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NEWS: Jan. 27, 2012
New Recovery Board Chief Has Hit the Ground Running The federal Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board's new leader, Kathleen Tighe, took over just a few weeks ago, but she already has moved full speed ahead using cutting-edge strategies for tracking federal spending, increasing government transparency and doggedly pursuing fraud detection and mismanagement. >> AOL Government Management Shakeup Vowed for Cook County Morgue Cook County, Ill., Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the management of the county morgue will be overhauled and some staffers will lose their jobs in the wake of reports that hundreds of bodies have been piling up at the facility. >> Chicago Sun-Times Finance | Los Angeles Better-Performing Pensions Aid City Budget The performance of two Los Angeles city-employee pension funds that had been taking a beating in the investment markets improved enough during the last fiscal year to help provide $90 million in much-needed budget relief to the city. >> Los Angeles Times Arizona City's Credit Downgraded over Delayed Team Sale Moody's Investors Service downgraded Glendale, Ariz.'s bond rating on $680 million of debt, citing delays in selling the Phoenix Coyotes hockey franchise that plays at the city-owned arena. >> Arizona Republic Colorado Governor: Privatize Workers' Comp Fund Despite the ongoing concerns of business groups, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is recommending the privatization of the state-chartered workers' compensation insurance fund. >> Denver Post
1,500 Miles to Get 75 mph Speed Limit Good news for Texas leadfoots: The speed limit will soon rise from 70 mph to 75 on nearly 1,500 miles of interstate highway, bringing to 3,584 the number of miles where drivers can go 75 mph--or faster. The new limit was approved by the Texas Transportation Commission after studies on the roads determined that the change would be safe. >> Fort Worth Star-Telegram Massachusetts Vehicle Registry Moves to Cover Budget Cuts Massachusetts officials say they not expect a proposed $15 million budget cut to force layoffs or branch closures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, outlining plans to defray the lost revenue by selling online advertisements and leasing surplus property. >> Boston Globe The Military | The Nation Fight Likely over Pentagon Pay-Raise Limits The Pentagon took the first major step toward shrinking its budget after a decade of war as it announced that it wanted to limit pay raises for troops starting in 2015, increase health insurance fees for military retirees and close bases in the United States. The pay-raise limits are certain to ignite a political fight in Congress >> New York Times Pentagon Cuts Would Put Contractors on the Spot The Defense Department's proposed budget cuts would affect contractors in two ways: in alterations to major weapons systems and an intensified search for efficiencies in Pentagon management. >> Government Executive Database Targets Fraud Against Troops, Families The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a new joint database aimed at making it easier to head off financial fraud that targets military service members, veterans and their families. >> FederalDaily Navy Plans to Boost Renewable-Energy Purchasing The Navy said it will be ramping up its use of public-private partnerships to purchase one gigawatt of renewable energy--enough electricity to power a city the size of Orlando, Fla.--by 2020. >> Federal Times Public Workforce | Phoenix Police Hiring Freeze Extended to 2015 The Phoenix police department will extend its hiring freeze to 2015, which means the city would go six and a half years without a new officer recruited to the force. City officials have relied on attrition to avoid layoffs, but officers have been hanging onto their jobs longer than expected because of the uncertain economy. >> Arizona Republic All Feds to Be Surveyed on Satisfaction In what Obama-administration officials are calling a first, all federal employees--permanent, full- and part-time--will get the chance to participate in this year's Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. >> Washington Post
