Pay and Benefits Tracker
Congress is turning to federal pay and benefits to find cost savings. To sort out all the proposals for you, Federal News Radio compiled a list of the bills that...
Congress is turning to federal pay and benefits to find cost-savings. To sort out all the proposals for you, Federal News Radio compiled a list of the bills that could affect your compensation. This list will be updated regularly with status changes and the addition of new bills.
| Impact on feds | Description | Bill/Sponsor(s) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAISE PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS FOR FUTURE FEDS | Increases contributions to pensions for new federal employees by 2.3 percent. Affects employees hired after Dec. 31, 2012, and anyone who returns to a federal job after this date who has less than five years of federal service. Does not affect current feds. The increases would pay for jobless benefits as part of the payroll tax cut extension plan. Read the story |
H.R.3630 (conference committee report) Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) |
Passed by House and Senate on Feb. 17 |
| ELIMINATE WITHIN-GRADE INCREASES | Prohibits within-grade pay increases through 2012. Read the story |
H.R.3844 Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) |
Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Jan. 31, 2012. |
| FREEZE PAY THROUGH MID-2014 | -Extends pay freeze to June 30, 2014. -Cuts workforce by 5 percent. Hire no more than two employees for every three who leave. |
S.2065/H.R.3662 Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)/Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) |
Referred to Senate Budget Committee on Feb. 2, 2012.Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Dec. 14, 2011. |
| CUT WORKFORCE SIZE | Cuts federal workforce by 10 percent by Oct. 2015, based on the workforce size on Sept. 30, 2011, through attrition. Agencies can hire one employee for every three who leave. | H.R.3029/S.1611 Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)/Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) |
Reported to the House amended on Dec. 19, 2011. Introduced in Senate on Sept. 22, 2011. |
| INCREASE PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS | -Feds contribute 1.5 percent more to pension. -End FERS annuity supplement for feds who retire before age 62. -New hires pay 4 percent of salaries toward retirement -New hires’ annuity calculated by high-five (not high-three) formula. -Originally part of larger transportation bill, H.R. 7. Read full story. |
H.R.3813 Rep. Dennis Ross(R-Fla.) |
Reported out of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Feb. 7, 2012. |
| FREEZE PAY THROUGH 2013 | Extends current pay freeze one more year through 2013. Read full story. |
H.R.3835 Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.) |
Passed House on Feb. 1, 2012. |
| FREEZE PAY THROUGH 2015 | – Cuts federal workforce by 15 percent. – Freezes federal pay through fiscal year 2015. – Freezes non-discretionary spending at 2008 levels through fiscal year 2021. |
H.R.408/S.178 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) |
House bill referred to Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises on March 23, 2011. Senate bill referred to Committee on Finance on Jan. 25, 2011. |
| FREEZE PAY THROUGH 2014 | Extends pay freeze, including bonuses, through 2014. Read full story. |
S.1476 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) |
Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Aug. 2, 2011. |
| REFORM FEDERAL WORKERS COMP | Streamlines claims process. Covers injuries sustained in a terrorist attack as a “war-risk hazard.” Read full story. |
H.R.2465 Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) |
Passed House and referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Nov. 30, 2011. |
| EXTEND BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX COUPLES | Extends benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Read full story. |
S.1910/H.R.3485 Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) |
Referred to the Senate Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law on Dec. 2, 2011. |
| FREEZE PAY THROUGH 2013 | – Extends the federal pay freeze for another year, through fiscal year 2013. This means your pay would remain at fiscal year 2010 levels through Sept. 30, 2013. – Cuts federal workforce by 10 percent no later than October 1, 2020. |
H.R.235 Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) |
Referred to to House Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity on March 23, 2011. |
| FURLOUGH | Requires federal employees to take two weeks of mandatory, unpaid furlough during fiscal year 2012. Read full story. |
H.R.270 Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) |
Referred to House Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law on Feb. 14, 2011. |
| CUT PENSIONS | Ends defined benefits pension portion for new hires starting in 2013. The Thrift Savings Plan and retirement benefits will not be affected by this bill. Read full story. |
S.644 Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) |
Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on May 9, 2011. |
| REDUCE DRUG COSTS | – Requires greater transparency over pharmacy benefit managers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). – Prohibits a drug carrier from paying a pharmacy benefit manager more than the average manufacturer’s price for any drug. Read full story. |
H.R.979 Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) |
Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 9, 2011. |
| TELEWORK TAX CREDIT | Provides a tax credit, up to $1,000 per year, for teleworking expenses. Read full story. |
H.R.710 Rep. Robert Whitman (R-Va.) |
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means on Feb. 15, 2011. |
| CHANGES FEGLI PAYMENTS TO LUMP-SUM | Changes the default payments for the Federal Employees Life Insurance Program (FEGLI) to a lump-sum. The bill responds to concerns that the current payments to beneficiaries are put into accounts that are not federally insured. Read the full story. |
H.R.48 Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) |
Referred to the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and Labor Policy on Feb. 8. |
| GIVES USPS ACCESS TO EXCESS RETIREMENT FUNDS | Allows USPS access to the excess FERS and CSRS funds it has paid so it can pay off its retiree health benefits. Read full story. |
S.1010 Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) |
Hearings held in committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Sept. 6, 2011. |
| PREVENTS PEOPLE WHO OWE TAXES FROM BEING FEDERAL EMPLOYEE OR CONTRACTOR | Prohibits a person with “seriously delinquent tax debt” from being a federal employee or contractor. A “seriously delinquent tax debt” is an outstanding tax debt for which a notice of lien has been filed in public record, according to a release from the committee. | H.R.828 and S.376 Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) |
House bill placed on the Union Calendar on June 23, 2011. Senate bill referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia on May 9, 2011. |
| REMOVES PENSION FOR INTEL FEDS WHO LEAK INFO | Current and former intelligence employees will lose their pensions if they leak classified information. Feds not in the intelligence community could also lose their pensions if convicted of espionage, treason, sabotage or conspiracy. Feds would still be able to retain contributions to a pension plan and the Thrift Savings Plan and social security benefits. Read the full story. |
S.719 Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) |
Introduced in Senate on April 4, 2011 |
If you know about a bill that affects federal pay and benefits and don’t see it on the list, Email us.
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