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NEWS: Aug. 11, 2011
I.G.: Social Security Needs Better Online Services With use of the Social Security Administration's Internet-based services steadily increasing, SSA needs to develop a stronger long-term plan for online customer self-service, according to a report by the agency's inspector general. >> InformationWeek FCC Chief Unveils Plan for Next-Generation 911 Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled a five-point plan to move the nation onto next-generation 911, allowing people to submit voice, text, data, photos and video to emergency-dispatch centers via the Internet. >> Government Technology New York City Reaches Deal for Wi-Fi in 32 Parks New York City officials, frustrated by previous efforts to make wireless Internet available in parks and other public spaces, reached agreements with two of the city's cable-TV companies to provide Wi-Fi in 32 public parks within two years. >> New York Times
Audit Slams Community-College Campus-Construction Spending A state audit of Los Angeles Community College District campus construction has found $140 million in questionable spending, including at least $28 million sunk into projects that were later abandoned because of poor planning. State Controller John Chiang also challenged the district's use of voter-approved construction money to pay for public relations, public art and other purposes he deemed inappropriate. >> Los Angeles Times Statue of Liberty to Close for a Year The Statue of Liberty, closed for three years after the 9/11 attacks, will close again for a year for $27 million in additional safety improvments, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. The statue will close Oct. 29, the day after the 125th anniversary of its dedication. >> New York Times Procurement | The Nation Feds Seek Ways to Block Counterfeit Products Counterfeit products have been infiltrating the federal government's supply chain, and a new interagency group is looking for gaps in legal authority and regulation that may undermine how officials can check on the quality of products the government buys. >> Federal Computer Week Public Properties | The Nation Feds Eye Rental Market for Foreclosed Houses The Obama administration is soliciting ideas on how to turn the federal government's inventory of approximately 250,000 foreclosed houses into rental properties that could be managed by private enterprises or sold in bulk. >> New York Times
Audit: Fraud Still Plagues Heating-Aid Program Four years after an audit uncovered criminal abuse of a state home-heating-assistance program, benefits are still going to Pennsylvanians who don't meet eligibility guidelines, including some who applied using Social Security numbers of dead people, according to a state audit. >> Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Judge Greenlights Arizona Medicaid Cuts A Maricopa County judge refused to block cuts to Arizona's Medicaid program, saying a voter-approved law requiring coverage for people below the poverty level doesn't force the legislature to pay for it. >> Arizona Republic Education | Wisconsin Brokerage Defrauded 5 School Districts, Feds Say Federal securities regulators charged a brokerage firm and its former executive with defrauding five Wisconsin school districts when it sold them risky investments to fund retiree benefits. The obligations, which cost the districts about $200 million, became virtually worthless after the 2008 economic crash. >> Milwaukee Journal Sentinel N.C. Governor: Open Pre-K to All At-Risk Kids North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue ordered pre-kindergarten classes to be open to all eligible at-risk children even if their families cannot afford new fees, saying she would call upon the legislature to cover the costs if there isn't enough money in the budget. >> Raleigh News & Observer Ill. Governor: Kill Scandal-Plagued Scholarship Program Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn moved to abolish the state's century-old legislative scholarship program, which has been beset by cronyism and scandal for decades. State lawmakers in the past have voted down efforts to get rid of the program. >> Chicago Sun-Times Public Workforce | The Nation Many Swallowed Feds' Long-Term-Care Rate Hike Forty-six percent of the federal long-term-care insurance program's 146,415 enrollees did not change their benefit when premium rates increased as much as 25 percent in 2009, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. >> Government Executive Treasury Union President Gets Fourth Term National Treasury Employees Union convention delegates overwhelmingly re-elected Colleen Kelley to serve a fourth four-year term as the organization's national president. >> Federal Daily Finance | The Nation Experts: Debt Deal May Not Be Disaster for States For states, the federal agreement to raise the debt ceiling has inspired confusion and consternation. Details are becoming clearer, and some experts are reaching an unexpected conclusion: The damage to state budgets may not be so bad after all. >> Stateline.org >> More news, analysis, resources and events: GovManagement.com >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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DATAPOINT About $350,000 Amount set aside by the California corrections department to pay several hundred corrections officers while they attend their union's annual convention next week in Las Vegas under an arrangement--unique among the state's collective bargaining agreements--that allows the prison workers to claim three days of "activist release time" >> Sacramento Bee VIEWPOINT Leadership | Russ Linden How's Your 'Court Vision'? Paying attention only to the issues at our command gives us a welcome, albeit false, sense of security. Effective leaders, like the best basketball players, understand the importance of seeing the larger picture, of focusing on items that may affect them whether they can control those things, influence them or only monitor them. They know the power of "court vision." >> Governing QUOTABLE
“She was a beauty in her time. I'm glad she won't be turned into razor blades.” Charles Conway, who served as a chief data systems technician aboard the USS Arthur W. Radford and was among former crew members witnessing the sinking of the decommissioned Navy destroyer off the Delaware coast to become an artificial reef >> Philadelphia Inquirer UPCOMING Center for American Progress Discussion: "The Moral Complexity of a Diverse Latino Community" Today, noon-1:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. GovLoop Online training event: "How to Incorporate Open Source Thinking into Cloud Computing" Today, 2 p.m. ET National Contract Management Association Leadership Summit Aug. 12-13, Boston Academy of Management Annual Meeting Aug. 12-16, San Antonio, Texas National Emergency Management Association Annual Conference Aug. 12-16, Des Moines, Iowa Brookings Institution Discussion: "The Deficit's Impact on American National Security and Foreign Policy" Aug. 12, 10-11:30 a.m.-noon ET, Washington, D.C. National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers Annual Conference Aug. 13-17, Burlington, Vt. National Association of State Chief Administrators Annual Institute on Management & Leadership Aug. 14-16, Richmond, Va. American Public Human Services Association IT Solutions Management Conference Aug. 14-17, Austin, Texas National Association of Insurance Commissioners Summer Meeting Aug. 14-17, Seattle >> Full events listings |
