Key civil service lawmaker unseated; others cruise to victory

Key lawmakers on civil service committees overwhelmingly retained their seats Tuesday in this year's House and Senate elections.

Most incumbents who are active in civil service issues coasted to victory, some with little or no opposition at the polls. The lone exception was in Maryland's 8th District, where Democratic state Sen. Chris Van Hollen upended Rep. Connie Morella, an eight-term Republican.

Here's a rundown on some of Tuesday's key races, along with a look at the legislation affecting federal employees that the incumbents have sponsored.

House of Representatives

Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland state lawmaker for 11 years and son of a Foreign Service officer, touted his experience and local roots in his campaign to unseat Morella. Maryland's 8th district boasts a large federal employee population, and Van Hollen pledged to keep their interests at heart in Congress. He vowed to uphold the civil service status of federal employees slated to move to the new Homeland Security Department, and said he would help agencies recruit talented employees to government service. During her 16 years in office Morella supported several efforts to boost pay and benefits for federal employees. She sponsored legislation, signed into law in 2000, that allows federal employees to begin participating in the TSP immediately after being hired, rather than waiting a year. The law also permits new federal employees to roll over money from their private sector 401(k) accounts to their TSP accounts. Morella recently sponsored legislation (H.R. 3340), allowing federal employees aged 50 and older to contribute an extra $1,000 to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts. The House passed the bill in October and it is now awaiting action in the Senate. The eight-term congresswoman also supported long-term care insurance for government workers and has worked to reduce health care premiums and child care costs for federal employees. In the debate over the creation of the Homeland Security Department, she was one of a handful of Republicans who fought to allow employees moving into the department to join labor unions and engage in collective bargaining. Morella headed the Government Reform Subcommittee on the District of Columbia.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, took the unusual step of endorsing both Morella and Van Hollen during the campaign.

Steny Hoyer, D-Md., easily defeated Republican Joseph T. Crawford. Hoyer, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government, is pushing for federal civilian employees to get a 4.1 percent pay raise in 2003-the same raise military personnel will receive. The Maryland Democrat has championed telecommuting as a way to make federal government more efficient and improve the quality of life for federal workers. Hoyer voted against the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security, suggesting the Bush administration stick with the government structure already created.

Elijah Cummings, D-Md., defeated GOP challenger Joseph Ward. Cummings has long been an advocate for federal workers, co-sponsoring legislation allowing all government employees and retirees the opportunity to buy private long-term care insurance at their own expense, as well as legislation to increase the amount of leave time available to federal employees who serve as as organ donors. He has also spearheaded legislation that would enable all federal workers with at least one year of service to receive a free home computer and unlimited Internet access. Cummings is the ranking member of the Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources.

Albert Wynn, D-Md., cruised to victory by a huge margin over Republican challenger John B. Kimble. In the last two congressional sessions, Wynn has introduced a bill that would allow federal employees to compete for virtually all government contracts. The controversial Truthfulness, Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting (TRAC) Act (H.R. 721) would allow federal employees to compete for work that is currently performed in the private sector. Wynn has also pushed for more diversity in the Senior Executive Service.

Tom Davis, R-Va., won without Democratic opposition this year. Davis, who heads the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy, is a top contender for the full Government Reform Committee chairmanship. (Current Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., must step down because of term limits). Davis, whose district includes northern Virginia's high-tech corridor, sponsored the Federal Contractor Flexibility Act of 2000, which eases educational requirements for federal information technology contractors. He also supported the Bush administration's repeal of a Clinton-era regulation that would have required government contractors to consider an outside firm's federal track record before hiring them. The Virginia Republican has backed legislation allowing federal retirees, legislative branch employees and members of the armed services to pay health insurance premiums out of pre-tax earnings. Another Davis bill aims to create a workplace exchange program between federal information technology employees and high-tech workers in the private sector. Congress last month passed Davis' legislation that extends the Navy's five-year, multibillion intranet contract up to seven years.

Jim Moran, D-Va., beat Republican Scott Tate fairly easily. Moran, a former defense contractor, represents thousands of federal employees and contractors in his northern Virginia congressional district. The 12-term congressman has consistently backed higher pay and benefits for federal employees and this summer authored legislation to block the Bush administration's program to put thousands of federal jobs up for competition with private firms. The provision is part of the fiscal 2003 Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill, which still awaits passage by the full Congress. Moran joined Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., in scuttling regulations designed to hold contractors to new ethics rules. Moran also opposes the union-backed Truthfulness, Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting (TRAC) legislation (H.R. 721), which would curb certain contracting practices. Moran sits on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees.

Frank Wolf, R-Va., rolled over his Democratic opponent, Sterling Va., businessman John Stevens. Like his colleagues from Maryland and Virginia, Wolf has pushed several bills increasing pay and expanding benefits for federal employees. An advocate of telecommuting, he added language to the fiscal 2001 Transportation Appropriations Act directing the government to ensure that half of all federal workers were telecommuting at least part of the time by April 2002. Earlier this year, he urged the Transportation Security Administration to give airport baggage screeners some civil service protections and a compensation package that is comparable to what other federal employees receive.

Dave Weldon, R-Fla., handily defeated Democrat Jim Tso. Weldon is chairman of the Civil Service and Agency Reorganization Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the federal civil service, including compensation, health care and retirement benefits. The four-term congressman supports cafeteria benefits plans for federal employees, which would allow government workers to choose from a variety of benefits and set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for those benefits. Weldon also backs moving the visa office in the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs to the new Homeland Security Department. In April, he endorsed a bill that would force federal agencies to justify their existence or face closure.

Senate

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, defeated her Democratic opponent, Chellie Pingree with well over 50 percent of the vote in early returns. Collins is one the most senior members of the Governmental Affairs Committee, and served as a member of the committee's staff before becoming a senator. She has introduced legislation that would study whether some inspectors general offices should be combined. That bill would also raise the pay level of some IGs, prohibit them from receiving cash awards or bonuses, and mandate external reviews of their activities at least every three years. During the debate over the Homeland Security Department, the moderate Republican voted against the administration's proposal to give the president broad authority to loosen existing civil service laws. She instead backed a legislative compromise introduced by Sens. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Zell Miller, D-Ga., after the administration agreed to a written pledge not to abuse its authority to strip collective bargaining rights from unionized employees transferred to the new department.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., did not have a Democratic opponent. Warner served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee before the Democrats took control of the Senate. In the past, he has supported military base closures to save money, pushed for bigger Defense budgets, and boosted benefits for active military members and retirees. An influential four-term senator, Warner introduced a bill last year that would raise pay caps set for senior career executives.

Jason Peckenpaugh contributed to this report.