THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
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THE FEDERAL WORKER Federal pay in cross hairs of politicians
FEDERAL DIARY Joe Davidson
I
f federal employees, in particular their pay and number, become a political
football this election season, their unions plan to play strong defense. Already, there’s been a
vigorous preseason, with politicians,mostly Republicans, getting in shape for the campaign bymaking numerous attempts to freeze or cut federal compensation or the workforce. “I think this is going to be a
major issue,” said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. The issue got a good workout
CALEB JONES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Federal Protective Service provides security at 9,000 facilities. Calls to overhaul the agency came in 2009 after government auditors successfully entered 10 federal buildings with bombmakingmaterials.
Senators pitch revamp of unit
that secures federal buildings Bill calls for agency, under fire for lapses, to hire 500 workers
BY ED O’KEEFE Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-
Conn.) is pushing for changes at the agency responsible for pro- tecting thousands of federal buildings more than 14 months after he blasted it for security gaps at several major govern- ment facilities. Lieberman and other mem-
bers of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Af- fairs Committee this week intro- duced a bill to overhaul the Federal Protective Service (FPS), a small unit of theDepartment of Homeland Security that provides security for about 1.5 million federal workers at 9,000 federal facilities. The protective service uses a
mix of 800 full-time federal in- spectors and 15,000 private secu- rity guards. The agency also drafts building security plans for federal tenants. Last summer, the committee
criticized FPS after government auditors successfully entered 10 major federal buildings with bombmakingmaterials. “In all the years I’ve been
hearing GAO reports, that’s about the broadest indictment of an agency of the federal govern-
ment that I’ve heard, and it’s not pleasant to hear it,” Lieberman, the committee chairman, said at a July 2009 hearing on the findings. “We’re obviously going to try to work together with the agency to improve its perfor- mance.” Lieberman aides promised
legislation within weeks, but the Fort Hood shootings in Novem- ber, the failed Christmas Day airplane bomb attack and the thwarted Times Square bomb attempt pulled staffers away
lic access to government build- ings, the senators also proposed a way for agencies to appeal FPS security plans if the measures potentially hinder public access. The proposed Senate bill is
similar to a House proposal un- veiled lastweek thatwould allow FPS to hire 550 new workers, require the agency to establish national training standards and explore ways to federalize pri- vate security guards. One big difference between the two measures: The Senate
“The senator is hoping for lame- duck passage but is fully aware of all the traps that lie ahead.”
—Leslie Phillips, spokeswoman for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.)
fromdrafting a bill. Now, with little time left this
year for Congress to complete legislation, Lieberman and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) want FPS to hire 500 new full-time work- ers. The lawmakers also want the
agency to establish new national training standards for private guards, including at least 80 hours of training before they begin work. And in an effort to strike a better balance between security concerns and easy pub-
Online federal benefits calculator
l Federal retirement benefits calculator
www.opm.gov/retire/ tools/calculators/ballpark/menu. asp This calculator projects retirement benefits under federal retirement systems. It also has links for calculating how much of an annuity will be tax-free and how much tax to have withheld.
l Social Security: www.ssa. gov/planners/
calculators.htm This site features a Social Security benefit estimator for those who will be eligible under that system, which includes most current federal employees. It also has links to other calculators.
l Thrift Savings Plan: www.tsp. gov/calc
washingtonpost.com Q.
The federal government is promising an overhaul of its hiring process. How confident are you that the time to get hired will be reduced? What was your hiring experience like? E-mail your answer to
federalworker@washpost.com and include your full name, home town and the agency for which you work. We might include your response in Friday’s Washington Post. When answers are particularly sensitive, we will consider a respondent’s request to withhold full identification.
MARC KAUFMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST
ElonMusk, chief executive of SpaceX, has drawncriticism from some Republicans.
This site has calculators allowing participants in the 401)k)-style retirement savings program to project future account balances; based on differing investment levels and rates of return; to determine loan payments if they borrow against their accounts; and to see how an account balance would translate into income after separation, among various other functions.
l Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance:
www.opm.gov/calculator/ worksheet.asp This site calculates premium and benefit amounts under various options, as well as potential changes after retirement.
l Other benefits: www.opm. The Fed Page
The Influence Industry Dan Eggen interviews SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, who is in Washington to lobby for the Obama administration’s plan to boost the role of private companies at NASA. Musk’s brash style, his tabloid- fodder personal life—and his recent political donations—have garnered attention. A25
Help for Postal Service A bill proposed by a key Senate Democrat would enable officials to end Saturday mail deliveries, close post offices and open new ones— helping them meet some crushing fiscal obligations. A25
gov/insure This site has links to calculate premiums under the options available in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (click on “Long Term Care,” then “Program Information,” then “Cost Information”) and to determine the potential tax savings of flexible spending accounts. It also has links to compare premiums and other features of plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and the Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program.
