Tuesday Morning Federal Newsstand

Written by Jane Norris and Ruben Gomez Edited by Suzanne Kubota This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: Will federal employees get more than a 2% ra...

Written by Jane Norris and Ruben Gomez
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

Will federal employees get more than a 2% raise next year? The House Appropriations Committee will consider the 2010 civilian pay raise today. In February, the president proposed a 2-percent raise for the civilian workforce. But the House last month approved a 3.4-percent raise for members of the Armed Forces. The Federal Managers Association is now calling for civilian employees to get the higher percentage as well.

Postal service employees are not all that interested in early retirement. FederalTimes reports that of the almost 148,000 offered the early retirement package last month only 2,500 accepted the offer. This is far less than expected by the Postmaster General, John Potter who said in a March interview with the Federal Times that he expected between 10 and 15 thousand employees to accept the offer.

There’s a new leader for the 300,000 member National Association of Letter Carriers. Frederic Rolando is the union’s new president. He replaces the retiring William H. Young. Rolando is a 31-year postal veteran. This is a promotion for him: Up to now, he had been the union’s executive vice president.

There’s a sweeping overhaul in the works for financial management and logistics at the Coast Guard. Government Executive reports the maritime service is working on a centrally controlled inventory system for boats and cutters. The idea is to set up a single point of accountability for Coast Guard assets. The changes are part of a larger modernization plan launched by Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen.

You may be able to see travel expenses for your favorite Senator soon. Sen. Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma is pushing to make it easier for the public to examine Senate expenses, such as salaries for staff, travel and office operations. GovExec reports Coburn is seeking to make expense records available online through an amendment to the fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch spending bill. Coburn says seeing the money flow will make it easier for taxpayers to hold lawmakers accountable.

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many, if not all, of the nine digits in an individual’s Social Security number using publicly available information According to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person’s birth data. The Social Security Administration says they have long cautioned the private sector against using Social Security numbers for identification.

Two years in federal prison for a woman who perpetrated identity theft on workers at the Library of Congress. Labiska Gibbs admits that she had help on the inside from a second cousin working in human resources at the Library. Gibbs opened several credit accounts in the names of 13 unsuspecting employees and spent nearly 40,000 dollars. Her cousin was sentenced in May to three years probation.

Other Stories We’re Following

Defense bill: Contractors would feel the hurt if feds are injured (FCW)

Few postal employees take latest early retirement offer (FederalTimes)

Final rules out for government stem cell research

Paperless health care? 1 hospital’s long journey

Soldiers attempt to break softball record with 452-inning game (Stars&Stripes)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.