Lawmakers wants VA to explain bonuses
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 3, 6:48 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/veterans_care_bonuses
WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders on Thursday demanded that the Veterans
Affairs secretary explain hefty bonuses for senior department officials involved
in crafting a budget that came up $1 billion short and jeopardized veterans'
health care.
Rep. Harry Mitchell (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House Veterans'
Affairs subcommittee on oversight, said he would hold hearings to investigate
after The Associated Press reported that budget officials at the Veterans
Affairs Department received bonuses ranging up to $33,000.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (news, bio, voting record), who heads the Senate Veterans'
Affairs Committee, said the payments pointed to an improper "entitlement for the
most centrally placed or well-connected staff." He has sent a letter to VA chief
Jim Nicholson asking what the department plans to do to eliminate any bonuses
based on favoritism.
"These reports point to an apparent gross injustice at the VA that we have a
responsibility to investigate," said Mitchell, D-Ariz. "No government official
should ever be rewarded for misleading taxpayers, and the VA should not be
handing out the most lucrative bonuses in government as veterans are waiting
months and months to see a doctor."
One member of the House committee, Rep. Phil Hare (news, bio, voting record),
D-Ill., called for Nicholson to resign.
A list obtained by the AP of bonuses to senior career officials in 2006
documents a generous package of more than $3.8 million in payments by a
financially strapped agency straining to help care for thousands of injured
veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among those receiving payments were a deputy assistant secretary and several
regional directors who crafted the VA's flawed budget for 2005 based on
misleading accounting. They received performance payments up to $33,000 each, a
figure equal to about 20 percent of their annual salaries.
Also receiving a top bonus was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who helps
manage a disability claims system that has a backlog of cases and delays
averaging 177 days in getting benefits to injured veterans.
The bonuses were awarded even after government investigators had determined the
VA repeatedly miscalculated — if not deliberately misled taxpayers — with
questionable methods used to justify Bush administration cuts to health care
amid the burgeoning Iraq war.
Annual bonuses to senior VA officials now average more than $16,000 — the most
lucrative in government. All bonuses are proposed by division chiefs, then
approved by Nicholson.
A VA spokesman said the payments are necessary to retain hardworking career
officials. "Rewarding knowledgeable and professional career public servants is
entirely appropriate," spokesman Matt Burns said.
Several veterans groups questioned the practice. They cited short-staffing and
underfunding at VA clinics that have become particularly evident after recent
disclosures of shoddy outpatient treatment of injured troops at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington.
"Rewarding bureaucrats for failure while veterans wait for care is inexcusable,"
said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America.
In a letter to Nicholson, Akaka also asked the department to outline steps to
address disparities in which Washington-based senior officials got higher
payments than their counterparts elsewhere.
"Awards should be determined according to performance," said Akaka, D-Hawaii. "I
am concerned by this generous pat on the back for those who failed to ensure
that their budget requests accurately reflected VA's needs."
Burns, who said the department is reviewing Akaka's request, said many of the
senior officials have the kind of experience that would be hard to replace.
"The importance of retaining committed career leaders in any government
organization cannot be overstated," Burns said.
VA officials characterized the agency's Washington-based jobs as more difficult,
often involving management of several layers of divisions that would justify the
higher payments.
In 2006, the VA officials receiving top bonuses included Rita Reed, the deputy
assistant secretary for budget, and William Feeley, a former VA network director
who is now deputy undersecretary for health for operations and management.
Also receiving $33,000 was Ronald Aument, the deputy undersecretary for
benefits, who helps oversee the strained and backlogged claims system that
Nicholson now says is unacceptable.
In July 2005, the VA stunned Congress by suddenly announcing it faced a $1
billion shortfall after failing to take into account the additional cost of
caring for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The admission, which came months after the department insisted it was operating
within its means and did not need additional money, drew harsh criticism from
both parties and some calls for Nicholson's resignation.
In urging Nicholson to step down, Hare cited problems with accounting as well as
data security that contributed to the loss of 26.5 million veterans' sensitive
personal information last year.
"Time and time again, Secretary Nicholson, a former chair of the Republican
National Committee, opted to offer political spin instead of preparing for the
inevitable influx of new veterans entering the system," Hare said. "Veterans
deserve a secretary that will fight for them."
Burns, the VA spokesman, defended Nicholson. "Nobody cares more about veterans
than Secretary Nicholson," Burns said, adding that his boss's "efforts to serve
his fellow veterans will not be deterred by partisan posturing and angry
personal attacks."
The investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office,
determined the VA had used misleading accounting methods and claimed false
savings of more than $1.3 billion, apparently because President Bush was not
willing, at the time, to ask Congress for more money.
According to the White House Office of Personnel Management, roughly three of
every four senior officials at the VA have received some kind of bonus each
year. In recent years, the payment amount has steadily increased from being one
of the lowest in government — $8,120 in 2002 — to the most generous — $16,713 in
2005.
In contrast, just over half the senior officials at the Energy Department in
2005 received an average bonus of $9,064. Across all government agencies, about
two-thirds of employees received bonuses, which averaged $13,814 in 2005, the
most recent data available.
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http://www.va.gov/