Article Title: IRS is now accepting tax returns, but some deductions are no longer allowed
Snippet of Article: "...Tax filing season is officially underway and starting Monday, the IRS will start accepting tax returns.
This year, you may want to file sooner rather than later, as reported by CBS..."
Article Title: AFGE Urges Workers to Join Shutdown Lawsuit to Be Made Whole From Loss of Income
Snippet of Article: "...All federal employees who are classified as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, have been deemed "excepted" by their agency, and worked for any amount of time on or after Dec. 22, 2018 without being paid are eligible to join the AFGE lawsuit.
To join the lawsuit..."
Article Title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the only House Democrat who voted against a bill to end the shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was the only Democrat in the House of Representatives to vote against a short-term spending bill to end the partial government shutdown on Wednesday, because it would allocate funds to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), which she campaigned on eliminating..."
Article Title: Now Pelosi Owns the Shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...Donald Trump shrewdly flipped the table on Nancy Pelosi in the government shutdown standoff. He has now proposed a grand bargain on immigration: legalization of some 1 million so-called Dreamers..."
Article Title: Largest Federal Employee Union Files Amended Shutdown Lawsuit
Snippet of Article: "...After the 2013 shutdown, approximately 25,000 essential federal employees, represented by Heidi Burakiewicz, now a partner with KCNF DC, sued the government, arguing that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires that all employees, including federal employees, be paid on time for their services. In 2014, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed and, in 2017, the court held further that the employees were entitled to twice their back pay because of the violation. However, even while the government is calculating the damages to those approximately 25,000 employees, the government has not required that essential federal employees be paid on time during the current shutdown.
KCNF DC is in the process of setting up an electronic sign-up system for people to use to join the case. In the meantime, questions federal employees have about the case can be emailed to the law firm at 2018shutdownlawsuit@kcnlaw.com..."
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| TurboTax Deluxe 2018 |
Article Title: Refusal to budge on border wall shows Dems still hung up on 2016
Snippet of Article: "...Like generals fighting the last war, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are fixated on the last presidential election. Their refusal to let it go and get on with governing in a divided Congress is a shameful sign of how radical their party has become since Trump’s election..."
Article Title: IRS won't issue tax refunds during government shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...During a shutdown, the IRS typically doesn't perform audits, pay refunds or offer assistance to taxpayers if they have questions, especially outside of the filing season. And while some of the lights may still be on in the building, the agency is currently operating with only 12.5% of its workforce, or fewer than 10,000 federal employees.
"It does throw a little bit of wrench into things," said Kyle Pomerleau, economist at the Tax Foundation. "To the extent that individuals are relying on the refund any delay is going to be a negative..."
Article Title: Trump orders federal pay freeze for 2019
Snippet of Article: "...Military personnel, who have been funded separately, will still receive a 2.6 percent raise.
Workers unions say Trump is pouring “salt into the wound” by delivering the pay freeze as 800,000 federal workers continue to shoulder the burden of a partial government shutdown. We’re now nine days in to the political standoff between the president and Congress over Trump’s requested $5 billion for the border wall..."
Article Title: Pay, leave and other questions answered about Wednesday’s government closure
Snippet of Article: "...Full time federal employees under a standard work schedule of eight hours a day, 40 hours a week will be excused from eight hours of work on Wednesday, Margaret Weichert, acting director for the Office of Personnel Management, said Sunday in a memo to agency heads..."
Article Title: U.S. consulate in Mexico attacked with grenade, no injuries
Snippet of Article: "...Mexican authorities are investigating an apparent grenade attack on the U.S. consulate in the city of Guadalajara, officials said on Saturday, underscoring the security challenges facing Mexico’s new president..."
Article Title: 'Serial killer': US border patrol agent charged with murder of four women
Snippet of Article: "...Ortiz was arrested after the fifth woman managed to flee. State troopers found Ortiz hiding in a truck in a hotel parking lot in Laredo at around 2am on Saturday. The border city is about 145 miles south-west of San Antonio.
“We do consider this to be a serial killer..."
Article Title: Trump Thanks Saudis for Low Oil Prices Amid Uproar Over Killing
Snippet of Article: "...President Donald Trump thanked Saudi Arabia for lower oil prices one day after announcing the U.S. won’t let the murder of a journalist jeopardize relations with the kingdom.
“Oil prices getting lower. Great!” Trump said on Twitter Wednesday. “Thank you to Saudi Arabia..."
Article Title: The Highest Paid Federal Employee in America
Snippet of Article: "...CEO Bill Johnson, TVA's chief executive for the past six years, received pay, bonuses and deferred compensation in 2018 of a total of $8.1 million, up 22 percent from a year ago. Johnson is among a handful of TVA executives paid more than $2 million in compensation in fiscal 2018.
Johnson, the 64-year-old president of TVA who announced Wednesday he will retire in early 2019, is the highest paid federal employee in America..."
Article Title: 2018 Federal Benefits Open Season
Open Season is November 12 – December 10, 2018. Sign up by December 10, 2018. Please note: The Federal Benefits Open Season ends at 11:59pm Eastern Time on Monday December 10, 2018 for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS). Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) ends at 11:59pm, in the location of your electronic enrollment system, on Monday December 10, 2018. All the resources you need to make informed decisions about your health, dental, vision, or flexible spending account benefits.Go to the Plan Comparison Tool.
Article Title: OPM: Federal Happiness Stagnated in 2018, While Survey Participation Tanked
Snippet of Article: "...federal workers’ willingness to participate in the survey fell 5 percentage points to 40.6 percent this year, despite the fact that for the first time, the survey was conducted as a census, meaning that all employees were eligible to take the survey, instead of a randomized selection..."
