The House voted to overturn new overtime rules, but the Bush administration is threatening a veto unless the provision is deleted from the final Labor Department appropriations bill.

The new rules went into effect last month. Organized labor contends they will deny overtime pay to many people who are now eligible; the Bush administration disputes that.

The House vote Sept. 9 to overturn the regulations was 222-193. The Senate has not yet passed its version of the Labor Department appropriation; final language will be worked out in a conference committee between the two houses.

The House voted Sept. 15 to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from hiring contractors to collect overdue taxes. The amendment to the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill was sponsored by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). It passed on a voice vote.

The Government Accountability Office recommends that federal agencies make use of spend analyses and adopt private sector practices of analyzing how they spend their dollars.

In a Sept. 16 report, GAO said the departments of Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services and Agriculture have saved millions by using spend analyses.

Veterans Affairs saved $394 million in 2003 on drug purchases and another $82 million on technology purchases.

HHS will save about $9.5 million a year for office and custodial supplies. Agriculture negotiated an agreement with office supply vendors that saved $1.8 million.

Spend analyses allow agencies to learn more about where their procurement dollars are going and to leverage their buying power. But that often means using fewer and larger vendors.

SBA has signed a strategic alliance memorandum with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The agreement is an effort to make more loans, education and training available to Hispanic small businesses. The alliance was announced during the chamber’s convention in Austin, TX, Sept. 16.