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NEWS: Oct. 20, 2016
Trump's Election-Results Stand Draws Shock and Condemnation Donald Trump's refusal in last night's final presidential debate to say whether he would accept the results of a "rigged" election--just days after his campaign manager suggested otherwise--drew shock and condemnation across the political spectrum, with some historians and political analysts saying a refusal to accept the election results would be unprecedented in history. But there isn't much Trump could do to overturn even a close but clear-cut victory by Hillary Clinton. >> Politico Federal Management at Issue in Final Debate Trump and Clinton touched on a variety of federal management issues: Clinton cited her experience running the State Department and spoke out against shutting down the government for political purposes, while Trump lodged attacks on several federal agencies. >> Government Executive Rigorous Ethics Pushed for Transition Teams A coalition of good-government and progressive groups called on the presidential transition teams to adopt a rigorous code of ethics restricting lobbyists' participation and financial conflicts of interest. >> Washington Post
Will New Voting Rules Dampen Election Turnout? Less than three weeks before Election Day, new voter-ID requirements, early-voting schedules and voter-registration rules in more than a dozen states are creating uncertainty that experts say could dampen turnout. In some states, courts are still hashing out new rules. "One of the greatest impediments to voting is confusion," said Lloyd Leonard of the League of Women Voters. >> Stateline Justice Department Plans Fewer Election Observers Justice Department officials are warning that they will be dispatching fewer trained election observers in the wake of a Supreme Court opinion that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. More than 780 staffers were dispatched to 23 states for the 2012 election. >> AP/Federal Times Judge: Improperly Removed Ohio Voters Can Cast Ballots A federal judge ruled that Ohio voters who were improperly removed from the rolls after not casting a ballot for several years must be allowed to vote in the November general election. >> Cleveland Plain Dealer Virginia Governor Asks Judge to Extend Registration Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe asked a federal judge to extend the state's voter-registration deadline following a computer crash that prevented some Virginians from signing up this week. >> Washington Post
Union President Calls for Strike Vote SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker called for a strike vote by the union's 95,000 members beginning next week. The union, California state government's largest, is trying to get a bigger raise than the 2.96 percent Gov. Jerry Brown's administration is offering. Brown's proposal would raise SEIU salaries by 12 percent over four years but also require union members to begin contributing toward their retiree health-care costs. >> Sacramento Bee Veterans | The Nation VA's Leadership Reshuffling Irks Lawmakers The Department of Veterans Affairs has reshuffled top leadership more than it has hired new management since the wait-time/data-manipulation scandal was unearthed in 2014, according to a USA Today report. Congressional lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed disappointment in VA's failure to bring in more new blood. >> Government Executive VA's IG Investigating Alleged Records Forgery in Colorado VA Inspector General Michael Missal confirmed that his staff is investigating allegations of forgery and off-the-books recordkeeping at VA medical facilities in Denver and two other Colorado cities. >> Denver Post
Federal Authorities: No Charges for Governor in Prison Contracts Probe Federal authorities said they have closed their investigation of private-prison maintenance contracts that went to a major political contributor of Gov. Pat McCrory's without bringing charges against the governor or the contributor. The U.S. attorney's decision first became public during Tuesday night's gubernatorial campaign debate between the Republican governor and Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper. >> Raleigh News & Observer Michigan County's Public Works Chief Fined $125 Macomb County, Mich., Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco was fined $125 by the county's ethics board for inappropriate use of a county facility to film a campaign commercial. >> Detroit Free Press
Civics Education Should Encourage Activism, Says Education Secretary Civics education should expand beyond explaining how government works to teach students about the importance of becoming active participants and problem-solvers on a wide range of issues, Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said. Pointing to minority figures who took stances based on civic beliefs--from Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman to Martin Luther King Jr. and Colin Kaepernick--King argued that schools have a special responsibility to prepare students for their role in a democracy. >> Washington Post North Dakota State University Faculty Backs President More than 81 percent of faculty members at North Dakota State University voted in favor of a resolution supporting President Dean Bresciani, whose future is in limbo as the State Board of Higher Education considers whether to extend his contract. >> Fargo Forum >> Follow GovManagement on Twitter >> Share this edition:
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VIEWPOINT Public Services | William D. Eggers and Greg Pellegrino The Customer-Experience Prescription for Government Why are people unhappy with government? The answer--at least one answer--is that government so often doesn't work well for them. Most government employees want to help their fellow citizens and business owners. The problem is that government has largely missed the customer experience revolution that has transformed the private sector. Fortunately, businesses have developed a rich array of tools that can help government work better. >> Governing | More commentaries QUOTABLE “If your agency is 10, 15, 20 years behind the state of the art today, technology is advancing so rapidly that you'll never be able to incrementally catch up.” Social Security Administration CIO Rob Klopp, saying that agencies modernizing their technology systems must look beyond incremental change and that "what you're going to have to do is throw it out and start all over again" >> FedScoop | More quotes
$23.5 million Amount that the University of Wisconsin at Madison spent in the last academic year to retain faculty members by countering job offers from competing universities that have targeted its faculty heavily amid national attention to political turmoil over changes in faculty tenure protections and a $250 million cut in state funding >> Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | More data UPCOMING EVENTS
Engaging Local Government Leaders Technology Efficiency Webinar Today, 1 p.m. ET Governing Webinar: "Talent Management Strategy: Improving Agency and Employee Performance from Hire to Retire" Today, 2 p.m. ET Government Technology Webinar: "Avoid Getting Blindsided in Cyberspace: Why Print Security Matters" Today, 2 p.m. ET Woman's National Democratic Club Reception Honoring Democratic Woman of the Year Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Today, 4-6:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution Forum: "Second Chances Through Successful Reentry" Oct. 21, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council Executive Leadership Conference Oct. 23-25, Williamsburg, Va. Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program on Leadership Decision Making: Optimizing Organizational Performance Oct. 23-28, Cambridge, Mass. Urban Land Institute Fall Meeting Oct. 24-27, Dallas Center for American Progress Discussion: "Debbie Allen on Arts and Lived Experience: Race, Violence and Access to the American Dream" Oct. 24, noon-1:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C. >> Full events listings |
