly the growing depth and breadth of opposition to the IRS using private tax collectors,” Kelley said. “By every measure, including its cost and its failure to meet revenue projections, this project is a dismal failure and it should be ended promptly.” Similar legislation has passed the House before. The debate now moves to the Senate, where Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are co-sponsors of a similar bill that would effectively end the IRS’s use of private tax collectors.  To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1252.

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