Tuesday federal headlines – May 19, 2015

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive and In Depth radio shows each day. Our headlines are updated twice per day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — with the latest news affecting federal employees and contractors.

• The House passes six bills related to veterans. One bill would let the Veterans Affairs Secretary give preference to contractors that employ veterans. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) introduced that bill. The House passed it unanimously. Another bill would do away with temporary warnings for VA employees. The secretary has to keep any reprimands an employee receives in that person’s file, for the entire time the employee works at the department. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) sponsors that bill. House VA Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said he’s “especially proud” lawmakers passed Costello’s bill. (Federal News Radio)
• A new bill introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) would give the Office of Personnel Management more oversight of federal employees drug benefits. Under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the government spends about $10 billion a year on prescription drugs. That’s about a third of the premiums. OPM estimates it’s overpaying by 15 to 45 percent. The bill would require pharmacy benefit managers to give back the rebates and market-share inventives they receive from drug companies. It would cap prices, and require permission before a pharmacy benefits manager could switch a patient to a more expensive presciption. (Federal News Radio)
• With half of the government’s office leases expiring in the next five years, Congress wants to use the opportunity to rein it all in. Several members introduced a bill to make it easier for the General Services Administration to consolidate offices and negotiate better rental rates. As it is, the GSA spends $5 billion a year on office leases. The bill establishes a Streamlined Leasing Pilot Program to cut red tape and upfront costs of leasing less expensive space. It also tightens requirements for federal construction projects so more of them get finished on time. The main sponsor is Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.). He’s chairman of the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management subcommittee. (Federal News Radio)
• The White House wants police departments to focus on data and transparency. It launches the Police Data Initiative, which already has 21 local communities participating. They include Montgomery County, Md.; Camden, N.J.; Philadelphia; Atlanta and Los Angeles. The goal is to use open data to increase transparency and build trust in communities. Presidential Innovation Fellows will help create an Open Data playbook for law enforcement. The departments will also work on accountability. They’ll share data with scientists, who will look at how that data can help with training. And the Justice Department will do more research on body cameras for police. (White House)
• Twenty companies receive spots on the Air Force’s NETCENTS-2 contract for network operations and infrastucture services. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity deal has an initial period of three years and a ceiling of $7.9 billion. It’s mandatory for Air Force use, but NETCENTS-2 is also available to other Defense and civilian agencies. The Air Force said the vehicle will offer a range of services for supporting existing networks and data center operations as well as migrations to new ones. Contracts were awarded out of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Alabama. (DoD)
• A State Department official says it will take until January to sift through 55,000 pages of email from former Secretary Hillary Clinton. He said, at that point, they can be released publicly. John Hackett, the State Department’s Freedom of Information Act officer, made the January release offer in a court filing for a FOIA lawsuit by Vice News. Hackett asked the court to give him until Jan. 15, 2016 to release what can be released. The emails come from a controversial private server Clinton used during her term in office, instead of official State Department systems. Clinton says she erased the server but delivered the 55,000 pages of email as printouts. (Federal News Radio)
• The government has worked to make federal buildings more secure for employees. But now, one congressman wants to make them safer for birds. Rep. Mike Quigley,(D-Ill.), introduced the Federal Bird Safe Buildings Act. If it passes, the General Services Administration would have to use bird-safe building materials in federal offices. That means glass on buildings needs to have contrasting patterns or be opaque or frosted. The glass could also have netting, screens or other safety barriers that don’t obstruct vision. In the U.S., an estimated 1 billion birds die each year from striking man-made structures, especially glass. (Congress)
• Twitter has a new member — President Obama. His first tweet came at 11:30 am yesterday morning, under the handle @POTUS. The handles @BarackObama and @WhiteHouse already exist, but staffers usually send out those tweets. POTUS’s first tweet has more than 230,000 retweets. In response, FLOTUS tweeted, “It’s about time.” And Bill Clinton tweeted, “Welcome to Twitter, POTUS! One question: Does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend.” (White House)

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