Claudia Grisales As the threat of a federal government shutdown rises, Gold Star families could be among those who pay the price. During a shutdown, a death benefit program for servicemembers that includes an immediate $100,000 payment to each military family could come to a halt. Other payments also could stop in a shutdown: funds that cover funeral, burial and related travel expenses as well as a temporary housing allowance in cases involving active-duty servicemembers. It happened four years...
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Congressman Gerry Connolly will hold his annual Open Season Workshop on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Fairfax County Government Center to assist federal employees and retirees in navigating through the many changes in the 2018 Federal Employees Health Benefits Plans (FEHBP), dental and vision insurance programs. The federal government’s Open Season for federal employees and retirees to change their health plans runs from November 13, 2017 through December 11, 2017. Connolly’s Open Season W...
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Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement in opposition to the Republican tax plan: "Congress had a real opportunity to pursue revenue neutral tax reform that would lower corporate rates and benefit the middle class. That is why I am deeply disappointed that the majority has instead elected to pursue a partisan tax plan that asks working families, veterans, and low-income seniors to pay higher tax rates than the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations. As a leader ...
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Groups representing federal workers called on lawmakers and President Trump to increase the proposed 1.9 percent pay raise for civilian employees to 2.4 percent, matching the across-the-board pay increase for military personnel included in Congress’ latest version of the $700 billion defense authorization bill. On Wednesday, House and Senate leaders announced they had reached an agreement on the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which included the military pay raise provision. The...
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Today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform passed H.R. 4171, the Telework Enhancement Act Pilot Program, a bipartisan measure that extends a pilot program promoting telework in federal agencies.The bill was introduced by Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT) and Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA). “With the vast geography of Montana, teleworking makes it easier for the federal government to recruit and employ well-qualified Montanans, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ...
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Congressman Gerry Connolly will hold his annual Open Season Workshop on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Fairfax County Government Center to assist federal employees and retirees in navigating through the many changes in the 2018 Federal Employees Health Benefits Plans (FEHBP), dental and vision insurance programs. The federal government’s Open Season for federal employees and retirees to change their health plans runs from November 13, 2017 through December 11, 2017. Connolly’s Open Season Wo...
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Kyle Cheney The White House brushed off a bipartisan request from House investigators for details of senior administration officials' use of private email and encrypted messaging apps for government work, including possible violations of federal record-keeping laws, a letter obtained by POLITICO shows. In a terse letter to Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) — leaders of the House oversight committee — President Donald Trump's congressional liaison Marc Short declined to indic...
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Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11) joined Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) and the rest of the Virginia delegation in sending a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), Dr. David Shulkin, regarding the VA’s late payment to Veterans Choice Program (VCP) providers. In August of 2014, Congress authorized veterans to access private health providers to assist the overwhelmed VA Health Care system. Congress continues to fund the program; however, the VA has repeatedly struggled to make prompt p...
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Jack Corrigan The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would extend the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative and eliminate the sunset periods for a handful of key consolidation requirements. The committee forwarded the FITARA Enhancement Act to the Senate along with a handful of other bills relating to federal technology, including the Connected Government Act, SECRET Act and Hack the DHS Act. With the Government Accountability...
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Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to the House Republican budget that unfairly targets federal employees. The full video is available here. “Ugly is ugly. This is an ugly budget, and it exists primarily to be a vehicle for tax cuts for the already fortunate - the top 1% or 2% in America - at the expense of everybody else and it will hemorrhage red ink for ...
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