The final version of the annual DoD authorization, which has emerged from a House-Senate conference, does not contain a much-anticipated boost in the government-wide buyout maximum to $40,000, most likely killing that effort at least for this year.
The conferees laid aside language proposed by the White House and backed by the Senate to raise the general maximum from $25,000 to the $40,000 available for the last several years only at DoD. The $25,000 figure has been unchanged since buyouts first started during the Clinton administration and then was reflected in a 2002 law. Estimates are that to keep up with either wage growth or inflation the amount would have to be well above $40,000 now.
The Senate version of the defense budget bill not only would have made the higher amount government-wide, it would have increased it annually by an inflation index, rounded to the nearest $1,000. The House version of the bill did not contain similar provisions, though, and in the language of such agreements, the Senate “receded” even though its Armed Services Committee—and earlier, its Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee—had backed the increase.
Language to boost the general maximum still could be attached to some other bill that would not raise the same budgetary offset considerations that apparently caused the language to be removed from the defense bill. However, the DoD authorization was considered the most likely vehicle for enactment since it is considered an annual “must-pass.”
