DoD on the Hill
Congress recesses without further action on FY2010 Appropriations bills: No FY2010 Appropriations bills advanced this week as Congress recessed for the Thanksgiving holiday. When Congress returns next week it will begin debate on the Health Care reform bill in earnest. It will also have less than three weeks (the CR runs out on Dec. 18) to determine if it can pass any more individual appropriations bills. If it doesn't, it will most likely move to prepare an FY2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill that includes all remaining seven bills. The DoD bill is still a good candidate to carry these bills forward to passage and presentation to the President for signature.
DoD Budget and Financial Management News
White House increase accountability for payment errors: The White House this week issued an executive order requiring federal agencies to be more accountable for reporting and controlling erroneous payments. Total improper payments in FY2009 reached some $98 billion (5 percent of total measured payments), up by $26 billion from FY2008). The Director of OMB, Peter Orszag, stated that the increase was due primarily to improved identification of errors and increased outlays stemming from the current economic downturn. Over half ($55 billion) of the improper payments were accounted for in the Department of Health and Human Services--almost all in Medicare and Medicaid. DoD accounted for $850 million, less than one percent of the total. The executive order lists four major areas of concern: 1) transparency and public participation; 2) identification and elimination of the highest improper payments; 3) agency and executive accountability for reducing improper payments; and 4) coordination among Federal, State, and Local governments to identify and eliminate improper payments. Agencies will be required to set up an improper payments dashboard on their websites showing error rates and payment issues still to be addressed and to name a Senate-confirmed official to be accountable for improper payments issues. In addition, agencies will have to set and meet targets for reductions to improper payments and have agency inspectors general to approve those targets.
Other Areas of Interest
Maria Matella nominated to be new Army FM: This week the President nominated Ms. Maria Sally Matella to be the new Army Assistant Secretary (Financial Management and Comptroller). Ms. Matella has extensive experience in accounting for the Army, Air Force, DFAS, and OSD. She has served most recently as the Assistant CFo for accounting at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Before that, she was the CFO of the Forest Service. While at DoD, Ms. Matella was a staff accountant for OSD Comptroller, a financial manager at DFAS, and worked for the Army and Air Force at installations in the U.S. and overseas. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Arizona.
Retirements present supervisory challenges and opportunities: Almost 60 percent of federal workers who will be eligible to retire through 2014 will indeed retire, according to a report by the Merit Systems Protection Board. A large proportion of those who will retire are expected to be supervisors, as they are older and have more time in service. These expected retirements present agencies with a problem--the much-discussed brain drain. But, the report states that it also will give agencies an opportunity to mold the future supervisory force to better meet the challenges of a changing federal workplace and workforce. The emphasis, according to the Board, for new supervisors should be placed more on management than on technical skills. The changing workplace,such as increases use of teleworking, will require managers to be more creative in managing work flow indirectly rather than through direct observation of employees. This will place a premium on enhancing thee communications skills of supervisors. The report recommends that agencies: 1) examine demands on supervisors to ensure that they have the requisite competencies, time, and resources to do their job; 2) build programs for supervisors that consider changing workplace and supervisory requirements; 3) develop valid methods to assess supervisors' competencies; 4) develop training programs that emphasize teamwork, cooperation, and employment empowerment; and 5) use "focused recruitment and valid assessments while following the merit principles" when recruiting new supervisors.
DoD rules on restrictions for post-employment work with contractors: DoD has released the final rule on restrictions on senior acquisition employees seeking post-employment private sector jobs. Under the rule, senior officials who "have participated personally and substantially in a DoD acquisition program exceeding $10 million" or held key acquisition positions will be required to obtain a post-employment ethics opinion before taking a job with a DoD contractor within two years after leaving DoD. This action does not change the interim rule that was issued in January 2009. DoD acted in response to the requirements of a provision in the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
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