May 29, 2008
 
A summary of daily news relevant to the federal workforce produced by the Partnership for Public Service.

1. New Bill Will Provide Incentives for Recent Grads
2. Obama Urges Wesleyan Grads to Enter Public Service
3. FEMA Takes New Approaches to Disaster Preparedness
4. Report Finds Understaffing in DOD IG's Office
5. Federal Diary: Saving While Serving

New Bill Will Provide Incentives for Recent Grads

The East Carolinian
By Elise Phillips

On May 22, North Carolina representative David Price (D-NC) and Connecticut representative Christopher Shays released legislation that peaked the interest of Congress, and if passed will benefit college and university students across the nation.

The bill proposed, the Roosevelt Scholars Legislation (H.R. 6160), will provide incentives for graduate students to serve in federal positions after graduation. These incentives include paid tuition, support for room and board and a monetary stipend.

In turn, Roosevelt Scholars would be required to complete an internship for a federal agency while in school and upon graduation, serve three to five years in a federal service job.

The idea for the bill is modeled after the ROTC program, which provides students benefits while in school in exchange for service in a military branch after graduation.

"To attract tomorrow's leaders to public sector positions, we need to provide resources, like tuition assistance, in order for these jobs to compete with the salaries available to top-notch employees in the private sector," said Rep. Shays. "The Roosevelt Scholars program will create a new scholarship to fund graduate-level study in exchange for a federal service commitment in targeted, 'mission critical' occupational areas across the federal government. I can't think of a better investment the federal government can make than in training and invigorating its future leaders."

Any student attending an accredited institution as a full-time graduate student studying an approved concentration would be eligible for the program. Some of these "approved" concentrations include law, science, engineering and public health. Students going to school for their master's or doctoral degrees would be eligible as well.

Because of the federal government's hiring crisis, the bill would be a winner for the federal government who needs to fill critical jobs with younger, talented individuals. According to a recent study by the Partnership for Public Service, the federal government will need to fill 193,000 "mission critical" positions by 2009. According to the proposal for the Roosevelt Scholars program, the federal government is competing for an increasingly smaller pool of individuals that specialize in widely desired fields.

"In the face of a dwindling professional workforce, we must act now to recruit the scientists, engineers, and other high-level experts who make our government work," said Rep. Price. "Our initiative would mobilize the country's colleges and universities to address this very acute challenge."

The bill would also benefit graduate students, who, without scholarship assistance, would be facing tens of thousands of dollars in debt after graduation. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, students going to school for master's degrees averaged a total of $32,900 in debt after graduation. Students receiving higher-level degrees incurred anywhere from about $41,000 for doctorates and MBA's to over $125,000 for M.D. degrees, according to the center.

If passed, the bill would pay for an individual's educational needs up to $60,000 a year.

For more information about the Roosevelt Scholars Legislation, visit ourpublicservice.org.

 

Obama Urges Wesleyan Grads to Enter Public Service

The Associated Press
By Christopher Wills

Filling in for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and tying himself to the family's legacy, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged college graduates Sunday to "make us believe again" by dedicating themselves to public service.

"We may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready and eager and up to the challenge," Obama told Wesleyan University's Class of 2008.

The Illinois senator peppered his speech with references to the Kennedy legacy: John F. Kennedy urging Americans to ask what they can do for their country, the Peace Corps and Robert Kennedy talking about people creating "ripples of hope."

He devoted special attention and praise to Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime Massachusetts senator who had planned to deliver the graduation address but backed out last week after he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.

Obama, who leads in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he and Kennedy had talked last week about Obama delivering the speech. Kennedy has endorsed Obama in the nominating contest against fellow Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and has campaigned for him.

Obama said Kennedy has helped provide health care to children, given parents leave time to spend with new babies, raised the minimum wage and let people keep health insurance when changing jobs "and I have a feeling that Ted Kennedy is not done just yet."

Kennedy's stepdaughter, Caroline Raclin, is a member of Wesleyan's Class of 2008. Her mother, Kennedy's wife, Vicki, attended the ceremony.

Obama, with a presidential campaign appealing to youth and emphasizing change, often evokes comparisons to the Kennedys, particularly Robert Kennedy and his 1968 bid for the White House.

Clad in a black academic robe, Obama received an honorary doctorate. Some of the graduates had stencils of Obama's face and the word "hope" — a theme of his campaign — on their mortarboards.

Only briefly did Obama veer into campaign territory, rattling off a list of education changes he promised to make as president. The rest of the 25-minute speech urged students to focus on more than "the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy."

"At a time of war, we need you to work for peace," Obama said. "At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again. That's your task, Class of 2008."

 

FEMA Takes New Approaches to Disaster Preparedness

Federal Times
By Dan Davidson

After stumbling to get relief materials quickly to where they were needed following Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency set about transforming its logistics operation.

