In 2000, GovExec.com published thousands of stories on the latest developments in the federal government. The Gov.Exec.com editorial staff has chosen the top 10 stories of the year, presented below. See if you agree with our picks.
10: Human Capital
Y2K came and went, but Comptroller General David Walker was still sounding the alarm, this time urging the government to avert a looming human capital shortfall. Noting that more than half the federal workforce will be eligible for retirement by 2004, Walker called on agencies to make workforce planning a top priority. President Clinton got into the act in June, ordering agencies to incorporate human resources management goals into their annual performance plans. Clinton then established the Federal Career Intern Program, which will provide excepted-service appointments at grades GS-5 through GS-9. Later, the Office of Personnel Management set rules for the program. Human resources managers called for payroll flexibility to help recruitment and retention, and agencies such as the Defense Department tried to lure new employees via the Web. Agencies also launched efforts to bring more minorities into the government; OPM started a program to attract black college graduates, and Clinton directed agencies to hire more Hispanics. In December, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, issued a report detailing the human capital challenges that still face the government, a sign that this issue will become more important in 2001.
9: Results Act
Federal agencies' first-ever annual performance reports under the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act were signed, sealed and delivered in 2000, completing the first full cycle of the law that requires agencies to write strategic plans and prepare annual performance plans and performance reports about how well they are meeting their missions. The reports received a lukewarm response. At about the same time, the 20 federal agencies that interact most often with Americans got mediocre grades for management, barely escaping a "C" average, in the 2000 Government Performance Project, sponsored by Government Executive and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Results Act has been on the books for seven years, but the next four could determine whether the law will be a mere paper-pushing exercise or become a useful government reform tool.
8: Discrimination and Diversity
During the Clinton era, one of the administration's mantras included creating a diverse federal workforce, but even so, during 2000 many agencies had to defend themselves against allegations of discrimination or settle earlier lawsuits alleging race or gender bias. The year began with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People releasing a report detailing employment discrimination and abuses in the federal workplace. The Environmental Protection Agency's commitment to diversity was questioned during a congressional hearing and at a press conference. The U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to bring in outside teams to investigate its offices with the highest number of discrimination complaints. Protesters marched in front of U.S. Postal Service headquarters, angry about what they described as pervasive discriminatory practices at USPS, while the General Accounting Office released a report praising the Postal Service for its diverse workforce. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo faced accusations of sexual harassment by the department's inspector general. Finally, a 9-year-old Department of Education racial bias case involving 1,100 black federal employees was settled for $4 million.
7: Health and Wealth
In 2000, federal employees gained the option of buying long-term care insurance at a discounted rate thanks to H.R. 4040, which was signed into law in September. The new benefit is a boon to those who will use it. But not all health news was good in 2000. Health insurance premiums rose an average of 10.5 percent under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. On the wealth front, feds in the Washington area received transit subsidies to help cover the costs of commuting. And nearly 200,000 special rate employees who were denied pay increases from 1982 to 1988 may finally be reimbursed thanks to a settlement agreement reached in December. A repeal of the 0.5 percent retirement contribution increase imposed on federal employees as a budget-reduction tactic in 1999 was included in the fiscal 2001 Transportation appropriations bill, which became law in October. Saving the best for last, legislation that raises the maximum annual employee contribution to Thrift Savings Plan accounts also squeaked through the legislative process in 2000.
6: Access for All
When the year began, agencies had until Aug. 7 to make federal information systems more accessible to federal employees with disabilities--that's when a series of 1998 amendments to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were to take effect. In March, the federal Access Board issued a set of accessibility standards and set May 31 as a deadline for comments. After IT vendors protested, however, the Senate passed an amendment delaying implementation of the standards until six months after final rules were issued. Final standards were finally published on Dec. 21. In the meantime, the General Services Administration took the lead in training procurement officers to comply with the new standards, buoyed by an April Justice Department report that found many agencies lagging in the effort to provide assistive technology to disabled workers. The government also launched new initiatives to hire more disabled workers. OPM proposed a special hiring authority for people with psychiatric disabilities, and President Clinton ordered agencies to try to hire 100,000 disabled employees by 2005.
5: SES Overhaul
revamping the Senior Executive Servicetwo years of employee surveysthree-step processa new evaluation processnew performance measuresperformance elements4: Massive IT Contracts
sent the idea back to the drawing boardweighed in againstdefend the projectawarded the long-awaited contractidentified $7 million in fundingfunding squabblesgot its way3: IT Pay Raise
Certain information technology workers got a nice windfall this year when the Office of Personnel Management released regulations giving them a substantial pay raise. The boost in pay was touted as a way to recruit and retain these federal employees, who have the potential to make more money in the private sector. Still, some critics said increased salaries wouldn't be enough to keep skilled technical workers in the federal workplace. Federal IT workers who did not get the raise complained loudly. An employee union in Florida is trying to negotiate the pay raise with local Navy officials because union leaders says it will cause pay disparity within the workplace.
2: 'Blacklisting' Regulations
A controversial rule issued by the Office of Management and Budget, requiring government contracting officers to review companies' business ethics and integrity before awarding federal contracts, was made official during the last days of the Clinton administration. The proposed rule first was floated in 1997, but came under fire from many sides, including technology firms, business leaders, lawmakers and even some federal agencies. Nonetheless, efforts to kill the rule failed and, in the end, the Clinton administration triumphed. But just because it became administration policy doesn't mean agencies liked it. Officials at the General Services Administration spoke out against the rule, saying it allowed politics to tamper with the business of federal procurement. The rule will take effect on Jan. 19, the last full day of the Clinton administration.
1: The New Boss
Our top story for 2000 was the endless presidential duel between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The candidates emerged from their primaries ready to talk government reform. Bush proposed to cut 40,000 middle management jobs and appoint a governmentwide chief information officer to propel e-government efforts. Gore pledged a new phase of his reinventing government campaign and promised to not add a single person to the federal workforce if elected. When the Florida voting dispute left the election outcome in question, experts focused on how the shortened transition period would affect the next administration. The escalating election war ensnared the General Services Administration when the agency refused to disburse transition funds until the election dispute was resolved. When the Supreme Court overturned a statewide recount of disputed Florida ballots, Bush became President-elect and all attention turned to what his administration would look like. For the year's coverage of the transition see GovExec.com's Transition 2000 Report.