Federal Daily - July 21, 2008

GAO: Capitol Police Making Progress on Management Issues

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP)—responsible for securing the 276-acre Capitol Complex and protecting members of Congress—have made significant progress in cleaning up department management problems, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 16. The report, delivered during GAO testimony before a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing, looked at how well USCP had done addressing 46 management recommendations made by GAO in 2004. The department had done pretty well, GAO concluded, noting that USCP has completed actions on 15 recommendations, is making progress toward addressing 30 recommendations and has not made progress on just one. On Human Capital Management, USCP has implemented one GAO recommendation by adopting a hiring policy and is making progress on seven other recommendations related to workforce planning and training. USCP has not yet addressed a ninth recommendation to monitor and evaluate the results of its strategic workforce plan because this plan is still being developed, GAO said. USCP has more than 2,100 sworn officers and civilian employees and a budget of almost $300 million. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., panel chairman, also pointed out that a 2003 law mandated that the Senate Rules and Administration Committee chairman approve all USCP new hiring, promotions and terminations. She called that law a “mistake,” and said she would soon offer a bill to put all such authority back with the Capitol Police Board. Too see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d081000thigh.pdf or http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=News
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Thompson, NTEU Question $1.2 Billion TSA Contract

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., criticized a $1.2 billion Transportation Security Administration (TSA) contract that hires out wide a range of human resource duties to Lockheed Martin Corp. The contract, which could run for eight years, assigns to Lockheed Martin responsibility for recruiting, assessing, hiring, paying and promoting TSA employees. In a July 17 letter to TSA Administrator Kip Hawley, Thompson said that the recent contract award for the TSA Integrated Hiring Operations and Personnel program “leaves me with many questions and concerns regarding the direction of personnel policy at TSA.” Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, questioned whether the money spent under the contract would help address “fatigue and low morale” that has plagued an agency overrun with high turnover and staffing complaints. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents TSA employees, also was unhappy with the deal. “The profit Lockheed Martin will make from a $1.2 billion deal could be used to increase staffing and reduce congestion at our nation’s airports,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said. Kelley said TSA’s high turnover and low morale is largely the result of a pay system widely seen as confusing and subjective, as well as a workplace where employee voices are not heard. “TSA may well be the worst of the worst when it comes to human resource issues, and this contract will do little to change that,” Kelley added. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1305.

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Army Lengthens Family Time With Newborns, Newly Adopted Children

The Army on July 16 announced it is extending the deployment deferment period to six months for military mothers of newborns and military parents who have just adopted a child. Effective Aug. 1, Army mothers of newborns, and servicemembers adopting a child, will be able to stay home two months longer before being assigned on a permanent change of station to a dependent-restricted overseas tour; to an accompanied overseas tour where concurrent travel is denied; to temporary duty away from their home station, or to a deployment into a battle zone. The policy applies to all soldiers who are new mothers, to single soldiers (of either sex) who adopt a child, or to one member of a dual-military couple who adopts a child. For adopted children, the parental deferment period begins on the date the child is placed in the home as part of the formal adoption process, the Army said in a statement. Soldiers who are on an existing new child deferment on Aug. 1 will be eligible to extend their current four-month deferment by another two months, the Army said. The Aug. 1 change coincides with the Army’s return to a 12-month Boots-on-the-Ground deployment cycle, rather then the current extended deployment cycle, the Army said. To see more, go to: www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2008/07/16/10947-army-lengthens-family-time-with-newborns-newly-adopted.

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