"This is not just a modernization — we are building a completely new organization," said Eric Smith, FEMA's national logistics coordinator who is overseeing the project.

FEMA is adding personnel, restructuring lines of command, establishing links with other federal agencies, partnering with private-sector firms and rethinking the entire supply chain, Smith said.

"In April 2007, logistics was just a subdivision here," Smith said. "We have now built a complete capability to respond to all disasters."

Thirteen months ago, there were 29 employees in the FEMA logistics operation. Today, there are 47, and the agency is authorized to hire 25 more this year and 30 more next year.

"One year ago, there was only one person here with logistics experience. Now, the team has 111 years of logistics experience combined," Smith said.

The change at the top melds with changes all along the line.

"Katrina showed we did not have the capability in place to replenish what we had," Smith said. "Our reliance was too much on what we had in stock."

FEMA has developed several new approaches to disaster preparation. One is transparency: making visible to everyone concerned what FEMA has in stock — items such as blankets, generators and portable housing units.

Another is partnerships with first responders, such as the Red Cross, which is often first on the scene with first aid, food and temporary housing, and the Army Corps of Engineers, which is charged with providing ice, water and emergency power.

Also, FEMA has forged a closer link with the Defense Logistics Agency to help it provide fuel, food, water, cots, blankets, "anything in their inventory," Smith said.

Finally, FEMA has struck a deal with the General Services Administration to arrange leases or buy goods and services in local markets and assist with transportation needs.

To read the entire article, click here.

 

Report Finds Understaffing in DOD IG's Office

Federal Computer Week
By Florence Olsen
 
The Defense Department risks significant financial losses and increased vulnerability to terrorist activities because DOD has too few investigators to ensure that criminal activity is detected and sufficiently investigated, according to a March report to Congress made public May 27 by the Project On Government Oversight.

The report describes DOD's Office of Inspector General as overwhelmed by huge increases in the department's budget for the global war on terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of staff investigators in the IG's office has remained nearly unchanged as DOD's budget has increased from less than $300 billion to more than $600 billion, the report states.

Understaffing has produced gaps in oversight of major weapon systems acquisition, health care fraud and product substitution, said Nick Schwellenbach, national security investigator at the nonprofit oversight group. "The Pentagon's top cop is outgunned," he said.

The report documents a trend in which the contract dollar amounts overseen by each DOD IG contract auditor have tripled during the past decade. In fiscal 1997, there was one IG auditor for every $642 million in DOD contracts. By 2007, the ratio had declined to one auditor for every $2.03 billion in contracts, the report states.

In particular, DOD intelligence agencies, which control most intelligence spending, have experienced major reductions in oversight, according to the report.

The report also documents a loss of capacity for investigating complaints of reprisal against whistle-blowers. Despite a sharp increase in the past 10 years in the number of complaints of reprisal by military whistle-blowers — up 62 percent, from 315 to 528 a year — the number of DOD IG staff investigators who look into those complaints has decreased from 22 to 19.

The report, requested by the Senate Armed Services Committee, recommends increasing staffing levels in  DOD's IG office by 481 full-time employees, from 1,437 in fiscal 2008 to 1,918 by fiscal 2015. That increase would add 235 full-time positions in auditing, 125 in investigations, 19 in intelligence, 50 in policy and oversight, and 52 in administrative and support functions.

To get those increases, lawmakers would have to request them in the defense appropriations and authorization bills, Schwellenbach said. "Congress can make it happen." 

Saving While Serving

The Washington Post
By Stephen Barr

Six years ago, Congress opened the Thrift Savings Plan to military personnel and other uniformed services. It is proving to be one of the government's quiet success stories.

The most recent data released by the TSP show that 36.1 percent of active-duty military personnel are saving for their retirement through the 401(k)-type program. An additional 12.2 percent of the military reserves have joined the TSP.

Those numbers may not sound impressive, but soldiers, sailors and other military personnel have joined the TSP even though the Defense Department does not make a matching contribution.

Under law, the Pentagon is not required to contribute to TSP accounts but may do so if it determines that matching contributions help with recruitment and retention. The issue comes up for debate from time to time, but many Defense officials think the troops would rather receive cash bonuses than tax-deferred money subject to restrictions on when it can be withdrawn.

The rules are different for most civilian employees in the government, and matching contributions clearly increase the number who participate in the TSP.

Civilians covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System are entitled to matching contributions, and nearly 86 percent of FERS employees are making payroll deductions to the Thrift Savings Plan. FERS employees receive an automatic employer contribution of 1 percent of salary, and the government contributes up to an additional 4 percent in matching funds.

Still, TSP data show that the number of troops joining the savings plan inches up almost every month. As of April, 52 percent of Navy active-duty personnel were making contributions, along with 35.7 percent of the Marine Corps, 33.8 percent of the Air Force and 26.4 percent of the Army.

To read the entire article, click here.