Bill aims to reinstate tax deduction for fed union dues, and more

Legislation pending in Congress would reinstate favorable tax treatment of certain expenses incurred by hundreds of thousands of federal employees—most prominently, permitting deductions for union dues. 

“Workers used to be able to deduct their union dues just like businesses deducting the costs of doing business,” the American Federation of Government Employees states in a July 31 release supporting the proposal, “but this changed in 2017 when a sham reform was enacted to borrow trillions to fund tax cuts for the wealthy while stiffing hardworking Americans.” 

The release is referring to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law in December of that year. 

“The Tax Fairness for Workers Act, H.R. 4963, would restore the tax deductibility of union dues for workers and would create an 'above the line' deduction for unions so workers can use it even if they don’t itemize,” AFGE notes. 

The House bill, introduced by Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Donald Norcross, D-N.J., has a reported 158 co-sponsors, while a companion bill launched by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in that chamber has garnered 39. 

“In addition to annual dues, labor union members often incur significant costs related to their work,” Rep. Boyle points out in a July 27 release. “These extraneous costs present a challenge to many hardworking individuals who rely on these deductions to offset expenses and pay household bills.” 

“This legislation will reintroduce those deductions that were taken away several years ago and will ease some of the tax burden pressure currently faced by many middle-class families,” he adds.   

The proposal is in House bill H.4963 and Senate bill S.738. 

Cyber Push 

“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration unveiled the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES), a first-of-its-kind comprehensive approach aimed at addressing both  immediate and long-term cyber workforce needs,” the White House announced on July 31. “Filling the hundreds of thousands of cyber job vacancies across our nation is a national security imperative and the Administration is making generational investments to prepare our country to lead in the digital economy.” 

In a release, the administration repeatedly emphasized—grammar aside—that the cyber push means “good paying, middle class jobs.”

And while salary and benefits are noticeably not mentioned at the top of this lengthy document—a section entitled “approach” outlining key parts of the administration’s plan to solve the ongoing lag in cyber hires—improved compensation provisions are enumerated in subsections on agencies where such measures are already under way. For example, special pay rates are on offer at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

“This is an important step towards closing the growing gap between industry and Federal Government salary rates for technology and cybersecurity roles,” the White House underlined. “The [Special Salary Rate] represents an average increase of 17% in basic pay for VA’s highly skilled technical workforce who are dedicated to providing veterans and their families with the world class benefits they have earned.” 

Union: Secure Fed Pay Gains, Nix Top-End Tax Cuts

Leadership at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)—which also represents thousands of federal employees across various agencies and departments including Justice, Transportation, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, the Library of Congress, and others—recently pushed back on House Republicans who are simultaneously trying to advance legislation to scale back pay and benefits for government employees and cut taxes for the very wealthy. 

“In June, a new round of tax cuts for the super-rich and corporations were proposed in Congress,” Elissa McBride, secretary treasurer for AFSCME, writes. “Advocates for the current round of tax cuts want to slash public services and cram more into the already bulging pockets of the top 1%. And these are the same people, by the way, who were willing to hold the economy hostage to force reckless spending cuts during the debate over raising the debt ceiling. Fortunately, public opinion is not on their side.” 

Federal employees and their unions are hoping to clinch a still-in-the-pipeline 5.25% across-the-board pay increase in base pay for next year, and to hang on to or expand additional compensation and other improvements for the Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration, as well as for wildland firefighters and cyber employees across multiple agencies.