Agencies prodded to reduce postage costs
May 20th, 2012 | General Services Administration Postal Service | Posted by Sean Reilly
In the mood for a little irony? Even as Congress is laboring to rescue the U.S. Postal Service from a protracted financial crisis (proposed solutions include pumping billions of dollars into the mail carrier), federal agencies are now under orders to take steps that will reduce their spending on postage.
Among those steps: Using flat-rate boxes and envelopes whenever possible; taking more advantage of USPS discounts; and reducing hard-copy mailings between agencies, according to a recent General Services Administration bulletin to agency heads.
As reasons for the new policy, GSA cites several Obama administration executive orders instructing agencies to reduce waste, cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen environmental management. The amount of money at stake is substantial: In fiscal 2011, agencies spent more than $1.2 billion on mail.
The new bulletin doesn’t say by how much agencies should now reduce mailing costs. Last year’s total represents almost a 15 percent drop from 2010, although much of that reduction may be related to the end of the 10-year census. An employee in GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy referred questions Wednesday to the agency’s press office. As of Friday, FedLine hadn’t gotten responses from GSA spokeswoman Diane Merriett, but we’ll update this post if we do.
Postal Service launching digital enterprise
May 15th, 2012 | Postal Service | Posted by Sean Reilly
The U.S. Postal Service, an organization inextricably associated with the delivery of lots and lots of paper, is creating a new enterprise focused on the online sphere, according to a memorandum today from Postmaster General Pat Donahoe. The “digital solutions” group is intended “to better explore growth opportunities in the digital space, and to translate those opportunities into new streams of revenue, enhance the value of our current offerings, and improve customer experiences,” Donahoe told Postal Service officers in the memo obtained by Federal Times.
The venture comes as the agency is under pressure from Congress and postal employee unions to explore alternatives to service cutbacks. “We are convinced there is growth potential in this dynamic digital environment,” Donahoe said.
Heading the group will be Paul Vogel, who has been USPS president and chief marketing/sales officer. Vogel, who started with the Postal Service as a clerk and letter carrier in 1969 while working his way through college, later left for consulting work on international business and business strategies, according to his official bio. He returned to the Postal Service two years ago.
“Paul has a great track record of driving successful new initiatives within the Postal Service,” Donahoe wrote. “In addition to his excellent recent service as chief marketing/sales officer, he was instrumental in establishing our transportation partnership with FedEx, he stood up and launched our global business, and he played a vital role in early efforts to realign our operational network.”
The digital solutions group will begin “with a matrixed structure and will grow into a separate business unit over the coming year with the flexibility to explore, pursue and/or create quickly evolving digital technologies,” Donahoe continued. “Paul will be taking us into new waters in a number of ways that should generate a lot of external interest and excitement.”
Replacing Vogel as chief marketing/sales officer will be Coca-Cola executive Nagisa Manabe. At the soft drink giant, Manabe served as vice president of new growth platforms, according to Donahoe’s memo. Before that, she was vice president of marketing for Diageo Guinness USA Inc., part of the company that makes Johnnie Walker whiskey, Smirnoff vodka, and Guinness beer. Manabe “will lead our efforts to frame a new generation of ideas to better promote and grow our organization,” Donahoe said.
Tags: Nagisa Manabe, Pat Donahoe, Paul Vogel, Postal Service
Acting GSA administrator: Budget cuts make GSA more important than ever
May 15th, 2012 | General Services Administration | Posted by Andy Medici
Dan Tangherlini, acting administrator at the General Services Administration, said Tuesday that budget cuts has made the agency more important than ever.
“In this time of fiscal austerity and budget uncertainty, the role of the GSA and the expertise of our contracting officers have never been more vital,” Tangherlini said.
Tangherlini said in a video address at the kickoff to the GSA Training Conference and Expo inSan Antoniothat agencies must continue their critical operations while funding ways to scale back on overhead costs.
The White House tapped Tangherlini to replace Administrator Martha Johnson on April 2 and clean up the agency after GSA Inspector General Brian Miller released a scathing report documenting widespread waste and mismanagement, especially at GSA’s Region 9 office inSan Francisco.
