The Hatch Act Meets the Digital Age

E-mails advocating on behalf of political candidates appear to be a relatively small problem, at least for now.

Chad Bungard, general counsel at the Merit Systems Protection Board, indicated in his testimony that only four e-mail cases related to Hatch Act violations have come before the board. The board usually hears about 8,400 appeals from employees challenging agency decisions each year, but only 36 Hatch Act cases have been heard by the board during the last five years, he said.

Still, federal employee union leaders told Akaka that they think the Office of Special Counsel has chilled the expression of personal opinions on political subjects and candidates by seeking penalties that are too harsh for most transgressions. Too often, federal agencies and managers wield the law to block nonpartisan voter registration drives in federal buildings or to intimidate union officials, the labor leaders said.

"A one-time mistake by an employee with little or no impact on the workplace should not be punished in the same manner as partisan campaigning at the federal work site," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, lamented, "What happens in reality is that federal employees are often so confused about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable that they choose not to exercise their rights."

TSP Limits

Certain parts of the tax code are being adjusted for inflation, the Internal Revenue Service said yesterday. But the maximum, tax-free contribution that government employees may make to the Thrift Savings Plan, their 401(k)-type retirement program, will remain unchanged, the IRS said.

The formula used by the IRS calls for increasing the TSP limit by $500 at a time, and the inflation-adjusted calculation fell short of that threshold for next year.

In 2008, government employees may contribute up to $15,500 to their TSP accounts, the same as this year. Those 50 and older can make an additional contribution, popularly known as "catch-up" contributions, of up to $5,000.

Talk Shows

Larry Pastor, president of the Federal Physicians Association, and Dennis Boyd, the group's executive director, will be the guests on "FedTalk" at 11 a.m. today on http://federalnewsradio.com and WFED radio (1050 AM).

Elaine Duke, chief procurement officer at the Department of Homeland Security, will be the guest on the IBM "Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m. Saturday on WJFK radio (106.7 FM).

Stephen Barr's e-mail address is barrs@washpost.com.