New benefits in 2003

A new year is upon us, along with a new session of Congress. It's a perfect time to reflect on last year's changes in the federal pay and benefits arena.

Here's what you gained in 2002:

• Military personnel will get a pay raise of at least 4.1 percent pay in 2003, thanks to the Bush administration, which broke with the pattern of previous administrations, which maintained military and civilian pay parity. The Bush administration decided to boost military pay after the Sept. 11 attacks.
• Federal employees got a 3.1 percent across-the-board pay raise for 2003, higher than the 2.6 percent pay raise initially proposed by the Bush administration, but still lower than the 4.1 percent average raise approved by the House. The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved the measure, but the full Senate adjourned without voting on it. Lawmakers are still trying to get a retroactive 4.1 percent average pay increase into the 2003 Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill or added to an omnibus bill.
• Congress passed legislation (H.R. 3340) that allows federal employees aged 50 and older to contribute an extra $2,000 to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts in 2003.
• Military retirees with 20 or more years of service who are recipients of the Purple Heart or have a serious combat-related disability can now get both disability and retirement pay. Initially lawmakers hoped to extend the benefit to all military retirees, but the Bush administration threatened to veto the fiscal 2003 Defense Authorization Act if that provision was included.
• Employees can put as much as $3,000 in flexible spending accounts for medical expenses, such as co-payments and deductibles, dental care and vision care, and up to $5,000 for child care and dependent care.
• Federal employees, military personnel, retirees and their family members can now purchase long-term care insurance, which protects assets from being depleted if you require nursing home care, home health care or other extended health care services.
• The 20-year-old special rates back pay case was settled, and the 212,000 affected federal employees should be able to collect their money this year.

Here's what didn't happen in 2002, but many of these bills may show up again in the 108th Congress:

• H.R. 3779 would have allowed federal agencies to provide shuttle bus services for employees who need transportation between mass transit facilities and agency buildings.
• H.R. 831 sought to make long-term care premiums deductible, waiving the current total spending limit required by the Internal Revenue Service. Under current tax law, people can deduct the cost of long-term care premiums if their medical and dental expenses for the year are more than 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income.
• S. 1913 aimed to create an exchange program for federal information technology managers. The bill proposed that IT managers be permitted to work for companies in the private sector for one year without losing their federal status.
• H.R. 1307 would have raised the government's portion of health care premiums from 72 percent to 80 percent. Several other lawmakers offered similar bills, but none of them were passed during the last congressional session. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he plans to reintroduce the bill this year.
• S. 2936 would have boosted retirement benefits for federal workers injured at work.

You can follow all the pay and benefits legislation on GovExec.com's Bill Tracker.