News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.

THANKING MARC--Yesterday, federal and local officials thanked the Metro Area Reemployment Center's staff for the help they have given federal job-seekers over the last 10 months. OPM Director James B. King presented awards on behalf of Vice President Gore. D.C. Mayor Marion Barry praised the collaborative relations that created the center (The Washington Post).

RESULTS--Federal decision-makers facing a September 30, 1997, deadline to develop their agencies' strategic plans should be certain to see the next Interagency Satellite Broadcast which will demonstrate how some agencies are defining their missions, setting goals, and developing performance measurements based on results (Office of Communications News Release, March 19).

NPR--The National Performance Review will not set any more downsizing goals for the federal government, saying they have already exceeded their original goals. But that doesn't mean downsizing is over (Federal Human Resources Week).

THE FEDERAL DIARY--The new NFFE president says that "when the Clinton administration announced its downsizing initiatives ....federal unions could have, and should have, done more to prevent their implementation" (The Washington Post).

AROUND WASHINGTON--There are more than 3,200 political appointees in the government, but only the top ranks require Senate confirmation. Recent statistics show more women are now appointed to executive level jobs (The Washington Post)...Families plan to sue over Oklahoma City Bombing (The Washington Post)...Design for year 2000 draws fire from Congress (The Washington Post)...Federal officials are backing off a plan to restrict street parking around the major federal office buildings in downtown Washington (The Washington Post)...The federal budget for computers and other information technology has been steadily rising--and the purchasing process has shed a lot of red tape (The Washington Post).

OTHER VIEWS--FEHBP is mentioned in an article about various funding lines of special interest to cities and towns (Nation's Cities Weekly, Washington, DC, Feb. 17)...FEHBP is mentioned in an article about military medical care (Alamogordo Daily News, Alamogordo, NM, Feb. 21)...OPM mentioned in an article about USPS (Hudspeth County Herald and Dell Valley Review, Dell City, TX, Feb. 21).