Pay freeze through 2015 part of Issa’s super committee recs

All News

Pay freeze through 2015 part of Issa’s super committee recs

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is getting into the mix of lawmakers making recommendations to the super committee. Its letter calls for cuts...

Federal News Network Staff

October 14, 2011 7:09 pm

1 min read

By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is getting into the mix of lawmakers making recommendations to the super committee. Its letter calls for a pay freeze through 2015, a 10 percent cut to the workforce and cuts to federal retirement benefits.

The letter was sent just a day after House Democratic committee leaders urged the debt committee to avoid further cuts to federal pay and benefits.

The letter, signed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), stated the proposed savings would be $375 billion over the next decade.

The proposed changes to federal retirement include:

Changing the pension formula from a high-three to a high-five calculation, meaning pension would be based on the average of the highest five years of an employee’s salary.
Increasing the FERS contribution by 6.2 percent and increasing the CSRS contribution from 7 percent to 10 percent beginning in 2013.
Eliminating FERS for new hires.

One union called the proposals “draconian.” The Oversight Committee’s recommendations “would effectively devastate the U.S. civil service,” said Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, in a statement.

House Dems urge supercommittee to avoid more cuts to feds