Tag Archive: program


Diplomats demand pet parity

Filed Under: Insurance News
Apr.05, 2012

A grass-roots movement within the American Foreign Service Association is pressing United Airlines to give U.S. diplomatic families the same reduced prices for transporting family pets as the carrier extended last month to military families moving to permanent new assignments.

Some 3,000 members of the 16,000-strong diplomats union have written to United since the airline in March rolled out a pet-shipping program called PetSafe, which worked well domestically for Continental Airlines before it merged with United. The program uses a third-party carrier to transport pets and features temperature-controlled compartments and a 24/7 help desk. It also comes with a higher price tag, however. What had been a $283 rate for most pets went up to $1,440 to $3,869, depending on the size of the animal, according to a Stars and Stripes article.

This placed an added financial burden on many U.S. military families because countries in the European Union and Asia often require that pets travel via a third party forwarder.

So after hearing from military families in late February, United decided it would help by classifying their pets as luggage and thereby avoiding the more-expensive third-party requirement. “We have a strong relationship with the military and it was not our intention to put a financial burden on them,” United spokeswoman Mary Ryan told Government Executive. “But the exception for military families is a ‘one-off.’ ”

That hasn’t stopped diplomats from sending United President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smesik a barrage of emailed letters demanding that the waiver be extended to all U.S. government civilians traveling to and from assignments on official change of station orders. The Foreign Service group also has written to Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy asking for support, and Foreign Service families have taken to YouTube with videos showing off their cute cats and loyal dogs, with the message: “Their families serve their country with integrity and dedication in the Diplomatic Corps. They move on government orders in order to serve their country, just like the military. They deeply love their country, just like the military. They are asking that United Airlines include them in the exemption they’ve given the military from the prohibitively expensive new pet policies.”

Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, told Government Executive that diplomats deserve the discount just as much as service members. Affected military members “are concentrated in a small number of spots,” often in Germany or Japan, and are not in combat zones, she said. But diplomats are sent to remote areas all worldwide and face more obstacles. “Every diplomat in Beijing or Moscow relies on United Airlines cargo and uses a professional pet shipper,” she said.

Johnson’s letter to United reiterates the important overseas contributions of civilian government employees, alongside the military, as well as the importance of their pets. “Foreign Service pets are critically important to their families as anyone who knows the joy, love and stability the companionship of a pet can bring to their life can appreciate,” the letter stated. “While moving from country to county (and frequently to hardship posts), pets help manage stress and maintain continuity for their FS owners, while their friends are left behind, kids leave their schoolmates and a new culture and language must be learned at the next post.”

The union also is making its case on business grounds, reminding United that diplomats are a “big customer base” and that they play a key role in facilitating the international airline industry’s access to foreign airports, working with foreign governments and providing emergency aid in case of accidents.

Johnson estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of the Foreign Service members, who are “seasoned, sophisticated repeat travelers,” have pets. Without proper shipping procedures, “A pet can be left in terminals or storage warehouses that are not air conditioned or heated, where clerks are not trained in paperwork, and some have missed flights or died,” she said. “It’s a logistical nightmare.”

“It’s a family issue, and therefore a women’s issue,” she added, noting that 70 percent of the email writers are women.

The group’s letter to Kennedy urged the department to “seek identical exceptions for Foreign Service personnel travelling on official transfer orders. The additional hardship is an unnecessary and costly burden that the department can be instrumental in avoiding.”

A partial, intragovernmental solution appears to be in place affecting the Airline City Pair program under which many government officials fly on United and other carriers for discounted rates on specific routes. A State spokesman told Government Executive that Kennedy on March 28 “approved a change in policy that will allow official State Department travelers to abstain from using the City Pair carrier when space on a scheduled contract flight, including confirmed space for pet(s) as checked baggage, is not available in time to accomplish the purpose of the travel. This change has been made to provide official State Department travelers options when the contract airline cannot accept their pet as accompanied baggage, without increasing the official travel cost to the United States Government. The General Services Administration approved this modification exception language which emulates the exemption used for relocating Department of Defense employees.”

Johnson called that new option a “step in the right direction,” but noted that alternatives to the City Pair carrier aren’t always available. A Pentagon spokesman said Defense had no position on the issue. The ability to ship pets inexpensively when families are transferred, however, appears equally important to service members. It is the subject of a long set of Air Mobility Command procedures that spell out criteria and charges. And in February the Pentagon launched a new Patriot Express chartered service for service members and families being transferred; its low pet-shipping rates are not expected to be affected by United’s actions.