The IG report detailed GSA’s spending on a lavish $822,000 2010 conference in Las Vegas and numerous other examples of waste. The report prompted not only Johnson’s resignation, but the firing of GSA Public Buildings Commissioner Bob Peck and Johnson’s senior counsel Stephen Leeds, and the placement of 10 employees on administrative leave.
He also condemned the actions of GSA employees who helped organize the conference and said the “misconduct was irresponsible, indefensible, and completely contrary to the way that GSA does business and delivers value to our customer agencies.”
“The circumstances of my arrival are well documented, and I won’t dwell on them, but I would like to say that the actions of those responsible for the Western Regions Conference cut to the heart of who we are and what we do,” Tangherlini said in the video.
GSA names FedRAMP third party assessment organizations
May 15th, 2012 | Cybersecurity General Services Administration Information Technology | Posted by Nicole Johnson
An initial group of nine organizations has been selected to provide independent security reviews of cloud products and services used in the federal government.
As part of the Federal Risk and Authorization program (FedRAMP), expected to launch June 6, vendors must work with an approved third party assessment organization, or 3PAO, to validate if they’ve implemented baseline security standards. For years, these security reviews have varied across government and have cost agencies millions of dollars each year.
Approved 3PAOs include (click here for contact information):
COACT, Inc.
Department of Transportation Enterprise Service Center
Dynamics Research Corporation
J.D. Biggs and Associates Inc.
Knowledge Consulting Group, Inc.
Logyx LLC
Lunarline, Inc.
SRA International, Inc.
Veris Group, LLC
A review board, comprised of officials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and GSA, selected the first wave of 3PAOs. As part of the FedRAMP process, vendors must contract with a 3PAO to assess the security of their products and services.
“The accreditation process will eventually migrate to a board managed by private sector organizations,” according to FedRAMP concept of operations document. “After the private sector accreditation body has been established, the FedRAMP PMO (program management office) will establish a transition timeframe for all 3PAOs to be accredited by the privatized board.”
SSA’s CIO overhaul lacked adequate planning, GAO says
May 14th, 2012 | Information Technology Social Security Administration | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Social Security Administration did not fully assess the impact of a major internal overhaul last June, which eliminated the chief information office and reassigned its functions, according to testimony from a Government Accountability Office official.
At the time, most of the responsibilities for managing information technology and the IT budget were reassigned to SSA’s Office of Systems. Two months later, then CIO Frank Baitman resigned. Kelly Croft, deputy commissioner for systems, assumed the CIO duties and oversight of those IT workers.
SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue said the effort would increase efficiency, but SSA did not develop a management plan that describes the challenges associated with the realignment or how to resolve them, time frames, resources, performance measures and accountability structures, according to written testimony from Valerie Melvin, GAO’s director of information management and technology resources issues. Melvin spoke on the issue at a House subcommittee hearing last week.
SSA also failed to analyze what roles and responsibilities were needed to support the new changes, Melvin said in her testimony.
She said the new structure should provide effective oversight and management of SSA’s systems and modernization if implemented properly, but it “cannot be determined whether the reassignment of staff that occurred as a result of the realignment represents an optimal allocation of resources.”
Tags: chief information officer, GAO, Kelly Croft
Public Service Recognition Week: Tom Burger
May 11th, 2012 | Agencies IRS | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
Tom Burger has spent his life dedicated to public service. Burger said it started with President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address in 1961, when Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
“That stimulated me to look into public service,” Burger said.
As a young man, Burger served as a Marine in the Vietnam War during the Tet Offensive of 1968. After he left the Marines, Burger was still looking to serve. He turned to the federal government.
Burger looked into working at the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Internal Revenue Service, but he ended up at the IRS, where he worked for 37 years. Burger rose to the rank of director of the employment tax. Working for the IRS, Burger helped ensure that the majority of the money that funds the federal government was collected. He was responsible for determining whether citizens received W-2 or 1099 tax forms.
“Basically are you an employee or independent contractor?” Burger said, ”It’s the IRS’s job is to ensure that everybody pays their fair share – no more, no less.”
Even though Burger is retired, you wouldn’t guess it. He’s the executive director of the Professional Managers Association and the treasurer of the Federal Employees Education Fund.
Listen to Burger’s views on public service.
