The Post's Stephen Barr is the author of The Federal Diary, which runs Sunday through Friday in the Metro section. Steve has been a reporter and editor at The Post since 1979, including stints as Federal Page editor, congressional editor and a staff writer covering the federal bureaucracy. He takes the column live to answer your questions Wednesdays at noon ET.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
_____________
Stephen Barr: Thanks to all joining this discussion today. The House and Senate Budget committees will be meeting and, if all goes as expected, issuing resolutions on "macro" tax and spending policy, including the 2006 federal pay raise. Meanwhile, Congress is continuing to examine the roll out of new personnel systems at the departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Again, thanks for logging in. Now, to the questions.
_______________________
Newark, N.J.:
Good morning. Do you believe that this budget for fiscal year 2006, will include the hiring of more Customs and Border Protection Officers at ports of entry? The wait times at peak hours could be over an hour for processing. They are very much needed at JFK and Newark airports especially. They are constantly hiring for Border Patrol as if only the land borders need officers.
Stephen Barr: Good question, and one that won't be decided until Congress figures out spending levels later this year. But I'm under the impression that DHS will not be hiring as many CPB officers as recommended in the intelligence bill and by various commissions.
_______________________
Hartford, Conn.:
Has there been any progress on the DHS/ICE reprogramming request? ICE needed approximately $280 million to get through the remainder of FY '05. Morale is taking a beating over this.
Stephen Barr: DHS has signaled to Congress that ICE has an ongoing problem, so I suspect officials will move soon on reprogramming.
By the way, are you in favor of a CPB and ICE merger?
_______________________
Lexington, Mass.:
What do you see as the #1 issue between DOD and the Unions in relation to NSPS
Stephen Barr: The "scope of bargaining" controversy. The Pentagon, like DHS, wants to limit the range of subjects that have to be put on the negotiating table, and wants to put more control in management's hands. Unions, in many cases, would be left with trying to bargain after the fact, which is much less effective than pre-implementation bargaining. Unless Congress steps in--which I don't think will happen--the unions are going to lose considerable clout.
_______________________
Corpus Christi, Tex.:
Mr. Barr,
Can you ask why the NSPS "comments" portion of the Web site in 2 weeks behind in updating? Government workers need to see the opinions of their co-workers. Does Washington realize they are getting 99 percent negative comments? Will it make any difference?
Stephen Barr: The Pentagon is facing a situation similar to DHS--comments pour in faster than they can be processed and posted. I think DHS kept posting for a few weeks after the deadline.
Will the comments make a difference? In the broad scheme, no. Hard to think that the main thrust of the rules will change. But individual comments on specific issues could very well compel the Pentagon to rethink its idea, or at least to be more specific regarding what it wants to do.
_______________________
Hartford, Conn.:
No, I am not. I am in favor of ICE figuring out what direction it will head in the coming years and what priorities it will have. Investigations of child pornographers, while certainly necessary, isn't really a Homeland Security issue.
Stephen Barr: Thanks for making that point.
_______________________
Waldorf, Md.:
I am a claim assistant with TSA, my job includes adjudication of federal tort claim submitted againt the federal government. My job functions and responsibilities are the duties of a Claims Examiner which pays more and the duties are different. How long is the government allowed to have me classified as a claims assistant while doing functions of a claims examiner. I've heard that the government has to either give you the promotion for the job your doing if its more than ninety day or return you to the positions you've been hired for. Is there any guidelines or informations that can help me addresss this concern.
Stephen Barr: Tough question. Congress gave TSA permission to create its own personnel rules, and TSA will be exempt from the new DHS personnel system. Your best option is to do some research at this OPM website (www.opm.gov/classapp/index.asp)and see if you can find material that addresses your circumstances. If that doesn't work, you may want to check with a lawyer who has experience in federal employment procedures. Best of luck!
_______________________
Venice, Fla.:
Hi Stephen
Is there any change due to new pesonnel systems at Homeland or DoD (or due to any other factor) that will change the governments contribution to TSP? My daughter has been told the government will no longer be contributing to TSP. Thanks
Stephen Barr: She's been told wrong. The personnel system changes at DoD and DHS do not affect TSP, retirement, health insurance and other basic benefits.
There's lots of rumors in circulation, so beware.
_______________________
Norfolk, Va.:
Under the new personnel system, if a reduction-in-force happened everything will be ranked on performance. Performance, then vets rights then seniority.