United spokeswoman Ryan said the carrier’s pet-shipping rates seem high because they include the third-party fee for the freight forwarder. United’s own pet fees are competitive, she said. The emailed letters from the Foreign Service Association, she added, “are not being ignored, but we have no intention of extending” the waiver beyond the military.

(Main image via WilleeCole /Shutterstock.com)

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Are You Counting on Social Security?

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.29, 2012

My inspiration for this week’s column came from two sources. The first was Lester Austin, an enthusiastic and personable public affairs specialist for the Social Security Administration, who was this week’s guest on “For Your Benefit,” the weekly radio program that I co-host on Federal News Radio. The second was a midcareer retirement planning class I taught this week. I polled the class of federal employees — all of whom were covered by Social Security under the Federal Employees Retirement System — to find out how many of them were counting on the program to provide part of their retirement income. A majority of the class said they weren’t planning to rely on Social Security. Were they being realistic or pessimistic?

Here are some things that are important to understand about Social Security to have a realistic view of the role it will play in your retirement:

Social Security is a tilted system. This means it provides a higher replacement of preretirement income for those who have lower wages during their working years and a lower replacement for those who have earned higher wages. The assumption is people with higher wages should have been able to save for their retirement. Even without any future changes to the system, higher salaried workers likely will replace only 15 percent to 20 percent of their preretirement wages. Lower-salaried workers can count on replacing 30 percent to 50 percent. Here’s a fact sheet with more information.

Protection for people near retirement. Warren Buffet once said, “If past history is all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.” Since Social Security was created in 1935, Congress has protected Americans who were near retirement by grandfathering changes that would reduce future benefits or delay the receipt of full Social Security retirement benefits. Now, lawmakers are contemplating changes to Social Security. But they’re likely to protect people who are near retirement and counting on Social Security to provide a portion of their income. President Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union address: “To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations. We must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.” Six years earlier, President Bush said in his State of the Union address that proposed changes in Social Security should not affect the benefits of anyone age 55 or older.

Many older Americans rely on Social Security for more than half their retirement income. According to a Social Security fact sheet:

  • Nine of 10 individuals age 65 and older receive Social Security benefits.
  • Social Security benefits represent about 41 percent of the income of the elderly.
  • Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 54 percent of married couples and 73 percent of unmarried persons receive half or more of their income from Social Security.
  • Among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 22 percent of married couples and 43 percent of unmarried people rely on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income.

The other sources of retirement income are pensions and savings. For federal employees that would be your Civil Service Retirement System or FERS retirement benefit and your investments in the Thrift Savings Plan. CSRS employees with 30 years of service receive a benefit equal to 56.25 percent of their high-three average salary. FERS employees with 30 years of service receive a benefit equal to 30 percent of their high-three average salary (33 percent if they are older than 62). Here are a couple of additional facts that might surprise you: 50 percent of the workforce in the United States has no private pension coverage, and 31 percent of workers have no savings set aside specifically for retirement.

About 70 percent of people who receive Social Security benefits get them tax-free. But that probably won’t include you. If you have other taxable income, you may find that you will be subject to federal income tax on 50 percent to 85 percent of your Social Security benefit. Keep in mind that additional income such as TSP withdrawals can cause your Social Security benefit to be taxed if the withdrawal causes your combined income to exceed established thresholds. On the plus side, 36 states do not tax Social Security benefits.

You may not get a statement in the mail. Beginning in October 1999, Social Security mailed annual individualized Social Security statements to 125 million workers age 25 and older who were not receiving Social Security benefits. In light of the current budget situation, Social Security suspended mailing the statements in 2011. Since 1999, the number of statements mailed each year had increased to 150 million at an annual cost of approximately $70 million. Later this year (hopefully by November, according to Lester Austin) the statements will be available at the Social Security website. Social Security will continue to mail statements to people who are 60 and older who are not yet receiving benefits. And one-time mailings to 25-year-old workers introducing them to the entitlement program and their potential benefits will be sent by the end of the year. But anyone still can get a benefits estimate using Social Security’s online estimator.

Remember, if you’re under CSRS, you’ve been exempt from Social Security during your federal career. The only way to qualify for any Social Security benefit is to have earned 40 credits of coverage from work where you were subject to paying the Social Security tax.

