A group of conservative House Republicans has proposed a package of spending cuts to help offset the costs of hurricane relief, incorporating several proposals in the federal employment and retirement area raised in past budget-cutting exercises but never adopted. These include basing annuities for new retirees on the highest five salary years rather than the high-three, cutting the government’s share of Federal Employees Health Benefits program for new retirees’ premiums by 2 percent per year for each year of service under 30, and charging employees commercial rates for parking at federal buildings. Those proposals have the procedural advantage of having been “scored” by the Congressional Budget Office as achieving real savings. However, the prospects for acceptance are questionable, given the opposition of employee organizations and civil service leaders in Congress to the ideas.