Friday, May 9, 2008
Gettin' Paid: Bill to guarantee pay increase
Posted by Joe Coastie
Hello again from the land of the obscure finds... I was checkin' the RSS feeds from the last few days (I don't get a chance to check 'em all the time) and I stumbled across something of interest to those out there who care about getting paid.
The item of interest was an introduced House bill (H.R. 5987) to amend title 37, United States Code, to guarantee a pay increase for members of the uniformed services for fiscal years 2010 through 2013 of one-half of one percentage point higher than the Employment Cost Index... Bling! Bling! Unfortunately as I write this Friday morning there is no real text available/attached to the bill as it hasn't been printed by the Government Printing Office yet. And for those of you who are into the political scene this bill was introduced by Rep. Thelma Drake [R-VA]. And though I'm not a Virginian myself, I thank you anyway Ms. Drake... that is, I thank you till I get a chance to read the whole bill.
Posted on Friday, May 09, 2008
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Friday, April 25, 2008
Highlights of H.R. 2830: The FY 2008 Coast Guard Authorization Act
Posted by Jim Dolbow
Highlights of this 360 page bill include:
- $8.4 billion for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2008 to include $5,965,742,000 for Coast Guard operation and maintenance, $1,125,083,000 for the acquisition, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, Coast Guard facilities, vessels, and aircraft (includes $990,444,000 for the Integrated Deepwater System Program) and $1,184,720,000 for retired pay and payments for medical services of retired personnel;
- 47,000 active-duty Coast Guard personnel for the end of FY2008 to include 6,700 officers;
- Reimbursement of travel-related expenses for personnel who are stationed on an island in the continental United States, when a family member is referred to a specialty care provider off-island that is less than 100 miles from the primary care provider;
- Allowing Coast Guard personnel who work in support of a declaration of a major disaster to retain 90 days of accrued leave;
- Reorganizing the Coast Guard’s command structure and promoting the Vice Commandant to the rank of Admiral;
- Extending from 2008 to 2011 the time the Coast Guard has to promulgate regulations for the disposal of dry bulk cargo residue in the Great Lakes;
- Requiring all vessels carrying ballast water to conduct ballast exchange operations more than 200 miles offshore before the vessels enter the United States;
- Creating a Shipboard Technology Demonstration program to demonstrate ballast water treatment technologies;
- Requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to “establish a program to help prevent acts of terrorism and other activities that jeopardize maritime homeland security, by seeking the cooperation of the commercial and recreational boating industries and the public…”
- Requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish no less than two rapidly deployable counterterrorism and law enforcement response units;
- Granting the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to conduct a pilot program for mobile biometric identification of suspected individuals and authorizes “such sums” to carry out the program;
- Requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a pilot program to test and deploy preventive radiological or nuclear detection equipment on Coast Guard vessels and other locations in select port regions;
- Requiring the Coast Guard to provide security around liquefied natural gas terminals and vessels. (has subjected the bill to a presidential veto);
- Requiring the Commandant of the Coast Guard to establish a management internship program for students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) and authorizes $2 million subject to appropriation for this purpose;
- Establishing an MSI Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative and authorizes $3 million subject to appropriation for this purpose.
Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008
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Thursday, April 24, 2008
Authorization vs. Appropriation Bills on Capitol Hill: The Difference
Posted by Jim Dolbow
Here goes my first foray into blogging with An Unofficial Coast Guard Blog.
There are two bills on Capitol Hill of the utmost importance to Coast Guard members, be they active duty, reservist or retired: the Coast Guard Authorization Act and the Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
Why You Care
Try thinking about it like this: the Coast Guard authorization bill puts the money in the bank and prescribes a lot of policy changes to the US Code – and particularly to Title 14, which governs the administration of the US Coast Guard.
The Homeland Security Appropriations bill simply writes the check.
If your favorite Deepwater platform is authorized but not appropriated, you're out of luck. The same could be said about your favorite benefit. However, if it's not authorized but it is appropriated, you're golden! By law, only military construction projects such as family housing, piers or runways, etc., have to be both authorized and appropriated.
Detailed analysis of the Coast Guard Authorization bill forthcoming.
Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008
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