For those under FERS, it’s important to have a realistic expectation of the role that Social Security will play in your future retirement. That way, you can set savings goals that will compensate for the amount of replacement income you will need to finance a comfortable retirement. Also, you have to consider the important role the FERS basic annuity benefit will play in your retirement. If you plan early and understand the balance of your benefits, you can plan for a financially secure retirement.

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Pace of retirements expected to pick up, along with the price tag

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.16, 2012

One decade from now, federal retirement will carry a much larger price tag.

According to multiple reports released this month by the Congressional Budget Office and analyzed Friday by The Washington Post, the number of federal retirees is likely to grow by 10 percent during the next decade and total spending on federal retirement will increase by about 30 percent during the same time.

In a series of documents setting baselines for federal benefit programs, CBO predicted that by 2022, the number of federal employees and survivors in the Civil Service Retirement System will decrease from 2 million to 1.5 million. But during the same period, the number of beneficiaries of the newer Federal Employees Retirement System will balloon from 506,000 to 1.2 million. The combined average monthly benefits for both groups will increase; CSRS beneficiaries will receive an average of $3,781 per month in 2022 compared to $2,677 monthly in 2012, and FERS beneficiaries will see their monthly benefits rise from $1,088 to $1,584.

While CBO expects total federal retirement spending to grow from $73.9 billion to $95.7 billion during the next decade, it predicts even bigger increases in Social Security spending, with combined annual outlays expected to jump from $660 billion to $1.3 trillion. The number of beneficiaries under the main program, known as old-age and survivors insurance, will grow from 42.8 million to 61.8 million, and participation in the disability program will increase from 9.7 million to 12.3 million.

Meanwhile, CBO predicts the cost of military retirement benefits to rise from $49 billion to $75.1 billion, even though the number of military retirees will remain around the 2 million mark.

(Image via Jill Battaglia/Shutterstock.com)

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Obama, Cameron defend Afghan timetable

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.14, 2012

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Wednesday that neither bad news from Afghanistan nor declining public support for the decadelong war in both their countries would change the pace of the allied withdrawal, which they said will remain targeted on 2014.

The two leaders spoke in the Rose Garden after the initial round of talks of a two-day summit that had been expected to be dominated by Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear program. Instead, the tragic shooting of Afghan civilians, allegedly by one American soldier over the weekend and new polls showing eroding political support for their stewardship of the war, moved Afghanistan to the top of their agenda and dominated their brief White House press conference.

Iran still was discussed, as was the continuing bloodshed and instability in Syria. But finding themselves on the defensive over the war, the two leaders pushed back hard against suggestions that they should accelerate the pace of their withdrawal. “Today, the prime minister and I reaffirmed the transition plan,” Obama said, while acknowledging that “the tragic events of recent days are a reminder that this continues to be a very difficult mission.”

Echoing comments by Cameron, the president called it “undeniable” that “our forces are making very real progress dismantling al-Qaida, breaking the Taliban’s momentum and training Afghan forces so that they can take the lead and our troops can come home.” He said the withdrawal plan will be discussed at the spring NATO summit in Chicago but said he saw no need to alter the plans that call for the allied forces to shift to a role supporting Afghan troops next year, followed by a full takeover by the Afghans in 2014.

“We’re going to complete this mission, and we’re going to do it responsibly,” he stated, adding: “And NATO will maintain an enduring commitment, so that Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for al-Qaida to attack our countries.” Cameron struck a similar note, proclaiming, “We will not give up on this mission.” He also referred to the weekend’s tragedy, acknowledging that “recent days have reminded us just how difficult our mission is and how high the cost of this war has been for Britain, for America, and for Afghans themselves.” He contended that the allied war is “now in the final phases.”

The leaders were pressed by a British reporter, who bluntly suggested that their publics were not buying their arguments for the war’s continuation. Just this week, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 60 percent of Americans say the war has not been worth fighting, and that only 30 percent support the allied mission there. A majority–54 percent–said that the United States should withdraw its forces regardless of whether the training of Afghan troops is complete. Similar results were found in a new poll of the British public. A ComRes survey for ITV news that was released this week found that almost three-quarters of Brits–73 percent–now believe that the war cannot be won. Fully 55 percent said they want British troops pulled out of Afghanistan immediately.

