Tag: Senate

Legislation to axe locality pay for teleworking feds gets Senate companion

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Senate legislation targeting locality pay for federal teleworkers now has a companion bill in the House. If enacted, the Federal Employee Return to Work Act would remove locality pay for any federal employee who teleworks at least one day a week. Federal teleworkers would instead only receive their base pay rates. The House bill, introduced this week, comes after Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced the legislation in August. The Republican-led bill is one of many efforts to scale back telework options for federal employees. (Federal Employee Return to Work Act…

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Senate bill would require feds to increase the amount of time they spend in the office

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A pair of senators is looking to get feds back to the office even more. If enacted, the Back to Work Act would require federal employees to spend 60% of their work hours in the office. It would mean a slight increase from the current in-person policy at many agencies, right now at about 50% in-the-office. Lawmakers say the bill is a way to address federal office space concerns, while still allowing for *some telework flexibility. Under the legislation, agencies would also have to monitor teleworking employees. They’d also have…

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MoveOn Statement on Arizona Senate Democrats Voting to Protect Abortion Access

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to Arizona Senate Democrats voting to repeal a 160-year-old, near-total abortion ban, MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting issued the following statement: “This isn’t complicated: Democrats will protect abortion access and Republicans will take away our bodily autonomy at every opportunity they have. To be clear, Arizona still has an abortion ban in effect and this doesn’t solve MAGA Republicans’ attacks on reproductive freedom. Arizonans and voters across the country have a choice to make this fall between preserving our fundamental freedoms with Democrats or letting…

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Senate confirms first woman to serve on Joint Chiefs of Staff

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A Department of Veterans Affairs office that investigates whistleblower retaliation cases said VA leadership is acting on more of its recommendations. When the VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) recommended discipline in whistleblower retaliation cases, management took action 68% of the time in fiscal 2021. That is now up to 92% percent. But House lawmakers said VA employees can take their complaints to the Office of Special Counsel and see better results. “I’m still left wondering if OAWP’s juice is worth the squeeze,” said Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.),…

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Senate bill would improve death benefits for civilian feds

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) offered up a companion bill aiming to improve death benefits for civilian feds. The new legislation would offer 10 times the current benefit amounts for families of civilian workers who are killed on official duty. The bill would also offer more money to the families to cover funeral expenses. The goal of the bill is to bring benefits for civilian employees in line with what military members and Foreign Service employees already get. Sinema’s bill comes after the introduction of the bipartisan House version earlier this…

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What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate

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Photographs by Yael Malka This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. For most of his life, Mitt Romney has nursed a morbid fascination with his own death, suspecting that it might assert itself one day suddenly and violently. He controls what he can, of course. He wears his seat belt, and diligently applies sunscreen, and stays away from secondhand smoke. For decades, he’s followed his doctor’s recipe for longevity with monastic…

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