Democrats Oppose Additional Cuts to Federal Pay and Benefits
17 Members of Congress call on Conference Committee to Oppose Salary or Retirement Security Cuts, Citing Previous Sacrifices
Washington, DC – Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led 17 Members of Congress today in urging the conference committee considering legislation to extend the payroll tax cut through 2012 to oppose any additional cuts to the pay or benefits of Federal employees.
“Federal workers have already made significant sacrifices to help reduce our government’s budget deficit,” the Members wrote. “Subjecting these dedicated public servants to additional pay cuts and retirement benefit reductions in order to pay for such expenditures as a payroll tax cut for all middle class Americans is unfair and illogical, particularly as the vast majority of federal workers are middle-income earners as well. Such cuts would also impede the federal government’s efforts to recruit and retain the best and brightest individuals.” Read more
Obama Proposes 2-Year Pay Freeze For All Civilian Federal Employees
The White House has issued the following “Fact Sheet: Cutting the Deficit by Freezing Federal Employee Pay”
Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade, the President inherited a $1.3 trillion projected deficit upon taking office and an economic crisis that threatened to put the nation into a second Great Depression. He moved quickly to get the economy moving again. Now, the economy is growing, and we have gained private sector jobs for the past 10 months. But families and businesses are still hurting, and our top priority is making sure that we are doing everything we can to help boost economic growth and spur job creation.
Now, we need to turn our attention to addressing the massive deficits we inherited and the unsustainable fiscal course that we are on. Doing so will take some very tough choices. Just as families and businesses around the nation have tightened their belts so must their government. That must be done in a targeted way that focuses our investments in what works and in what will lay the foundation for job creation and economic growth for years to come while cutting back elsewhere in our budget.
That is why the President has decided to propose a freeze in civilian pay for federal employees for two years, 2011 and 2012.
* This two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion for the remainder of FY 2011, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next 10 years.
* It will apply to all civilian federal employees, including those in various alternative pay plans and those working at the Department of Defense – but not military personnel.
This was a decision that was not made lightly. From the doctors and nurses who care for our veterans to the scientists searching for better treatments and cures, the men and women who care for our national parks, and the thousands who make sure that the Social Security check is in the mail and that students get their scholarships, federal workers serve their fellow Americans. They do so often with great sacrifice and motivated by a patriotic love for their country. This freeze is not to punish federal workers or to disrespect the work that they do. It is the first of many actions we will take in the upcoming budget to put our nation on sound fiscal footing – which will ask for some sacrifice from us all.
This move also is another step in what the Administration has done as part of its Accountable Government Initiative to cut costs, save taxpayer dollars and do more with less in the federal government:
* Upon taking office, the President froze salaries for all senior White House officials; in last year’s budget, he proposed to extend this freeze to other top political appointees; and he eliminated bonuses for all political appointees.
* The President directed agencies to dispose of excess real estate to save $8 billion over the next two years.
* The President set an aggressive goal of reducing improper payments by $50 billion by the end of 2012.
* In each of his budgets, the President put forward approximately $20 billion in terminations and reductions, encompassing more than 120 programs all of which have strong supporters.
* The President put forward more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction in his 2011 budget, including a three-year freeze in non-security spending – which will bring non-security discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy in 50 years.
Ultimately, reining in our deficits will take tough decisions and sacrifices made by us all. We look forward to working with both sides on Capitol Hill over the next several months to forge a commonsense deficit reduction strategy that will rein in our deficits, keep our economy growing, and lay the foundation for American competitiveness for years to come.
Federal pay and benefits could change with new Congress
In recent months, there’s been a lot of talk about proposed hiring and pay freezes and mandatory furloughs in the federal government. But those ideas could become reality if Republicans on Tuesday win the necessary 39 seats to gain control of the House. House Republicans unveiled their Pledge to America in September, promising to reduce the size of government and freeze hiring for all nonsecurity-related federal positions. Lawmakers in both chambers also have pushed several measures that would affect federal jobs and benefits.
full story: Govexec.com
Congressman Darrell Issa Goes After Size of Federal Workforce
From Governemnt Executive
Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform, went after the size of the federal workforce in general this morning at the opening of a hearing on the sorry financial state of the Postal Service. He claimed that the Postal Service has “more or less” a third more workers than it actually needs, and while insisting that he wants to support Postal workers and make sure they’re fully employed, is making no bones about the fact that he thinks the federal government is overstaffed.
