Tuesday Afternoon Federal Newscast

Federal News Radio told you about the E-Verify requirement last week. Today, that change is in effect. Now, every new or renewed government contract will include a clause requiring contractors and subcontractors to use E-Verify. It will be up to government agencies that issue the contracts to enforce the mandate. Alan Chvotkin of the Professional Services Council tells the Wall Street Journal that virtually all employers with federal contracts will see the clause within a year.

Bombing hotels abroad is becoming more attractive to terrorists — because it’s easier. As military and government targets get harder to hit, the global intelligence company STRATFOR says terrorists are content to strike hotels and other soft targets instead. STRATFOR says the number of attacks on hotels has more than doubled since Sept. 11. 2001, when compared with eight years before, and that Al-Qaida is changing from a centralized organization to regional “franchises” with strong grass-roots support. Federal News Radio National Security Correspondent J.J. Green has more.

Feds want to spot food problems sooner. So, food makers will be required to alert government officials of potentially contaminated products within 24 hours. The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a new electronic database where manufacturers must notify the government if one of their products is likely to cause sickness or death in people or animals. Regulators say the database will help the FDA prevent widespread illness from contaminated products and direct inspectors to plants that pose a greater safety concern.

You know the Postal Service is struggling with a massive deficit. So why is it spending more than a million dollars a week to pay thousands of employees to “stand by?” Federal Times reports the practice is called “standby time” and has existed for years. Postal officials say the agency is averaging about 45-thousand hours of standby time every week…as more than 11-hundred employees sit idle. The problem? Not enough work to keep them busy…but they can’t be laid off or reassigned. Employees hate the practice, managers hate it too…and the issue will likely become an issue on Capitol Hill once Congress returns from its recess this week.

Metro officials are forecasting a major budget shortfall next year. Expenses are projected to grow by more than $90 million while revenue drops by nearly $40 million. On Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Carol Kissal will present board members with a budget forecast intended to offer early guidance and prompt discussions on the budget gap, one of the largest in the agency’s history. The forecast attributes much of the $90 million growth in operating expenses to increases in the use of MetroAccess paratransit service, increased pension costs and rebounding energy costs.

Other News Links

With U.S. Forces in Iraq Beginning to Leave, Need for Private Guards Grows (Washington Post)

Obama Expands Car Czar’s Duties (Washington Post/News Services)

The Best Places to Launch a Career (Business Week)

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