Page 26 - Federal Computer Week, January/February 2019

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Covering future shutdown costs
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) wants federal employees, contractors and state governments to be compensated for out-of-pocket expenses incurred during the recent 35-day government shutdown — and for any future shutdowns lasting longer than 14 days.
Under the bill, federal employees and contractors who are furloughed or laid off would be able to claim reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury for fees, interest and fines incurred as a result of not having a paycheck during a lapse in appropriations. States and the District of Columbia would be able to collect compensation for any programs that are fielded to ease the burden of a shutdown on affected workers.
The bill also requires the Treasury Department to launch and maintain a reserve fund to pay such expenses and to develop the forms and processes needed for individuals to claim their expenses.
— Adam Mazmanian
80% of federal domains now publish DMARC records
Survey: Shutdown recovery
relatively speedy
How long will it take your agency to catch up and return to pre-shutdown operations?
One week or less 2-3 weeks
27%
21% 25%
26%
history. As this issue went to press, funding for many agencies had not yet been secured beyond Feb. 15.
The poll was conducted on Jan. 29 and 30. FCW subscribers were contacted via email and asked to respond if they worked at an agency affected by the shutdown; 391 did so. The online survey was limited
to one response per user but did not authenticate respondents’ place of employment.
According to the notice, FRTIB has designed a manual process as a workaround to the automated functioning of the loan and repayment system “in order to make this interim rule effective immediately so these participants will have access to TSP loans in the event of another government shutdown.”
The agency opted to issue an interim rule, which forgoes the public comment period, because it deemed “doing so is necessary to respond to an emergency situation.” Before publishing the final rule, it will consider public comments.
— Mark Rockwell
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January/February 2019 FCW.COM
TSP loan rules relaxed as hedge against future shutdowns
A recent rule change allows furloughed federal employees and those working without pay to take out loans against their retirement savings during shutdowns. The move comes on the heels of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Additionally, the interim rule from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board allows feds to request that loan payments be suspended in the event that a shutdown pushes the employee into non-pay status.
During the recent shutdown, feds with outstanding Thrift Savings Plan loans had no way to make payments because those payments are typically
withdrawn from the employee’s pay. Also, employees who needed money to make ends meet were unable to dip into their retirement accounts for cash.
However, the notices states that “the FRTIB’s loan program was not designed to replace the salaries of federal employees. A TSP loan is not a costless alternative to paying federal employees for their work. TSP participants who take loans may miss out on the investment earnings that would have accrued if that money had remained in their retirement accounts. A TSP loan will still have to be repaid in order to avoid the loan being declared a taxable distribution.”
4-6 weeks
Longer than six weeks
Federal workers returned from the 35-day partial government shutdown to expired computer passwords, thousands of unread emails, and rotting food in kitchens and vending machines. But FCW’s post-shutdown poll found that most expected their agencies to be back to normal within three weeks.
Also, just 36 percent said their agency was revising its contingency plans after the longest shutdown in