Article Title: Federal Employees Waiting until Later to Retire
Snippet of Article: "...The average retirement age for federal employees is continuing to rise, hitting an average of 61.8 in the 2017 fiscal year, up by a half-year over 2015, a recent OPM report shows.
At two of the largest agencies..."
Article Title: 'Suspicious Packages' Mailed To Clinton, Obama And CNN
Snippet of Article: "...The packages addressed to Clinton and Obama "were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such," the Secret Service said in a statement Wednesday. "The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them."
The package to Clinton was intercepted late Tuesday, and the package to Obama was intercepted early Wednesday morning..."
Article Title: What is the 'windfall elimination provision'?
Snippet of Article: "...Bills recently introduced in Congress would change the formula for those who are ages 55 or younger this year. The new system, too, would be complex but “should increase Social Security benefits for a significant majority” of those who would be affected, says the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which supports the bills..."
Article Title: Most federal retirees to receive 2.8 percent COLA in January
Snippet of Article: "...Monthly annuity benefits for most retired federal employees will rise by 2.8 percent in January, the largest increase since 2012, the government announced Thursday.
The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) mirrors the increase for Social Security and is..."
Article Title: TSP Update: Changes to TSP Withdrawal Options Q and A (PDF)
Snippet of Article: "...Currently, when you take a withdrawal, the money comes from your traditional and Roth balances on a pro rata basis. For example, if 80% of your account is in your traditional balance and 20% is in Roth, any withdrawal you take will be 80% traditional and 20% Roth. Under the new rules, you can still use this method, but you’ll also have the option to take your withdrawal only from your Roth balance or only from your traditional balance. These options will be available for all types of withdrawals..."
Article Title: U.S. navy veteran arrested in probe of suspicious letters
Snippet of Article: "...U.S. investigators have essentially ruled out terrorism after the envelopes sent to a Pentagon mail-sorting facility were flagged on suspicion of ricin, U.S. officials said on Wednesday..."
Article Title: Envelopes sent to Mattis, Navy chief test positive for ricin
Snippet of Article: "...have initially tested positive for the deadly poison ricin at the Pentagon’s mail facility, according to a report.
The packages, which were delivered Monday, were intercepted before making it into the sprawling headquarters..."
Article Title: Using Government Software and Information to “Resist” Administration
Snippet of Article: "...Hrabar: “And so we ran the license plate, and it was a car registered to Jeremy Wiley, so you have his car parked outside a house that he does own. As of very recently, and someone saw him through the window, which is also…
Interviewer: “Also, we’re able to run license plates through?”
Hrabar: “You can—We cannot do it officially..."
Article Title: New O'Keefe Video: Federal Employee Does Work for Socialists at Government Job
Snippet of Article: "...The Government Accountability Office has announced that due to the statements on the Project Veritas video, Natarajan Subramanian has been removed from all authority and responsibility and access to GAO computers has been terminated. Moreover, GAO is reviewing all of his work for bias..."
Article Title: Best Dates to Retire 2019
Snippet of Article: "...It’s time for our annual look ahead at the best dates to retire in the next year. As always, your retirement coverage under the Civil Service Retirement System (including CSRS Offset) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (including transfers to FERS) will be an important factor in choosing the best date..."
Article Title: Trailer company raided by feds found ways around E-Verify
Snippet of Article: "...A company insider at a North Texas trailer manufacturer under investigation for hiring dozens of undocumented immigrants told WFAA that company executives knew ways around federal immigration checks.
In what is being called the largest operation of its kind in a decade, 300 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended on Load Trail and detained 159 undocumented immigrants employed there, copied computer servers, employment records and financial documents..."
Article Title: Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
Snippet of Article: "...Title 5, United States Code, authorizes me to implement alternative plans for pay adjustments for civilian Federal employees covered by the General Schedule and certain other pay systems if, because of “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” I view the increases that would otherwise take effect as inappropriate..."
Article Title: Trump cancels federal employee pay increases, citing financial concerns
Snippet of Article: "...The president said he's determined that for 2019 "both across-the-board pay increases and locality pay increases will be set at zero..."
Article Title: NLRB Reviewing Applications for Opportunity for Voluntary Early Retirement and Separation for Select Agency Positions
Press Release from NLRB: August 22, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC — On August 7, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Agency”) announced that it was offering voluntary early retirement and voluntary separation to employees holding eligible positions in the Agency under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) programs. The window period for the submission of applications for the VERA and VSIP programs ended on August 21, 2018. Applying for the VERA and VSIP opportunities was entirely voluntary. As of the close of the application period, 38 Agency employees holding positions within the Agency eligible for VERA and VSIP submitted applications to participate in the opportunity for voluntary early retirement and separation.
VERA changes the normal retirement eligibility to allow employees the opportunity to voluntarily retire earlier, with an immediate annuity, with 20 years of service at age 50, or at 25 years of service regardless of age. VSIP provides a financial incentive for employees to voluntarily separate by optional retirement, voluntary early retirement, or resignation. The NLRB offered VERA and VSIP opportunities only to employees in eligible job categories. The VERA and VSIP program offering was part of an initiative to address staffing imbalances and to reposition the Agency to better carry out its mission.
Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employers and employees from unfair labor practices, and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. The Office of the General Counsel is independent from the Board and is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of unfair labor practice cases, for the conducting of secret ballot elections to determine whether employees desire union representation, for the overall supervision of field offices around the country, and for the general oversight of the Agency’s administrative, financial, personnel and human capital operations.