Obama said he is not surprised at such findings. “Why is it that poll numbers indicate people are interested in ending the war in Afghanistan? It’s because we’ve been there for 10 years, and people get weary,” he said. “No one wants war. Anybody who answers a poll question about war saying enthusiastically, ‘We want war,’ probably hasn’t been involved in a war.” But Obama contended that “the vast majority of the American people and British understand why we went there.” And, even while acknowledging that the war is “a hard slog,” Obama credited the war there with severely diminishing the ability of terrorists to strike Western targets. “There is a reason why al-Qaida is on its heels and has been decimated,” he said. “There’s a reason why Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants are not in a position to be able to execute plots against the United States or Great Britain.”

Cameron similarly argued that “the situation is considerably improved” over what it was two years ago. “The level of insurgent attacks are right down. The level of security is right up,” he said. “It’s a still a very difficult situation. There are many challenges we have to overcome. But what’s happening in Afghanistan today is quite different to the situation we had three, four, five years ago.” Cameron said it is important for leaders to “keep explaining to people, but I think what we’re trying to do by the end of 2014 is achievable and doable.”

On Iran, Cameron credited Obama with mobilizing the world community against that nation’s nuclear program. “The president’s tough, reasonable approach has united the world behind unprecedented sanctions pressure on Iran,” he said. “And Britain has played a leading role in helping to deliver an E.U.-wide oil embargo. Alongside the financial sanctions being led by America, this embargo is dramatically increasing the pressure on the regime.” He warned Tehran that if it refuses to relent, “then Britain and America, along with our international partners, will continue to increase the political and economic pressure to achieve a peaceful outcome to this crisis. As the president and I have said, nothing is off the table.”

Obama said that the allies “are fully united. We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.” As he has before, though, he championed using diplomacy to achieve Washington’s goal. “We believe there is still time and space to pursue a diplomatic solution,” he said. At the same though, Obama added, “We’re going to keep up the pressure with the strongest U.S. sanctions to date and the European Union preparing to impose an embargo on Iranian oil. Tehran must understand that it cannot escape or evade the choice before it. Meet your international obligations, or face the consequences.”

Both men were cautious talking about Syria, demanding an end to the government violence there but refusing to pledge the use of either American or British military force.

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Energy secretary backtracks on high gas prices

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.13, 2012

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday retracted his now-infamous quote from 2008: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”

“I no longer share that view,” Chu said in response to questioning from Sen.Mike Lee, R-Utah, at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on another topic related to DOE’s loan-guarantee program.

Chu’s 2008 quote, initially included in a Wall Street Journal article, has formed the foundation for daily Republican attacks on President Obama over high gas prices.

Chu seemed to equivocate, pause, and stumble over his words when responding to Lee’s question about high gas prices. Other comments Chu made at another hearing late last month put him in hot water on gas prices. Politico reported on Feb. 28 that Chu told a House committee that he was not working to lower gasoline prices but to wean the United States off oil. That story has since been corrected to clarify that DOE is working to bothlower gas prices and wean the country off oil. But that was only after the story was picked up by Republicans and used against the administration.

During his testimony before the Senate panel on Tuesday, after stopping and starting with a few thoughts on the economy and the department’s commitment to alternatively fueled vehicles, Chu told Lee: “Of course we don’t want the price of gasoline to go up. We want it to go down.”

New polling out this week found that the president’s disapproval rating is going up alongside high gasoline prices, which averaged $3.80 per gallon nationwide on Tuesday.

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TRICARE Reshuffle

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.07, 2012

The Defense Department recently announced plans to streamline the agency that manages its military health benefit program, creating a new Defense Health Agency.

According to Nextgov’s Bob Brewin, the new agency will assume responsibility for common clinical and business processes across the Military Health System, such as medical education for physicians, nurses, medics, pharmacists, medical logistics and health information technology. The department is currently assembling a team to design the consolidation.

The plan, included in the 2012 Defense Authorization Bill, still falls short of a 2006 Defense Business Board recommendation for TRICARE realignment, Brewin writes. The independent panel called for the creation of a unified combatant command — a unit not specific to Army, Navy or Air Force — that is led by a four-star general or admiral.

Still, the new Defense Health Agency represents an elevated status for military health care within the department. It will be run by a three-star general or admiral — two grades higher in military rank than the current TRICARE director, Army Brig. Gen. Bryan Gamble.

According to Federal News Radio, DoD sees the plan as “the appropriate next step in establishing structure and improving the governance of the Military Health System while reigning in health care costs.”

The Obama administration’s fiscal 2013 budget request asks Congress to approve new TRICARE co-pays, additional increases to TRICARE Prime enrollment fees, initiation of standard and extra enrollment fees, and adjustments to deductibles and catastrophic coverage caps.

