New Bill Would Give 30K Feds Enhanced Retirement Benefits

Nearly 30,000 federal employees would receive enhanced retirement benefits under a bill introduced by two Democratic senators on Thursday.

The Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act, introduced by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., would extend the ability to retire earlier to employees designated in the police series GS-0083. The change would affect employees authorized to carry a firearm who investigate or apprehend suspected criminals, including Internal Revenue Service officers who collect delinquent taxes, U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service employees and Veterans Affairs Department police officers.

Some employees at the Defense Department, National Institutes of Health, FBI and other agencies would also be granted the right to retire after 20 years of service at age 50, or after 25 years of service at any age. Law enforcement officers contribute slightly more from their paychecks toward their retirements, but receive a more generous annuity upon leaving federal service.

Booker said the bill would fix a “loophole” in current federal statute that prevents law enforcement officers from receiving the “benefits they deserve.”

“It’s time we fix this error and ensure all federal law enforcement officers are compensated fairly for their service,” Booker said. “This bill would grant all federal officers the same benefits as their colleagues. By offering fair and equal compensation, we honor their daily sacrifice and devotion to protecting public safety.”

Mikulski added the bill would right a wrong that punishes employees who defend against terrorism and the smuggling of illegal drugs.

“They face the same risks and challenges as other law enforcement and deserve the same retirement and pension benefits,” Mikulski said.

Employees could receive credit for the time they already served by sending notice to the Office of Personnel Management within five years of the enactment of the bill, or before they retire, if that occurs sooner.

Federal employee groups were quick to praise the measure, saying the officers deal with all the same dangers as other federal law enforcement and therefore deserve the same perks.

Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a letter to Booker that IRS enforcement officers deal with “threats, assaults, and in some cases, gunfire.” A 2014 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found the auditors had responded to 8,200 threats against IRS employees between fiscal years 2011 and 2013.

“This bill would recognize the dangers revenue officers face each and every day in carrying out their duties and provide them with the same civil service retirement status and benefits that other federal law enforcement officers already receive,” Reardon wrote.

Nate Catura, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in a letter of his own that the employees currently included and excluded from the enhanced retirement benefits conduct similar work, undergo similar training, hold similar authority and face similar physical requirements.

“Yet despite these similarities,” Catura wrote, “there is a great divide between the pay and retirement benefits that are available to certain law enforcement employees due to an outdated definition of a ‘law enforcement officer’ in federal retirement law. This definition…is one that no longer meets the realities of our post-9/11 security needs.”

The measure has already won bipartisan support in the House, where Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., has introduced companion legislation with 21 cosponsors.