House Subcommittee Approves Measures to Benefit Federal Employees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 10 a.m. in room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on held a business meeting and approved several priority pieces of legislation.
Introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), H.R. 4489 will strengthen federal oversight of the prescription drug benefits available to federal employees through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Specifically, the FEHBP Prescription Drug Integrity, Transparency, and Cost Savings Act will provide the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) greater contract authority over Pharmacy Benefit Managers to better ensure that federal workers and retirees, as well as taxpayers, are receiving the best benefits at the best price.
In addition, H.R. 4865, the Federal Employees and Uniformed Services Retirement Equity Act of 2010, introduced by Chairman Lynch and Subcommittee Ranking Member Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), will allow federal and postal employees, as well as members of the armed forces, to deposit unused annual leave into their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts. The legislation will allow the TSP to remain in line with the offerings currently available to private-sector workers participating in 401(k) plans.
Furthermore, H.R. 1722, the Telework Improvements Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), will serve to improve the effectiveness of telework programs across the federal government. In response to agency and employee concerns regarding the current underutilization of telework, H.R. 1722 will require each agency to designate a Telework Managing Officer and implement a series of agency reporting requirements in order to enhance the availability of information regarding the status of individual agency telework programs.
Finally, H.R. 3913, the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Act, introduced by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), will significantly broaden the educational opportunities available to members of the National Guard of the District of Columbia by authorizing additional grant funding for education assistance. Per a Manager’s Amendment offered by Chairman Lynch and approved by the Subcommittee, D.C. National Guard members will receive up to $6,000 in education assistance per year.
“By approving H.R. 4489, the FEHBP Prescription Drug Integrity, Transparency, and Cost Savings Act, I’m pleased that the Subcommittee has taken the first step towards ensuring greater transparency and accountability in FEHBP contracting for the benefit of our hardworking federal and postal employees, and for federal taxpayers at large,” said Chairman Stephen F. Lynch. “I’m also pleased by the Subcommittee’s action on H.R. 4865, H.R. 1722, and H.R. 3913, all of which represent common sense solutions to enhancing the federal government’s workforce recruitment and retention efforts, as well as that of the D.C. National Guard.”
H.R. 4489, H.R. 4865, H.R. 1722, and H.R. 3913 have now been referred to the full Committee on Oversight & Government Reform for further consideration.
EEOC 2009 Annual Report On USPS Workforce
From United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC):
“This report covers the period from October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. The September 30 snapshot includes only employees in pay status thus, some permanent employees, like seasonal employees or those on active military tours of duty are not included….. while the United States Postal Service constituted 27.6% of the work force, it accounted for 47.1% of all EEO counselings, 36.6% of all complaints filed, 36.9% of all completed investigations and 40.8% of all complaints closed in FY 2008.”
Among the cabinet/large (15,000 or more employees) agencies, in FY 2008, the USPS reported the highest percentage (2.2%) of its work force that completed counseling, while the government-wide average was 1.2%
In FY 2008, the U.S. Postal Service again had the highest ADR participation rate in the pre-complaint process (74.1%) among the cabinet/large agencies, while the government-wide average was 49.5%.
The US Postal Service timely completed 99.5% of its 4,113 investigations in FY 2008.
In FY 2008, the U. S. Postal Service reported the second highest percentage (95.9%) of timely issued merit decisions without an Administrative Judge of agencies with 15,000 or more employees.
Targeted Disabilities
As of September 30, 2008, USPS employed 5,479 (0.83%) Individuals with Targeted Disabilities (IWTD). In order to have met the federal 2% participation rate goal, 15,259 IWTD were needed. This represented a decrease of 266 employees over FY 2007 and a decrease of 858 employees since FY 2004. The participation rate for FY 2007 was 0.84% and for FY 2004 was 0.9%. Over the 5-year period USPS had a net decrease of 0.07% in employees with targeted disabilities.
Costs
USPS agreed to pay $703,467 for 5,504 pre-complaint settlements, of which 456 were monetary settlements averaging $1,542. USPS expended a total of $6,175,445 for 4,113 complaint investigations, for an average expenditure of $1,501.
USPS agreed to pay a total of $5,777,740 plus other benefits for 669 complaint closures through settlement agreements, final agency decisions, and final agency orders fully implementing AJ decisions. For the 443 complaint closures with monetary benefits, the average award was $13,042.
click here for full report and charts