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Budget and Syria top Congressional agenda – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

But up front:

The return of the lawmakers. Yes, Congress returns to session today — with much on the to-do list and few days to get it done. It will be especially challenging with the Syria situation sucking up pretty much all of the oxygen.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

  1. Deaths among civilian federal workers have increased between 2011 and 2012. The Federal Times reports that the highest percentage of these deaths has occurred among US postal workers. Safety consultant, Jim Stanley, recommends that government agencies increase safety-related training and outreach to improve conditions for federal workers.

  2. Congress has issued new rules for how the OSC can punish violators of the Hatch Act. Previously allowed to only fire or suspend, the OSC can now also fine federal employees found to be engaging in partisan activities in the workplace. The Federal Times reports that this change in OSC disciplinary powers comes after an investigation into Hatch Act violations by employees in the Department of Education.

  3. The House could move forward with a decision on a continuing resolution for the 2014 fiscal year as early as next week. The Federal Times states, however, that representatives have yet to decide on the duration of the continuing resolution. Members of the House Appropriations Committee are tentatively aiming for a short term measure that would keep agency funding at current post-sequester levels.

  4. The federal workforce did not grow or shrink between July and August of this year according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even so, the Government Executive observes that the number of federal workers is in the process of gradually declining. With the president’s 2014 fiscal budget, the federal workforce is expected to decrease in size by 3.6 percent (a loss of about 200,000 employees). This reduction includes members of the military, the postal service, and the legislative and judicial branches.

  5. FEMA is attempting to modify its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to make it more accessible to people with disabilities in hurricane prone states. The agency is also attempting to develop methods for reaching out to people with disabilities via social media and techniques for alerting those who are illiterate or lack a strong fluency in English. NextGen reports that the agency is offering a contract for the modification of its alert and warning system.

  6. The Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System (FAITAS) will be taking over federal acquisition training according to a memo released last week by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Federal News Radio reports that this move is an act of strategic sourcing by the OFPP, designed to improve efficiency in acquisition training and allow for the sharing of resources across different agencies.

  7. Technology experts argue that encryption technologies are still the best way to protect sensitive data. ComputerWorld states that this is the case despite recent reports regarding NSA’s ability to crack encryption codes. NSA’s previous successes at breaking encryption codes were on older systems. It remains to be seen, therefore, if NSA has the ability to crack more robust encryption technologies.

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