Federal Daily - May 14, 2009

Whistleblowers Urge Obama to Expand Protections

Thirteen national security whistleblowers urged President Obama to expand protections for federal employees who have reported government waste and wrongdoing, according to documents posted on the Project On Government Oversight Web site. In a May 11 letter to Obama, the whistleblowers asked the president to take immediate steps to end the “second-class status” of whistleblowers and to criminalize bureaucratic retaliation against government workers who report fraud. One of the letter signers, Martin Edwin Andersen, a former senior advisor for policy planning at the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, urged Obama to endorse a proposal by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., (H.R. 985). The measure would give national security whistleblowers access to the federal courts, full due process and jury trials. “The Van Hollen approach would at least provide us with real shields rather than paper shields when doing battle against entrenched bureaucratic wrongdoing,” Andersen said. The group also pointed out that the Merit Systems Protection Board, charged with adjudicating federal worker claims, has found only one case of illegal retaliation in 56 decisions on the merits. And only three whistleblowers out of 212 prevailed in decisions on the merits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since October 1994, when the current whistleblower law last was modified. “We write you today to ask that you take concrete steps in favor of national security whistleblowers that will help to restore time-honored values of openness, honesty and transparency to the federal service, and help those entrusted with the nation’s secrets to do their jobs in a manner consistent with the public interest,” the letter said. To see more, go to: http://pogoarchives.org/m/wi/national-security-whistleblower-letter-20090511.pdf.

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NALC’s Young Says Frequent Postage Increases Can Be Avoided

Postal rate increases, like the one that boosted a first-class stamp to 44 cents this week, can be avoided in the future, said National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) President William H. Young. Although the rate hike was necessary this time, subsequent increases could be circumvented if lawmakers would pass a pending bill (H.R. 22) to correct the payment schedule for pre-funding retiree health benefits of postal employees, Young said on May 11. The pre-funding arrangement costs for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) are more than $5.5 billion a year, he said. The bill—if passed into law—would save USPS an average of $3.5 billion a year by adjusting the pre-funding schedule, and allow those funds to be used for day-to-day postal operations, he said. No other government agency or major corporation has such a retiree health benefit funding obligation, the NALC president said. In addition, Young said Congress needs to rescind the requirement that the USPS pay retiree benefits for employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for the years they served in the U.S. military. That change alone would save the Postal Service billions of dollars yearly, Young said. “Six-day, universal mail delivery in the United States remains the best postal bargain in the world,” Young said. To see more, go to: www.nalc.org/news/release/pr051109.htm.

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