When I’m looking for a dose of thrills and chills, I check the news to see what bills have been introduced in Congress that would affect federal employees and retirees. What follows are a few of them that are guaranteed to elicit the maximum number of cheers and boos.
H.R 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013, introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). It would keep anyone who has seriously delinquent debt from becoming a federal employee or, if already a federal employee, from continuing to be one.
H.R. 517, introduced by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York), which would provide that an employee could substitute four of the 12 weeks he or she is on LWOP with paid leave.
H.R. 1795 and S. 896, Social Security Fairness Act of 2013, the former introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Illinois) and the latter by Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska). Both bills would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision.
S. 1678, the Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act, introduced by Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), which would eliminate the defined-benefit (aka annuity), leaving only Social Security and Thrift Savings Plan benefits for FERS employees when they retire.
H.R. 630 and S. 316, The Postal Service Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). In effect, it would eliminate the retiree health benefit prefunding requirement, continue six-day mail delivery, and block the closing of rural post offices.
H.R. 2748, the Postal Reform Act, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), which would reduce delivery days from six to five, eliminate certain protections for injured postal workers, and drop home delivery in favor of cluster boxes.
And, of course, there is H. Res 388, which expresses the sense of the House in support of federal employees. It’s the traditional atta-boy & girl, with the admonition that Congress shouldn’t target federal employees.
Will any of those bills go anywhere? Having watched bills come and go over the years, some identical to these, I’d say the odds aren’t very good. However, if you are for or against any of them, I suggest you let your Members of Congress know. And the same goes for any organizations that represent your interests.