Last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey sympathized with service members’ worries about the fee hikes, telling them, “We’ve heard your concerns.”

Military, Vets Included in FHA Plans

The White House is boosting support for military service members and veterans hit by the housing crisis with a Federal Housing Administration

President Obama announced this week additional protections for military members and veterans “wrongfully foreclosed upon or denied a lower interest rates on their mortgages.”

The White House said federal and state authorities will work together to:

  • Conduct a review of every servicemember foreclosures since 2006 and provide any who were wrongly foreclosed upon with compensation equal to a minimum of lost equity, plus interest and $116,785.
  • Refund to servicemembers money lost because they were wrongfully denied the opportunity to reduce their mortgage payments through lower interest rates;
  • Pay $10 million dollars into the Veterans Affairs fund that guarantees loans on favorable terms for veterans.
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Navy and Marine Corps to begin breathalyzer tests

Filed Under: Insurance News
Mar.06, 2012

The Navy and Marine Corps will soon institute breathalyzer tests in an effort to curb alcohol abuse, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

The Navy will begin requiring every sailor reporting for duty on board a ship to take a test daily, while other sailors will be subjected to the tests at random. The Navy plans to install the alcohol screening equipment on its fleets later this year, while the Marine Corps will begin testing selected units starting in April, according to FNR.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert; and Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, commander of Marine Corps Forces Command, announced the new programs Monday.

About 180 sailors fleetwide are charged with driving under the influence every month, but a pilot program in the Navy’s Pacific submarine forces resulted in a 45 percent drop in alcohol-related incidents, FNR reported. The tests would be nonpunative and not legally admissible, and accompanied by a new educational campaign.

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Labor auditors concerned about TSP computer security

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.27, 2012

Thrift Savings Plan officials on Monday pledged to develop “more robust” computer security controls after a recent Labor Department audit found the board overseeing the retirement program did not completely consider prior recommendations for improvements.

The audit revealed “security and privacy risks that might exist in this large system,” said Ian Dingwall, a Labor chief accountant.

Auditors are concerned about the risk of unauthorized access to the TSP online network, Dingwall said.

The Labor Department, which contracts with outside companies such as KPMG to audit various TSP operations, conducted its last full assessment of the 401(k)-type retirement savings plan’s computer access and security controls in 2008. That audit recommended that the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board focus on security and privacy risk assessments and develop formal corrective action plans, as well as examine the authentication of TSP participants using the website.

The latest audit assessed progress on those recommendations in fiscal 2009 and none was fully implemented. Dingwall attributed some of the board’s failure to fully examine computer security issues to other priorities, such as its work on the new Roth plan, which will be available to federal employees this spring.

A review covering fiscal 2011 computer access and security controls was postponed; the previous recommendations remain open for fiscal 2012.

Additional audits showed positive results for TSP in other areas, such as compliance with the 1986 Federal Employees Retirement System Act, which established the rules governing federal employees retirement benefits after the plan was created; processes for withdrawals; and annuities procedures.

“We hear you,” TSP Executive Director Gregory Long told Labor representatives Monday. “I think we are going to be to be a little bit more open to hear what these challenges are and working with your colleagues to address some of these concerns.”

Long said the board also was having information technology auditors look into the issue and was in the process of identifying and appointing a chief information security officer.

“If that increase in manpower is insufficient I will be going to the board to seek additional resources,” Long said.

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American Airlines’ AMR posts $1.1 billion 4Q loss (AP)

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.16, 2012

DALLAS – AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, said Wednesday that it lost $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter as it wrote down the value of planes and other property and paid more for jet fuel.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, said that the results compared with a loss of $97 million a year earlier, when AMR still hoped to avoid bankruptcy by cutting costs.

The most recent loss included $768 million in special items, including $725 million from write-downs of aircraft that the company had announced two weeks ago. It also took a $43 million hit as it changed assumptions on recognition of revenue in its frequent-flier program.

Excluding special items, AMR said it would have lost $209 million, compared to an after-items loss of $69 million a year ago.

American is the nation’s third-biggest airline, and it has presented a business-as-usual face since becoming the latest in a long string of U.S. airlines to file for bankruptcy protection. Even though it is still losing money, the airline is benefiting from higher ticket prices and decent demand for travel.

AMR said fourth-quarter revenue rose 7.4 percent to $6 billion. Analysts expected $5.89 billion, according to FactSet.

