Fedweek

All federal employees would be subject to paying higher contributions toward their FERS or CSRS retirement benefits under a plan set for voting today (March 18) in the House Budget Committee. The provision has passed that committee and the full House several times in recent years but always stalled in the Senate; however, that may not be the case this year since that chamber has switched to Republican control. The House document does not set an amount of such an increase, instead pointing to a prior commission’s recommendation to set the employee and employer contributions at equivalent levels. That would mean an increase of about 6 percentage points under both systems, except presumably for those under FERS hired since the end of 2012 who already are paying at higher rates than those hired previously, and for whom the increase would be somewhat less, although rising to the same total. The budget resolution also orders the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, along with other committees, to recommend savings in programs they oversee by July 15. The Senate’s budget panel is due to release and vote on its own version today, as well.