Tags: Federal Employee Education Fund, FEEA, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, PMA, Professional Managers Association, public service, Public Service Recognition Week, taxes, Tom Burger
Public Service Recognition Week: Eric Adams
May 9th, 2012 | Agencies | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
In 2007, about 2,000 Government Accountability Office employees decided to unionize with The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. It was the first time in the GAO’s 91-year history that its employees were represented by a labor organization. That’s when Eric Adams decided to jump ship from his previous agency and apply for the Director of Workforce Relations at GAO.
“It was an opportunity for me to start a labor program here from the ground up,” Adams said.
Adams says his main role is being a liaison between the agency’s management and the roughly 2,500 non-management employees.
“I think all organizations want their employees to be involved and care about what they think,” Adams said, “and I think employees in any workplace take interest in decisions which effect them.”
While he represents the agency’s management interests, Adams reaches out to employees to see which programs aren’t working and which programs are successful.
“A program that is effective that allows for the agency to get its mission done is Telework,” Adams said.
The benefit of his job, Adams says, is an accountable, high performing, motivated workforce carrying out the mission of the agency.
Listen to Adams’ views on public service.
Inspector general: More than one-third of Postal Service workers eligible to retire this year
May 9th, 2012 | Postal Service | Posted by Sean Reilly
The U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general is out with a new overview of employee retirement options. This is a hot topic nowadays, given that USPS leaders have been open about their interest in using early-out incentives as a glide path to a much smaller agency.
One finding: More than 189,000 postal employees (that’s well above one-third of the current career workforce) are eligible to retire in fiscal 2012. That number appears to be a good bit higher than the figure used by postal execs, who generally put the ratio at around one in four. The report also notes that the Postal Service already has the authority to offer early retirements in fiscal 2012, and “may request an extension to” 2013.
The IG also makes no recommendations on how USPS leaders should proceed, but does offer a handy summary of annuity formulas, the mechanics of early retirement options, etc. Definitely worth a look.
House bill would provide $749 million for DHS cybersecurity
May 8th, 2012 | 2013 Budget Congress Cybersecurity Homeland Security Information Technology | Posted by Nicole Johnson
Cybersecurity funding at the Department of Homeland Security would increase 63 percent from $459 million to $749 million under a proposed 2013 spending bill by the House Appropriations Committee.
The increase would fund new initiatives to improve federal network security and defend against foreign espionage, according to a committee press release. The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up the bill on Wednesday.
Cyber funding would be $20 million below the president’s $769 million request. Both the administration and some members of the Senate are backing legislation that would give DHS new authorities to regulate cybersecurity. The 2012 Cybersecurity Act, S 2105, would authorize the DHS to regulate security standards for certain privately owned critical networks, such as those affecting the power grid and other systems that, if attacked, would cause death, severe economic damage or national security risks.
Skeptics of DHS’ ability to regulate industry point to the department’s troubled chemical facility security program, or CFATS. Congress in 2007 directed DHS to beef up the physical security and cybersecurity of chemical facilities. But that program suffered from unstable leadership, inadequate training and poor hiring decisions.
The spending bill would provide $45 million for CFATS, $29 million below what was requested and $47 million below current spending levels. “This reduction is due to significant managerial problems, program delays and poor budget execution,” the new release said.
Tags: CFATS
Public Service Recognition Week: Octavia Hall
May 8th, 2012 | Air Force Defense Unions | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
As an Army brat, Octavia Hall has always been around public service. She spent most of her life in Germany bouncing around several bases. Hall said it was both her family and her community who encouraged her to serve.
“When I went out to the bus stop, I remember the soldiers coming over to talk to us about going to school, getting a good education, asking about our career goals. They contributed a lot to my wanting to serve,” Hall said.
As military families do, Hall’s family moved again, this time to Maryland. In high school she was active in cheerleading and a singing-show group she compared to the hit show Glee.
When graduation approached, Hall wasn’t interested in military service, but she knew there was a place for her on the civilian side. After receiving her diploma from La Plata High School, she was hired as a resource adviser at Joint Base Andrews. Hall helped families with child-care needs, career development courses and dual military spouses dealing with deployments.
“It’s always been instilled in me to help others in need,” Hall said.
Hall’s job at Andrews led her to her current position as the president of Local 1401 of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Listen to Hall share her views on public service:
Tags: AFGE, American Federation of Government Employees, Octavia Hall, public service