Federal Drive

Monday Morning Federal Newscast – June 6th

Post-death federal annuities small but persistent problem

Federal News Network Staff

June 6, 2011 9:25 am

3 min read

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

Thirty big departments and agencies have submitted plans for trimming a thicket of regulations. Now, the White House is tapping its toe, waiting for independent agencies to come through with their plans. President Obama in January issued an executive order for agencies to examine their regulations with an eye toward getting rid of overly cumbersome or unneeded ones. But that order didn’t require independent agencies to do so. Cass Sunstein, the adminitration’s top regulator, would like to see their plans anyhow. So far, only the National Labor Relations Board has come through.
It is a persistent problem: sometimes, federal retirees continue to be paid even after they die. The Washington Times says records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show dozens of cases of retirees or their spouses collecting retirement checks after death. But taxpayer watchdogs say there is a bigger problem of improper payments by the federal government that involve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, retirement and other programs costing taxpayers billions of dollars. From January 2009 through March 2011, the inspector general for OPM uncovered fraud in more than 160 cases involving retirement payments for federal workers or their spouses who were dead.
A new bill would allow federal workers to deny automatic deduction of union dues from their paychecks. Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced the legislation. Scott says he wants to increase federal employees’ freedom by allowing them to choose whether or not they want to have union dues taken out of their paychecks. Currently dues are automatically deducted. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) says he will be introducing companion legislation when the Senate reconvenes.
Congressional Republicans have introduced legislation to stop a preference for unionized construction contractors. The preference, known as project labor agreements, or PLAs, stem from a 2009 executive order. GovExec reports, Oklahoma Representative James Lankford charges the PLAs keep small businesses out of federal contracting. His bill would end them. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Louisiana Republican David Vitter. The administration counters that PLA’s don’t favor union shops. Daniel Gordon is the administrator for federal procurement policy. He tells lawmakers, his agency monitors PLAs to make sure they are not exclusionary.
IT program manager is now an official position in the government. The Office of Personnel Management revised part of the job series for information technology to include the new job title. OPM sent a memo to agency human resource officers detailing the new position. It clarifies the differences between IT program managers and positions covered by the Program Management.
The Treasury Department is divesting itself of one more company rescued under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It launches a public offering for 3.2 million shares of Webster Financial Corporation. The price? Six dollars, thirty cents per share. Better act quick, though. The closing is expected by Wednesday. Treasury expects to get $20.4 million from this latest sale, which ends the government’s involvement with Webster. The Connecticut company received $400 million in TARP bailout funds in 2008.