Note: Eligible employees can enroll or make changes in the TSP or FLTCIP programs anytime, but other programs have restrictions on enrollment and changing coverage.
— Eric Yoder
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bill gives full-time FPS inspec- tors the right to carry their weapons when off-duty, some- thing long sought by their union representatives. There has been no official
word on how quickly the bills will advance or whether they may bemerged into a Homeland Security authorization bill, as some aides privately suggest. “The senator is hoping for
lame-duck passage but is fully aware of all the traps that lie ahead,” said Lieberman spokes- woman Leslie Phillips.
ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com
several weeks ago when repeated attempts to block a 1.4 percent pay increase, hardly extravagant, were stopped. But the efforts continue. Rep.Mike Coffman (R-Colo.)
wants to save $5.5 billion by making federal workers take two weeks off without pay. At least Coffman had the decency to includemembers of Congress in his proposal; they would take a 10 percent pay cut. His effort is one of several
that will go nowhere in this Democratically controlled Congress. But if Republicans win either the House or Senate, or significantly narrow the margin of power in November, the proposals could take on a new life next year. On Tuesday, the AFGE sent a
news update to itsmembers that said: “Anti-government, anti-
federal employee lawmakers have renewed their push to pass severe cuts in funding for discretionary programs atmost agencies — threatening government shutdowns if they fail.” My colleague Ed O’Keefe
catalogued several proposals earlier this week in his Federal Eye blog: lLimiting government hires
to one for every two retirees was proposed by Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). lFreezing federal raises and
bonuses for one year and capping the number of federal workers was proposed by Sens. JohnMcCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). lFiring federal employees
who fall behind in their taxes, an idea pushed by Coburn and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). lShutting down the
government was raised by Rep. LynnWestmoreland (R-Ga.) and Alaska GOP Senate candidate JoeMiller, but it got little traction fromother Republicans. lCutting the number of
THE WASHINGTON POST
political appointees to 2,000 fromabout 3,500. This is not an idea limited to Republicans and is backed byMcCain and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) No one expected a winning
vote on these proposals, but that’s not the only objective. Simply raising the issue
“allows you tomessage and say, ‘This is what we stand for,’ ’’ said James Sherk, a Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst, who says federal workers are overpaid. As an indication of the
potential federal pay has as a political topic, Sherk said that his reports on it have “generated farmore interest [from Congress] than any we’ve ever done.” But Heritage’s research, along
with reports fromthe Cato Institute and USA Today, have been blasted by union leaders and administration officials as misleading. Nonetheless, the reports have
been picked up bymedia outlets around the country, fueling the perception that federal workers are overpaid. ColleenM. Kelley, president
of the National Treasury Employees Union, has fought that impression by writing to nearly two dozen news organizations that have published items implying, or stating, that Frankie and Flo Fed get paid toomuch. “In this politically charged
atmosphere, I think these efforts will continue,” she said. “Federal employees are watching this very closely.”
Interior investigation Interior Secretary Ken
Salazar has some explaining to do.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-
N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, informed
Salazar by letter Tuesday that the panel “is investigating the standards, practices, and policies employed by Interior to achieve a diverse workforce and maintain accountability for violations of anti-discrimination laws.” The investigation flows from
an Aug. 26 Federal Diary, cited by Towns, which reported on an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report on Interior’s Fish andWildlife Service. That report covered a case of
a white supervisor who called his African American subordinates “monkeys.” An EEOC letter to the agency said that it “lacks an effective strategy to build and retain a diverse workforce.” Kendra Barkoff, an Interior
spokeswoman, said that “Salazar has put diversity front and center for the Department of the Interior’s agenda, because he believes that the department needs to better reflect the diversity within our country. ” Towns told Salazar to provide
documents and other information, including the racial and ethnic breakdown of major agencies in the department, a detailed description of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s equal employment opportunity programand an explanation of Interior efforts to increase diversity. The chairman said that he
was “extremely disappointed” to hear about themanager’s behavior. “However,mymost
immediate concern,” he added, “is the potential consequence thatmay result if organizational changes do not swiftly take place.”
federaldiary@washpost.com
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