News Briefs

THE DAILY FED

News Briefs

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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.

ACTING DIRECTOR IN DENVER--Janice Lachance, OPM's Acting Director meets with students at Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colorado this morning to discuss federal job opportunities, national educational testing standards, and other topics regarding education and employment including delivering the President's Stay in School message (Office of Communications News Release, 10/21/97).

DOD--OPM Acting Director Janice Lachance, on behalf of Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review, presented a Hammer Award at DOD's Senior Executive Service Processing Action Team of the Personnel and Security Directorate, Office of the Secretary, on Tuesday, October 21, at OPM headquarters in Washington, DC (Office of Communications News Release 10/21/97).

NPC--President Bill Clinton has reauthorized the National Partnership Council, allowing it to continue reinventing federal labor-management relations for two more years (Office of Communications News Release, 10/21/97).

CHILD CARE--Child care centers say they cannot retain staff because most can find jobs elsewhere making three times what they would earn in child-care salaries. With numerous national studies finding that most day care is of poor quality, child development experts warn that the emotional and intellectual development of a generation of children is being jeopardized. Tomorrow, the White House holds a conference on child care to focus attention on the subject (The Washington Times)...As more people get off welfare, the child-care crunch for all the working poor is getting worse (The Wall Street Journal, Work & Family).

THE FEDERAL DIARY--Today's column talks about the Federal Employees Health Benefits program and open season (The Washington Post).

IRS--The Clinton administration yesterday abandoned its opposition to a congressional plan for a wide-ranging overhaul of the IRS, clearing the way for the proposal to become law as early as next spring (The Washington Post).

CIA--A reorganization at CIA prompts one top official to retire (The Washington Post).

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Access America Conferences

The National Performance Review (NPR), will launch a series of informational conferences aimed at providing government employees and private industry IT officials with techniques and strategies for implementing the goals of Access America, an NPR report outlining steps to increase access--via the Internet--to government services. The first conference will be held November 3 (changed from September 25) in Baltimore, Md. and then will travel to other cities across the country. Expert panels will discuss IT topics, including Internet/Intranet successes, the future of Distance Learning and collaboration, IT acquisition and procurement reform, and privacy and security.

Improving the Government's Estimates of the Costs and Benefits of Regulation

On Sept. 30 the Office of Management and Budget issued its first report to Congress that tallies the costs and benefits of federal regulation. This conference, sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and the Brookings Institute, will bring together scholars and administration representatives to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the report. Topics to be addressed include methodology, the implications of the estimates themselves and suggested modifications. The conference will be held October 31 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the American Enterprise Institute, 1150 17th St, NW. For more information call 202-862-5847.

DTIC Annual Conference

The Defense Technical Information Center is presenting its Annual Users Meeting and Training Conference on Nov. 3-6, 1997 at the DoubleTree Hotel, National Airport, Arlington, Va. The conference theme is Information in the New Millenium. Contact Ms. Julia Foscue at 703-767-8236 or by e-mail at jfoscue@dtic.mil.