Federal workers won't be doling out extra retirement contributions if a bill that passed in a House subcommittee Tuesday makes it through the appropriations process.
The legislation was introduced last year by Rep. Tom Davis, and would repeal the 0.5 percent retirement contribution increase imposed on federal employees as a budget-reduction tactic. The temporary increase in employee contributions began in January 1999 and is scheduled to end in 2002.
On Tuesday, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., tacked a repeal of the increase on as an amendment to the fiscal 2001 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill.
"This is a fundamental issue of fairness. When we passed the contribution increase, we told federal employees that we would repeal it when we balanced the budget," Hoyer said.
As the Treasury-Postal bill works its way through the appropriations process, Hoyer promised to ensure that his amendment survives until the very end. That may be difficult, however, because the increase saves the government about $1 billion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Union Supports Part-Timers' Bill
The National Association of Retired Federal Employees has stepped up to bat for a bill that would fix a glitch in the retirement formula that affects part-time federal employees.
In May, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., introduced a measure (H.R. 4569 ) that would change the pension formula for people who began working for the government before 1986 and have worked part-time for any period since then. Under a 1986 law, those employees are due smaller pensions than employees with similar amounts of service.
"Your legislation sends the right signal about part-time employment and fairness to Americans who devoted their careers to public service," said Frank Atwater, National President of NARFE, in a letter to Moran.
Women are among the bill's biggest benefactors, Moran said, because many shifted to part-time work late in their careers to care for aging relatives.
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