Hence, a person with 3 years in civil service with outstanding could bump a vet who
has highly satisfortory evals. If I am incorrect then how will performance, senority
and vets status come into place during a RIF under this new system?
Stephen Barr: This is complicated and we'll know more when NSPS final rules are published. But my understanding is that veterans preference will continue to work in the same way as it currently does--that is, vets preference is used when creating the various categories of employees for RIF purposes. Within each of those categories, however, performance will replace longevity as the first tie-breaker. The rules also change the way DoD might define areas of consideration for a RIF in order to more tightly target who might be affected. That ultimately could have a bigger impact than substituting performance for length of service. But you raise an important issue, and lets hope that the NSPS makes all this clear to employees, what with BRAC coming up, etc.
_______________________
Vienna, Va.:
During the past 15 years, I've been downsized/rightsized about five times -- and am facing it once again. It is obvious I need to make a change in my career. I am considering returning to college to re-baseline my career with a second degree.
I am in the process of listing my options and attempting to assign probabilities with starting over at age 56. If I were to apply for a Federal Government position at that time, is there any particular agency/career type where age is not a consideration?
Stephen Barr: I applaud your gumption to go back to college and make a career change! The age question is a tough one, and many Diary readers tell me that they think agencies, just as in the private sector, steer away from older workers. Clearly, some categories of work are out of the question, such as law enforcement and air traffic control, which have age limitations. I doubt you are thinking of those anyway. I would think you would be competitive for any type of mid-career slot that requires seasoning, good judgment and the ability to weigh long-haul results against short-term needs. So perhaps a job in strategic planning or some sort of budget analysis.
Folks, can you help this person out?
_______________________
East Coast Area:
Big surprise for me this morning, I may have to relocate to a southern state with spouse due to his job. I have 20 years Fed service as of yesterday and have never looked for a job outside of this state.
My questions are: What other job site is available to search other than USA Jobs? It seems I remember you or a guest saying there were two.
And second: How do I find out what Federal Agencies, or Military Posts/Bases are located in a city or close to a city I'm considering?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give. This is all kind of a shock as I hadn't considered moving for at least another couple of years.
Stephen Barr: Sounds like good news to me--no more snow!
In addition to USAJobs, you can look at FirstGov.gov for a wide array of information about the government. You can also run Internet searches to find private-sector Web sites that compile federal job listings; some offer limited free material but most charge a fee.
If you know the city or region where you are relocating, look up the local newspaper and check out the job categories. Many newspapers near federal facilities have a listing of government job openings.
As for finding the agencies in the area you are moving to, check out the Chamber of Commerce Web site, the local tourism directory, and that favorite standby--the phone book. Some phone listings are online now.
Also check with your agency to see if the personnel office has any pointers. In addition, look to see if there is a Federal Executive Board for your new area. You can find them on the OPM web site (www.feb.gov). The boards are a great resource and the members are representatives of the biggest agencies in a region.
Best of luck! Think shorts, T-shirts and sandals!
_______________________
Wayne, Pa.:
I read a summary of CIA chief Porter Goss's remarks at the Reagan Library and was amazed that his observations about the job being overwhelming, wearing five different hats, and the ambiguity of the job reflects how many mangers in any agency throughout the governmnent feel. All one needs to do is change the face, the name, and the agency and the complaint is the same. I wonder if anyone has examined how the downsizing of the government over the past decade has impacted the quality of life for managers who it seems to mean are being expected to do more with less.
Stephen Barr: You offer us a keen idea. I'm not sure anyone has put together a comprehensive portrait of the challenges facing federal managers these days, but one certainly needs to be done. After all, DoD and DHS are saying they plan to hold managers more accountable for organizational performance as part of the new personnel systems.
Any thoughts on this, folks?
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
In view of the reorganization of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, do you believe we'll be looking at yet another omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government for fy 2006?
Stephen Barr: Too early to tell, but the omnibus seems to be becoming more the rule than the exception.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.:
It seems like most of the Bush 1 appointees have now, like Elvis, left the building, whether they wanted to or not. Any idea whether there are replacements or whether it will be like this until 2008? OK by me.
Stephen Barr: The short stays of political appointees is a continuing problem in government. I would wager if your don't see the Bush 2 appointee by early next year, then you're "acting" chief has a good shot of holding the fort for the rest of the administration.
_______________________
Germantown, Md.:
I was excited about feds earning comp time for traveling on weekends, a policy recently issued by OPM. Has OPM developed any kind of guidance or forms for supervisors to approve comp time? I work at DOE and have to travel frequently on weakends and my supervisor is not aware of this OPM directive. Could we hear from your audience at other agencies?
