Federal managers blamed for blunting growth of teleworking

The greatest challenge facing the proliferation of teleworking is federal managers' fear of losing control, Rep. Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.

The Maryland Democrat and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., have championed teleworking as a way to make federal government more efficient, reduce Washington's regional traffic and improve residents' and federal workers' quality of life.

Hoyer told a Mid-Atlantic Telecommuting Advisory Council and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments symposium that Washington ranks as the second worst region in the nation behind Los Angeles for traffic congestion, and he said the average commute for area workers in the nation's capital is 30 minutes each way.

Since 1993, the federal government has appropriated $20 million for regional telecenters--six in Maryland, eight in Virginia, and one in West Virginia. The District of Columbia also houses a telecenter. Hoyer and others, such as Darryl Dobberfuhl, executive director for the Washington Metropolitan Telework Centers, said managerial skepticism prohibits the centers from being "standing-room only."

As of October 2001, the Office of Personnel and Management said about 4.2 percent of the federal workforce telecommutes, according to Hoyer. Less than 1 percent of employees of the Veterans' Affairs and State departments telecommute, while the rate is less than 2 percent at the Defense, Justice and Agriculture departments.

"That's not good enough," Hoyer said.

Hoyer said lawmakers for the Washington region are adamant about furthering telecommuting initiatives. He said Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening is "very enthusiastic" about such efforts, and he expects Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, whose state is home to many technology firms, to support the efforts, too.

Hoyer said he will attempt to include money for telework training and the related education of federal managers in the fiscal 2003 spending bill that funds the Treasury Department and Postal Service, adding that the federal government should serve as a "model employer" and a "laboratory" for best labor practices.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon forced many firms and government offices to develop plans for alternative workstations and operations in case of emergency, industry panelists at the symposium said.

The attack on the Pentagon displaced 4,500 Defense workers and eliminated about two-fifths of the Pentagon's floor space, said Ralph Newton, from the Defense Department's Washington Headquarters Services. The Navy also lost vital command centers, and many communications systems were destroyed.

Agencies and businesses need to map emergency plans to have computers and telephones connected in alternate workspaces, Newton stressed. And companies must ensure that their remote-access networks are secure and that their systems can positively identify individuals attempting to access the systems.

"Security can't be underestimated in terms of importance and the sense of security your workforce has," Newton said.

But Brookings Institution senior fellow Philip Dearborn--who released a study in January on telecommuting effects on Washington's tax base--noted that sales- and excise-tax revenues, as well as lottery-ticket sales, are directly reduced by suburban telecommuters not making purchases in the District. Several other tax and revenue sources may be affected as well, he said.