Workforce, pay cuts among senator’s recs to super committee
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is recommending a slew of cuts to federal agencies as part of the effort to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion in the next decade.
By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio
One senator recommends the super committee call for a 10 percent federal workforce cut as part of a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
The report, prepared for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), also recommends increasing federal employees’ contribution to FERS, eliminating locality pay for feds outside a metropolitan area and switching to a high-five instead of a high-three calculation for annuity.
“The fact of the matter is we can achieve major savings through some simple and commonsense reforms,” said Johnson, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Management, in a statement.
“We could reduce the size of the federal government’s limousine fleet and consolidate the number of mascots used by the Department of Homeland Security, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. We will need to do much more to balance our budget, but we should take these simpler steps right away,” Johnson said.
Johnson is one of 36 senators who is encouraging the super committee to find at least $4 trillion in debt reduction recommendations. The report, however, is from Johnson, not the entire group of senators.
The 12-member super committee has a Nov. 23 deadline to come up with a list of debt reduction recommendations. President Obama will submit his recommendations to the committee on Sept. 19.
Fearing more cuts to federal employees, federal unions and organizations are urging the President to protect federal pay and benefits. In a letter today, the Federal-Postal Coalition pointed out feds are already making a $60 billion “sacrifice” with the current pay freeze.
“The hardworking, dedicated Americans who make up the federal workforce had no part in creating the budget problems that you and the Congress are trying to address, and undermining their livelihoods should play no part in resolving these problems,” the coalition said in the letter.
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