Retirement Plans

Several legislative changes to the federal retirement systems and to policies that affect retirees who want to return to government part time are winding through Congress now. Government Executive columnist Tammy Flanagan wrote an excellent guide last week to the proposed modifications, most of which were rolled into H.R. 1804. But readers continue to raise questions about the specifics of the legislation and retirement issues in general. Here are a few frequently asked questions: Q: Will retirees in the Federal Employees Retirement System be able to get retroactive credit for any unused sick leave when they retired from government?

A: No. All the provisions in H.R. 1804 that relate to sick leave, calculations of annuities that include part-time service and Civil Service Retirement System repayments go into effect if and when the legislation is enacted. The new rules will affect those employees who retire on or after the enactment date, but not those who have retired already.

Q: Will FERS employees be able to cash out their unused sick leave, instead of having it count toward their annuity calculation?

A: No. Both H.R. 1804 and a bill that includes as amendments the same retirement provisions as H.R. 1804 allow for sick leave to be calculated as part of annuities, but does not provide an option for FERS employees to cash out those sick days.

Q: If I've paid Social Security taxes for more than 30 years, can I get full Social Security benefits along with a Civil Service Retirement System pension?

A: That depends on whether you are covered by the CSRS offset. The Social Security Administration has a useful guide to the interaction between the CSRS system and Social Security that provides more detail on specific situations. And this Government Executive column examines a range of circumstances under which CSRS offsets come into play.

Q: Does this legislation repeal the government pension offset or the windfall elimination provisions?

A: No. Two bills have been introduced in the House (H.R. 1221 and H.R. 235) and in the Senate (S. 484 and S. 490) that would repeal one or both provisions. Thus far, all four bills have been referred to a number of House and Senate committees, but neither chamber has held hearings on the issue or voted on any of the legislation. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security had a hearing on GPO and WEP last year, and H.R. 1221, which would repeal both measures, has 257 House co-sponsors.

Q: How does H.R. 1804 relate to H.R. 1256, Rep. Henry Waxman's tobacco bill?

A: House Energy and Commerce Chairman Waxman's tobacco regulation legislation contains the same retirement-related provisions as H.R. 1804. The House passed Waxman's bill on April 2, and like H.R. 1804, it awaits a vote in the Senate. Waxman included the retirement provisions in his tobacco regulation bill during the last congressional session. Including those provisions in two bills, as the main text of the legislation and as a set of amendments, is simply a way to try to get them passed more quickly.

Q: When will this bill pass? I would like to wait to retire until it has been implemented.

A: As with most other legislation introduced in Congress, it's difficult to tell when H.R. 1804 will be enacted. The fact that H.R. 1804 passed the House so early in this congressional session boosts its chance of passage sometime within the next two years. But it's certainly not uncommon for workforce bills to pass one house of Congress only to stall in committee, or on the other chamber's legislative calendar; it happened to several bills last year. In other words, pegging your retirement date to legislative action might require a consultation from a fortune-teller rather than a congressional observer.