The amount of revenue for every mile flown by one seat, a closely watched measure in the airline industry, rose 8.9 percent, a reflection of the higher fares.

But costs have also mounted, especially for fuel, which accounts for about one-third of an airline’s budget.

AMR paid about $3.01 per gallon for jet fuel, up from $2.42 per gallon a year earlier, for an increase of 24.5 percent. The company said it spent $394 million more on fuel than it would have at last year’s prices.

For the full year, the company posted a net loss of $2 billion, compared with a loss of $471 million in 2010. Revenue rose to $23.98 billion from $22.17 billion.

AMR, American and affiliate American Eagle filed for bankruptcy protection Nov. 29. Company management proposes to slash annual costs by $2 billion through steps including eliminating 13,000 jobs and terminating pension plans for 130,000 current and former workers. It says it can boost revenue by $1 billion per year with additional flights in key markets and better services.

The company’s shares no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and it decided to drop the conference call with analysts that typically goes with a quarterly earnings report.

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Obama pushes for veterans jobs programs (AP)

Filed Under: Insurance News
Feb.06, 2012

WASHINGTON – In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, President Barack Obama is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.

The president also will seek more grant money for programs that allow local communities to hire more police officers and firefighters.

“Let’s get more cops on the beat, let’s get more rangers in the parks, let’s get more firefighters on call, and in the process, we’re going to put more veterans back to work,” Obama said Friday at a fire station in Arlington, Va., that was one of the first to respond to the attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

“They’ve already risked their lives defending America. They should have the opportunity to rebuild America,” he said.

The efforts, which Obama first announced in his State of the Union address last week, are particularly geared to those veterans who served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a group experiencing an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, according to the government’s jobs report for January.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Civilian Conservation Corps that operated during the 1930s could be viewed as a model for what the administration will try to accomplish through its “Veterans Jobs Corps.” He said that the administration will propose spending $1 billion over five years that would be used to put an estimated 20,000 veterans to work restoring habitat and eradicating invasive species, among other activities.

“When one looks back at the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps, we take great comfort that those who take on these kinds of activities will leave a lasting legacy for the United States,” Salazar said.

The backdrop of presidential politics is also playing a role in the Obama administration’s new efforts. Several states that will be heavily contested in November have a significant military presence. Veterans will be evaluating specific ways the next White House administration intends to help them.

Communities that hire veterans to work as police and firefighters will be given preference in the grants competition. Obama will also seek to increase spending for the grants programs. He is proposing an additional $4 billion for the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS. He will propose an additional $1 billion for the firefighter grants.

The administration will also propose a training program designed to help veterans wanting to start their own small businesses.

With GOP lawmakers stressing the need to cut government spending, it remains to be seen how far the proposals will go in a deeply divided Congress. Many conservatives have in the past voted to cut spending for the COPS program, while Obama is calling for a major expansion.

Obama said the end of the war in Iraq could help finance the work programs.

“Congress should take the money that we’re no longer spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building here at home,” he said.

Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, voiced skepticism. He said he wanted the administration to work with Congress on getting businesses to hire more.

“Short-term spending and temporary programs have failed and are not the solution,” Miller said.

Congress also has been focusing on the problem of unemployment among veterans. A House subcommittee on Thursday examined the unemployment rate for those who serve in the National Guard or Reserves. Witnesses estimated that about 1 out of every 5 returning guardsmen is unemployed.

Theodore Daywalt, CEO and president of a jobs board called VetJobs, told lawmakers that veterans who totally separate from the military are for the most part finding work, even in today’s economic environment.

“But if a veteran remains active in the National Guard, they are having a difficult time finding meaningful employment due to the constant call-ups and deployment schedules,” Daywalt said in his written testimony.

Daywalt said some employers have become wary of hiring someone who is called up for as many as 24 months at a time. And the difficulty in finding work has led some guardsmen to volunteer for second or third deployments. He also predicted that the unemployment problem for guardsmen and reservists could get worse as the military downsizes because it will result in more competition when openings do occur.

About 160,000 troops leave active duty annually, and some 95,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves join them. The Labor Department already operates some jobs programs to help troops with the transition to civilian life. For example, there are employee workshops that help vets with advice on job searches and labor market conditions. The department also provides grants to states that in turn hire workers to conduct job training workshops and reach out to employers on behalf of vets.

___

Online:

Veterans Jobs Bank: http://www.nrd.gov

Jobs Board: http://www.vetjobs.com

Bureau of Labor Statistics on veterans: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t05.htm

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