Monday Morning Federal Newscast

Written by Ruben Gomez & Tom Temin Edited by Suzanne Kubota This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED: The Senate is considering a bill that would...

Written by Ruben Gomez & Tom Temin
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

The Senate is considering a bill that would let the president shut down your network if hackers attack. That power would apply to both federal and private networks. The measure could become part of a National Cyber Response Plan that the White House is developing. Senators will resume work on Senate Bill 773 after Labor Day when it returns from recess.

Veterans Affairs is blaming a coding error for mistakenly telling veterans they had a fatal disease. The wrong letters went out to about 628 veterans telling them they have Lou Gehrig’s disease. VA says it’ll reimburse anyone who sought medical care after the letters went out.

Federal Agencies today must consider waiving age limits for certain jobs. OPM Director John Berry is ordering agencies to review age requirements so that veterans can apply for those jobs. Berry says that unless age is essential to a position, agencies must waive the restrictions.

If your agency proposed new rules in July, you might need to re-open your public comments period. A technical glitch stopped more than 100 comments from reaching more than 10 agencies. The issue came to light when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asked the public to resubmit comments for one of its rules. The problem has been resolved.

Federal contractors are now required to run all their employees’ names through the Homeland Security Department’s E-Verify system. That’s a database which uses Social Security numbers to confirm the workers are legal to work in the United States. A U.S. District Court in Maryland upheld the rule last week in a lawsuit brought by the Chamber of Commerce. Although government contractors must use E-verify, the system is voluntary other companies.

Some seniors could end up paying 20 percent more for their Medicare prescription drugs even though average prescription drug spending by seniors would decrease. It’s all part of complications in the health care reform bill now being debated. The Congressional Budget Office says prescription drug premiums would rise by 20 percent over the next decade because costs would go up. Why? The bill eliminates, over 10 years, the so-called donut hole in drug coverage. The hole costs some seniors more than $4,000 dollars out of pocket.

The federal government has earned about $4 billion in profits from large banks who repaid the money they received from last year’s federal bailout, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The New York Times reports, most of the profits came from three of the biggest institutions receiving money: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and American Express.

The United States Mint is looking for American artists to try their hand at designing new coins. It is inviting artists to apply for the Artistic Infusion Program, aimed at enriching and invigorating the design of coins and medals. Applications will be accepted beginning tomorrow and throughout the fall. Artists apply online by submitting samples and a resume. They must also complete a coin design exercise. If you make it into the program, you’ll earn up to $2,500 for each design requested by the government, and another $5,000 if the design is chosen to be turned into a coin.

Good news for small business. Karen Mills, the new head of the Small Business Administration, tells Federal News Radio that $2.2 billion dollars of federal stimulus money has gone to more than 5,500 small and minority-owned businesses. Mills said these firms have received 20 percent of all contracts awarded by federal agencies under the Recovery Act, which became law in February. SBA had been criticized by members of Congress back in May for not ensuring small business was getting a share of the stimulus funds.

More news links:

Gates Flies to Protect JSF (DoDBuzz)

$3B for jobless not used (USAToday)

US faces smaller, smarter enemy in Afghanistan

USS Missouri to get Pearl Harbor shipyard makeover

Fla. man in credit card data theft accepts plea

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten its growth

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