VA Reviewing Bonuses After Awarding $400M in 2011
Jun 07, 2012
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ ongoing review of performance bonuses has already yielded the cancellation of 43 of the 78 previously extended to senior executives. Only two of the remaining 35 have been approved for continuation, with the rest pending a final decision, according to the VA.
The agency began reviewing bonus awards last year, VA spokeswoman Josephine Schuda said.
The awards have come under increased scrutiny by Congress since testimony in April that some executives may have been “gaming the system” to make it appear more veterans seeking mental health counseling were getting appointments within a required time.
Hitting the right numbers translated into executive bonuses, said a former senior VA official with the agency’s New Hampshire system.
Last week Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., submitted a bill that would bar all bonuses to senior executive services employees at the VA.
“I want to ensure the best care for our veterans, but the VA continues to have an unmanageable backlog, extremely long wait lists, and a poor record on oversight. Given this troubling record, the VA should discontinue paying bonuses to its top executives,” he said when his bill was adopted as an amendment to the VA’s 2013 budget.
Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told Military.com that VA funding “should first and foremost be allocated to caring for veterans.”
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