Other Bills May Need a Boost

Several other measures of interest to employees and retirees are continuing to draw co-sponsors but with time running short, those bills may need a boost-for example, having a member attach them to a piece of “must-pass” legislation. These bills include: HR-2125 and S-1022, to allow all retirees to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program premium conversion arrangement that allows active employees to pay premiums with pre-tax money; HR-664 and S-611 to have the government pension offset reduction in spousal or survivor Social Security benefits affecting CSRS retirees and others who draw a benefit from a system that doesn’t include Social Security apply only to amounts in combined annuities above $1,200 a month; and HR-1073 to have the windfall elimination provision, which reduces Social Security benefits of those who have less than 30 years of “substantial” coverage in that system, apply only to combined monthly benefits above $3,000 and to phase in the reduction and to impose a lesser phased-in penalty for amounts between $2,000 and $3,000.