Federal Daily - March 10, 2010

Senators Want to Cap Number of Political Appointees

While many legislators make political hay by criticizing the growing number of political appointees in the federal government, not many actually try to do anything about it. But two lawmakers who have attempted a fix in the past have announced they are giving it another go.

Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have reintroduced legislation they say would cut spending and shrink bureaucracy by reducing the number of executive branch appointees to a maximum of 2,000 individuals. Constitutionally mandated positions would not be affected by the bill.

The number of political appointees has risen steadily over the years, increasing by about 28 percent since 1980, the senators said in a March 8 statement. While the bill would impose a cap, the legislation would leave it up to the executive branch to determine which positions would have to go. The measure would give the executive branch one year to comply with the cap.

The Congressional Budget Office has previously estimated that eliminating the extra political appointees could save $872 million over 10 years, the senators said. The measure is the latest addition to Feingold’s Control Spending Now Act, an effort to slash about $500 billion from the deficit by ending specific policies and programs.

“Unnecessary bureaucratic positions not only waste taxpayer dollars, but also make government less effective and less responsive to the people it represents,” said Feingold. “In the face of record deficits, this bill offers a good way to save while improving the way government works."

To see more, go to: http://feingold.senate.gov/deficit/rls_030810.html

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Bill Calls for Firing Feds With Delinquent Income Taxes

As the federal income tax deadline approaches, attention has once again turned to the issue of tax-delinquency among federal employees. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, on March 8 introduced a bill that would—if signed into law—require the firing of any current federal employee with an outstanding IRS tax lien filed against them.

Under the bill, H.R. 4735, any fed with an outstanding personal tax debt that has triggered a wage or property lien would be subject to termination. Those who are paying off such debts under an IRS agreement would not be subject to termination under the bill. The same conditions would apply to prospective employees, according to the text of the bill. Currently, only IRS employees can be terminated for non-payment of federal income taxes, Chaffetz said.

The lawmaker said that according to the IRS, about 100,000 federal civilian employees owed $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes in 2008. When retirees and military are included, more than 276,000 people owed $3 billion.

To see more, go to: http://chaffetz.house.gov/2010/03/fire-federal-employees-who-are-not-paying-their-federal-income-taxes.shtml.

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VA, DoD Expand Health Information Pilot

The Department of Veterans Affairs and DoD have selected the Virginia/Tidewater area of southeastern Virginia as the next area to participate in the agencies’ joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record Health Communities Program demonstration project.

The agencies chose the area due to its high concentration of veterans, military retirees, members of the Guard and Reserve, and active-duty servicemembers and their families. The Tidewater pilot is the second such effort, following a similar demonstration project launched in San Diego with Kaiser Permanente.

The initiative is designed to improve care and services by sharing health information using the Nationwide Health Information Network, the agencies said in a March 8 statement. Military servicemembers and vets in the region will be invited to participate in the program, slated to launch later this year.

To see more, go to: www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13360.

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