As Governor Bows Out, Democrats Scramble for a Replacement The announcement by Gov. Bev Purdue, facing a tough re-election fight as one of the nation's most endangered Democrats, that she will not seek a second term shocked North Carolina's political establishment, creating a scramble to find a strong replacement in a political swing state that will host the Democratic National Convention. >> Raleigh News & Observer Two Ex-Walker Aides Charged with Illegal Campaigning Two top staffers for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker while he was Milwaukee County executive were charged with illegally doing political work while being paid by taxpayers to do county jobs. >> Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Technology | The Nation DoJ Defends Troubled Wireless Network Project Following a critical inspector general's report, Justice Department officials are defending their wireless network program, which they say has been hampered by a lack of funding, a changing technology environment and other circumstances beyond their control. The I.G. said the program has cost $356 million over 10 years. >> Federal Computer Week FBI: Federal Reserve Worker Stole Software The FBI has charged a former computer programmer at the Federal Reserve with stealing software used to track government finances and issue account statements for federal agencies. >> BankInfoSecurity.com >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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VIEWPOINT Public Workforce | Joseph A. McCartin The Unions=Deficits Myth On Jan. 17, 1962, President Kennedy signed an executive order giving collective-bargaining rights to most federal workers for the first time, triggering a huge wave of unionization at all levels of government. For 20 years after Kennedy's order, public-sector union rights were not controversial. Lately, however, critics of public-sector unions are fond of alleging that Kennedy's extension of union rights to government was a mistake, one that is responsible for today's budget deficits. The facts don't support these allegations. >> Los Angeles Times PLUS: James Windle on why ending what has become tantamont to an indefinite tenure system for the federal workforce would go a long way toward improving accountability in government. >> AOL Government | More commentaries
“To every criminal out there, I just put a $20,000 bounty on your head.” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, announcing an assortment of initiatives aimed at stemming the city's rising homicide rate including $20,000 rewards for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of murder suspects >> Philadelphia Daily News | More quotes DATAPOINT $2,101 Amount paid at auction for nearly all of Navy Commander Wilma Roberts' possessions--more than 7,000 pounds of goods valued by the Navy nurse at $60,000 and that included her family Bible and the ceremonial sword from her son's military-academy graduation--which were sold off by a West Bend, Wis., storage company while she was deployed in Kuwait after a communications snafu resulted in the Navy failing to pay her storage costs >> Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | More data UPCOMING American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies" Today, 4-5:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. National Association of Secretaries of State Winter Conference Jan. 28-31, Washington, D.C. Human Capital Institute Talent Strategy and Workforce Planning Conference Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Atlanta Water Environment Federation Utility Management Conference Jan. 30-Feb. 2, Miami Center for American Progress Discussion: "The Obama Administration's National Security Policy" Jan. 30, noon-1 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Governing magazine Outlook in the States and Localities Conference Jan. 31-Feb. 1, Washington, D.c. American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "Competing for Talent: The United States and High-Skilled Immigration" Jan. 31, 9-10:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Government Innovators Network and National Institute of Justice Elder Abuse Webinar Series: "Building a Risk Assessment Tool for the New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services" Jan. 31, 2 p.m. ET Brookings Institution Discussion: "Improving the Environment for Entrepreneurship" Feb 1, 8:30-10 a.m., Washington, D.C. American Enterprise Institute Discussion: "What the Election Year Will Mean for Education Policy" Feb. 1, 9-11 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Public Technology Institute Webinar (for nonprofits): "Utilizing Appreciative Inquiry as a Tool for Collaboration and Innovation" Feb. 2, 1 p.m. ET National Association of Counties Webinar: "Enhancing Local Criminal Justice Practice with a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council" Feb. 2, 2 p.m. GovInfoSecurity.com Webinar: "Information Security for Management: What Your Senior Leaders Need to Know" Feb. 3, 10 a.m. ET Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program on Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage Feb. 5-10, Cambridge, Mass. National Association of State Energy Officials and Association of State Energy Research & Technology Transfer Institutions Energy Policy and Technology Outlook Conference Feb. 7-10, Washington, D.C. Government Executive magazine Leadership briefing: "The Human Capital Challenge" Feb. 7, 7:30-9:30 a.m., Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Energy and National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners National Electricity Forum Feb. 8-9, Washington, D.C. >> Full events listings |
