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NEWS: July 18, 2011
Governor Praises State Workers, Gives Them a One-Time Bonus Lauding state workers for finding ways to save the state money, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced plans to use some of the state's unexpected $1.18 billion surplus on one-time bonuses of $500, $750 or $1,000. About 90 percent of the state's 28,069 employees will receive what Daniels called an "efficiency dividend." >> Indianapolis Star New York State Labor Leaders Push for Concessions New York State labor leaders, spooked by Connecticut public workers' rejection of concessions, are beginning a campaign to persuade more than 100,000 state employees to accept a wage freeze and other measures to avoid sweeping layoffs. >> New York Times Chicago Mayor Lays Off 625 in Union Showdown Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is sending layoff notices to about 625 city employees and planning to privatize some of the services performed by the workers after union leaders didn't agree to work-rule changes the mayor wants or offer alternate ways to cut costs. >> Chicago Sun-Times
Schools Chief to Workers Implicated in Cheating: Quit Now or Be Fired The Atlanta public schools' interim superintendent, Erroll Davis, sent letters to the homes of all 178 school-system employees who have been implicated in a test-cheating scandal with a short message: resign this week or face termination. >> Atlanta Journal-Constitution D.C. Fires 206 Low-Rated Teachers The Washington, D.C., schools fired 206 teachers for poor performance, an extension of former schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's aggressive drive to upgrade classroom instruction. >> Washington Post NYC Abandons Teacher-Bonus Program A New York City program that distributed $56 million in performance bonuses to teachers and other school staff members over the last three years is being permanently discontinued. >> New York Times Military Personnel | Afghanistan 'Fast Lane' Speeds Protective Gear to Troops The Pentagon is speeding up life-saving gear to troops in Afghanistan--including gunshot locators, more vehicle armor and protective underwear--under a new "fast lane" system run by a small group of senior defense officials. >> USA Today Appeals Court Temporarily Reinstates 'Don't Ask' A federal appeals court temporarily suspended its ban on enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays from openly serving in the military. >> Los Angeles Times
Former Ohio A.G. Tapped to Lead New Consumer Agency President Obama will nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, moving to avoid a bruising Senate confirmation battle that would have occurred had Obama selected Elizabeth Warren, the controversial Harvard law professor who helped to set up the agency. >> Columbus Dispatch Help Wanted: Leaders for a Scandal-Torn City When Bell, Calif.'s new city council was sworn in, the members vowed a complete overhaul of the city's management. But after a monthlong search, officials have not received a single application for the job of city manager, and other top positions remain vacant. >> Los Angeles Times
Contractors' Speedy Work Averts 'Carmageddon' "Mission accomplished," proclaimed a beaming Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the Interstate 405 freeway was reopened Sunday afternoon, cutting short a weekend closure for bridge demolition that had threatened to unleash "Carmageddon." Contractors wer able to finish the work about 17 hours ahead of schedule to pocket an extra $300,000 in incentive payments. >> Los Angeles Times Contracting/Procurement | The Nation I.G.: DHS Missed Bulk-Buying Savings The federal Department of Homeland Security did not routinely attempt to slash costs for equipment through bulk purchasing, especially for billions of dollars' worth of explosive-detection tools, DHS' acting inspector general told Congress. >> Nextgov Ex-Contractor Admits Bribing Military Officials A Philadelphia man who headed a contracting firm pleaded guilty to federal charges of bribing military officials in exchange for contracts related to combat operations in Iraq worth millions of dollars. >> Philadelphia Daily News
Bush's HHS Secretary Backs Key Provision of Obama Health Law Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who was secretary of health and human services under President George W. Bush and is a top supporter of Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney, strenuously backed a core piece of President Obama's health-care overhaul, urging the states to move forward together in adopting health-insurance exchanges. >> Wall Street Journal States Shifting Veterans' Health Costs to Feds A growing number of states are shifting health-care costs to the federal government by finding military veterans who receive Medicaid and signing them up for medical benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. >> Stateline.org Technology | Richland, Wash. Energy Lab Back Online after Cyberattack Almost two weeks after a cyberattack forced the Energy Department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory offline, it has restored Internet access and most public websites. A spokesman said no classified or sensitive information was compromised. >> Federal Computer Week California Criminal Database Not Flagging Felons The criminal-records system California relies on to stop child abusers from working at schools and violent felons from buying guns is so poorly maintained that it routinely fails to alert officials to a subject's full criminal history. >> Los Angeles Times >> More news, analysis, resources and events: GovManagement.com >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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QUOTABLE “It was just tongue in cheek at a council meeting. We know marijuana is illegal.” Shelley Burch, chairwoman of the Snoqualmie tribal council, saying a resolution passed by the council declaring marijuana legal on the Washington State reservation was a gag, intended as a souvenir to frame and present to country singer Willie Nelson when he performed at the tribe's casino >> Seattle Times VIEWPOINT Taxing and Spending | Mark Zandi Where to Find $4 Trillion It is encouraging that the Obama administration and Congress are coalescing around the same deficit-reduction math: about $4 trillion over the next decade. The significant disagreements over the composition of that deficit reduction can be overcome if we agree to achieve the entire $4 trillion through cuts in government spending--and that includes tax expenditures: the exclusions, exemptions, deductions and credits that cost more than $1 trillion each year. >> Washington Post DATAPOINT More than 25,000 Number of security breaches at U.S. airports since November 2001, an average of about seven a day mostly involving people entering limited-access doors or passageways without permission or unauthorized people going from airport buildings to planes, according to Department of Homeland Security documents >> USA Today UPCOMING 1105 Government Information Group Federal Office Systems Exposition July 19-21, Washington, D.C. National Association of County & City Health Officials Annual Conference July 20-21, Hartford, Conn. American Society for Public Administration Webinar on Validating Increased Performance July 20, 1 p.m. ET American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "Is Dodd-Frank Regulation Cutting Off Mortgage Credit?" July 21, 2-4 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program for Senior Managers in Government July 24-Aug. 12, Cambridge, Mass. National Lieutenant Governors Association Annual Meeting July 27-29, Puerto Rico GovLoop Next Generation of Government Summit July 28-29, Washington, D.C. Governing magazine Summit on Cutting the Cost of Government: Cloud Computing, Worker Mobility, and Technology Innovation July 28, 9-11:30 a.m. ET, Baltimore National Association of State Treasurers National Institute for Public Finance July 31-Aug. 4, Chicago U.S. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services National Community Policing Conference Aug. 1-2, Washington, D.C. American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Meeting Aug. 3-6, New Orleans Governing magazine Webinar on Unlocking Money-Saving Secrets through Data Aug. 3, 2 p.m. ET National Association of State Budget Officers Annual Meeting Aug. 7-11, St. George, Utah National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit Aug. 8-11, San Antonio, Texas Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials Solid Waste Managers Conference Aug. 9-11, Kansas City >> Full events listings |