Thanks.
Stephen Barr: OPM left it up to the agencies to develop procedures and whatever forms would be necessary. Ask you supervisor to check with the personnel office to see if DoE has integrated comp time into the time-reporting system. OPM has posted its guidance on the Web--see www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2005/2005-03.asp
Keep up the good work and the travel!
_______________________
For the guy changing careers:
I don't have much to go on, but one of my colleagues completed law school relatively late in life and joined DoJ as a new, straight out of school hire. This person's done great, and I don't recall any issues about age.
Stephen Barr: Thanks. A good point.
_______________________
Fairfax, Va.:
Mr. Barr,
Thank you for considering my question. I did apply for a GS-13 position with the Department of Army and I made it on the list that was forwarded to the recruiting official. I knew I was the best qualified candidate because I work on that section as a contractor. Nonetheless, the colonel in charge -- with whom I have good professional relations -- told me that they had to interview a person who had veteran's preferences. Since that person was not qualified, they decided not to make a selection. Nonetheless, my understanding is that if a veteran is not qualified, they have the option of selecting anyone else on the list. Is my assumption correct? And what are my options now?
Again, thank you very much!
Stephen Barr: From my vantage point, I believe your assumption is correct. But when agencies turn away an applicant with veterans preference, they have to be prepared to justify that decision. In many cases, it seems, it is easier to just cancel the vacancy announcement and start all over. I would ask the Army if they are going to re-advertise the position. Sounds tough, and perhaps you need to reassess whether the Army is your employer of choice.
_______________________
Milledgeville, Ga.:
Does this pay deal that is trying to be worked out cover WG's in Federal service? And if so,what about the ones that have retired?
Stephen Barr: If you are talking about the NSPS, the Pentagon has put off a decision on whether it applies to wage grade employees.
If you talking about the 2006 pay raise, wage grade employees probably will get the same increase as General Schedule employees in their locality.
Retirees get COLAs and will not be affected by pay raise decisions.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
I am completely at a loss as to how to transfer my federal job to a similar one on a state level. First of all, I cannot seem to find a simple list of federal agecy branches sorted by state. Second, I can't figure out if there is a seamless transfer between a fed. agency and state government in terms of benefits, etc. Do you have any advice?
Stephen Barr: Not sure you can find this kind of crosswalk. And remember that benefits do not transfer, since they are set by each state and vary dramatically.
Any suggestions out there, folks?
_______________________
Suburban Maryland:
A coworker of mine qualified for both of two related job series. She was hired under the lower paying job series because an internal group at our agency set 'standards' that are above the OPM standards for that higher paying job series. Does this sound legal? Even if its legal, what do you think of this practice?
Regardless, my coworker would like to find out how to convert to the higher paying job series, which she qualified for before she even began work here. No one here has been able to commit to what actions she could take to convince them to do the conversion, or to even how to initiate the conversion. Who would you suggest be contacted to determine the correct action to take?
Stephen Barr: Yikes! See my referral to the OPM classification Web page in a response above.
I'm no expert, but one would think that the agency knows what kind of authority it has in this area. You might check out the OPM manual on qualification standards, at www.opm.gov/qualifications/index.asp
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
With all the talk about Social Security and the Presidents plan. If the President gets his way, how will that effect a FER LEO with 20 years at age 50 when he/she retires? How will their SS be calculated? Or has anyone ask this question yet?
Stephen Barr: You're the first to ask this question. In general, some members of Congress indicate that the final Social Security plan will involve a benefit reduction. So FERS-covered employees will see a cut in their pension, if that happens. This is going to be a long and winding road, and we may not have any answers this year.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.:
As you know there is much talk about changing the Social Security Program and I understand that nothing is final. However, Bush has stated that employees 55+ need not worry--they will recieve a benefit. But, what about workers under 55 who have paid into SSA and already attained the 40 quarters needed to receive a Social Security benefit? Do they just "forget about it?"
Stephen Barr: It depends on how the whole debate comes out. The president is talking about voluntary participation in the individual accounts, so you might not want to volunteer. As I indicated earlier, this may take months for Congress to sort out.
_______________________
Stephen Barr: Once again, we've run out of time for today's discussion. My thanks to all sending in questions and comments and reading this transcript. We'll see you back here at noon next Wednesday!
_______________________
