Federal Daily - November 20, 2009

House Panel OKs Same-Sex Benefits Bill for Fed Partners

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Nov. 18 approved a bill that would—if signed into law—significantly broaden the benefits available to the same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, H.R. 2517, sponsored by Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., now moves to the full House for a vote.

The bill would extend to the domestic partners of federal employees a range of benefits—including participation in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, retirement and survivor benefits, relocation reimbursements, and other benefits currently offered to spouses of federal employees.

To receive these benefits, an employee with a same-sex domestic partner would have to certify in an affidavit that his or her relationship satisfies the criteria for establishing a domestic partnership. Once that partnership is established, the employee and partner would be eligible to receive benefits.

Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said the measure would make federal employment more attractive in the recruiting market because many high-performing private firms already offer such benefits to same-sex couples.

“This is an essential recruitment tool as we seek the best and the brightest to tackle the many challenges America faces,” Berry said. “This is a positive step that helps the federal government to better compete with other employers for top talent.”

To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/opm-director-john-berry-lauds-passage-of-domestic-partnership-benefits-and-obligations-act-through-house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-management,1495.aspx.

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Union Says Moving GITMO Prisoners to U.S. Means Jobs

It turns out not everyone is a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) proponent when it comes to the transfer of the Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States. At least not those who work in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.

The American Federation of Government Employees’ Council of Prison Locals (CPL), which represents federal correctional officers nationwide, backs the transfer of the detainees onto U.S. soil and into the Bureau of Prisons system.

The closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, otherwise known as GITMO, has been something of a headache for the Obama administration. The existence of the facility is not popular, but lawmakers nonetheless have lined up to oppose the transfer of the GITMO prisoners into facilities in their states or congressional districts.

However, AFGE President John Gage said federal correctional officers are up to the challenge. “Our correctional officers are the best-trained, most-qualified candidates in the world for this job,” Gage said in a Nov. 18 statement. “We have no doubt BOP correctional officers are up to the task.” What’s more, he said, the move would bring “thousands of good-paying jobs” to the area.

CPL President Bryan Lowry  said supervising terrorists is nothing new for BOP correctional officers. “They’ve maintained a safe and secure environment at Supermax.” Lowry said, “and they can do it at the Thomson Correctional Center.” The Thomson facility in northern Illinois is a state-operated facility that some reports suggest BOP could acquire for the GITMO transfer.

To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1076.

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Bill Would Offer Tuition Aid, Stipends for Civil Service Pledge

In an effort to enhance college-level civil service recruiting, two senators on Nov 17 introduced a bill which, if signed into law, would provide assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who promise to work for the federal government upon graduation.

Under the bill, the Roosevelt Scholars Act, college students who make a three- to five-year commitment to the federal government in a mission-critical assignment would receive tuition assistance and a small stipend. The bill is sponsored Sens. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

The lawmakers said the financial incentives will help the government compete with the private sector in recruiting from among the limited number of job candidates who possess the skills for mission-critical occupations such as medicine, law and information technology.

“This act provides opportunities to help more young people, particularly those in mission-critical fields, enter public service,” Gillibrand said. “In this time of grave economic uncertainty, so many people feel the need to contribute to the greater good and work to help the most vulnerable among us.”

A similar measure, H.R. 3510, is pending in the House.

To see more, go to: http://gillibrand.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=56bd8e29-b6c9-4d80-84ac-447495ecf09c.

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