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NTEU Calls for Higher Mileage Reimbursement Rates
With fuel prices continuing to soar, NTEU has renewed its call for higher mileage reimbursement rates for federal employees who use their own cars for work.

In a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA), NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley called for an increase from the current rate of 44.5 cents per mile to 48.5 cents, matching the increase for the private sector the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) authorized beginning Jan. 1, 2007.

The GSA sets the reimbursement rate for federal employees who use personal vehicles on government business, but it cannot exceed the maximum allowed by the IRS. In the past, the GSA has followed the IRS's lead in setting the rate.

This is not the first time NTEU has pushed for a boost in the mileage reimbursement rate for federal workers. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina last year, letters from President Kelley and members of Congress helped persuade the IRS to raise the mileage deduction for taxpayers to 48.5 cents retroactive to Sept. 1 through the end of 2005.

For the complete story click here or visit <www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/
PressRelease.aspx?ID=984>.

Election Day and Beyond Today is Election Day and most e-Bulletin readers have already voted. If you have not voted and your polls are still open please take the time to exercise your rights and vote. Immediately following today’s voting, we should know the makeup of the next Congress—the 110th—and there is no time to waste in getting to know these senators and representatives. NTEU members understand the significant role that Congress plays in the working lives of federal employees and educating your elected officials about the issues important to you can be an ongoing process. So start now. Plan to contact your members of Congress and congratulate them on their win. Start to share your stories about what makes the federal government effective and the role that you and your coworkers play in that. The 110th Congress will convene in January—that is just weeks away. Don’t wait.

NTEU Seeks Immediate Action for
CBP Victims of Identity Theft
With 43 confirmed cases of identity theft among CBP employees associated with the Port of New Orleans, NTEU is seeking immediate action by the agency to minimize and repair any damage. NTEU believes that the identity theft occurred because personnel information for New Orleans employees was mishandled following Hurricane Katrina last year.

The hurricane caused serious damage to the Customs House in New Orleans where employees’ personnel files were stored. In the subsequent clean-up, damaged desks, file cabinets and files—potentially containing personal employee information such as Social Security numbers—were simply tossed into unsecured dumpsters. These dumpsters were vulnerable to looting.  

In a letter to CBP Commissioner Basham, NTEU called on the agency to investigate how the data were stolen; to notify impacted employees with information on how they can protect themselves; to provide free credit monitoring services; and to inform other government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, about the problem. Some employees learned of the thefts when they tried to file tax returns and were told by the IRS that their refunds had already been claimed.

So far, CBP has not taken any steps to assist employees hurt by the illegal use of their personal information, despite authority given to it by federal law and regulations to take corrective action. That failure, NTEU President Colleen Kelley said, “has compounded the problem” caused by the loss of this critical data. “NTEU therefore urges you to act immediately,” she told Commissioner Basham. Click here to read President Kelley’s letter.

Headlines
GAO Questions IRS Collection Plan
Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2006
(This Associated Press story appeared in the Washington Post and more than 150 other media outlets nationwide.)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) use of private sector debt collectors to pursue tax debts is much more likely to cost money than generate a return to the Treasury. That much is clear from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the IRS plan.

Using IRS figures, the GAO report to bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee showed that collections in the first 16 months of the program, through December 2007, will range between $55.8 million and $92 million. But the cost—not even including the bounty of up to 24 percent of they money they collect that will go to private debt collectors—in that same period is put by the IRS at $61.16 million.

NTEU responded to the GAO report by describing the IRS program as “an outrageous giveaway of taxpayer money to private companies” and “a direct handout” to the private sector that won’t generate an appreciable return to the Treasury and will cost taxpayers money.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2006/10/31/AR2006103100956.html>.

This week NTEU debuts a brand-new weekly radio news report on Federal News Radio. Recorded each week by NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley, the 60-second spots will air 15 times between Wednesday and Friday and will provide federal employees with a look at what NTEU is doing in Congress, in the courts, at the bargaining table and in the workplace on behalf of federal employees. And it will include a call-to-action when hot issues require an immediate response from those we represent.
 
In the Washington, D.C. area you can hear President Kelley’s NTEU Spotlight on Federal News Radio (1050 AM). For those outside the D.C. area, you can listen online at www.federalnewsradio.com.
 
E-Bulletin subscribers get a jump on everyone else because each newsletter will feature a link to the next day’s news report. To hear tomorrow’s NTEU Spotlight, click here.

New on NTEU.org

Ring in the Holiday Season Early with NTEU Member Benefits
For many, November signals the start of the holiday shopping season, but that doesn't have to mean nights and weekends spent at busy shopping malls. NTEU members can let their fingers do the shopping with our exclusive online discounts page. Whether it's Thanksgiving flowers for mom or sporting goods for dad, NTEU offers savings on a wide range of gifts and services. And once all the names on your list have been checked off, NTEU members can treat themselves to aroma therapy candles, gourmet cookies and a good book—all items that can be purchased from our online merchants. To start shopping, click here or visit <www.nteu.org/MemberBenefits/
OnlineBenefitsMem.aspx>.