Dramatic cuts in federal employee and retiree compensation could come about through FY 2016 budget bills passed by the House and Senate late last month.
While the details of the House and Senate bills differ, both call for lower compensation for federal workers and retirees, dramatic cuts to agency spending and huge reductions in the federal workforce. Comparatively, the House version demands even larger cuts than the Senate measure.
The final outlook will become clearer over the next two weeks, as House and Senate negotiators complete work on a final FY 2016 budget that will seek to achieve $5.5 trillion in total savings over the next decade, relying in part on net pay cuts for federal employees, through large increases in employee payments for their health insurance coverage and retirement benefits, as well as large cuts in the size of the non-defense federal workforce. The final budget, though non-binding, will set the framework for the consideration later this summer of a series of government funding bills and a budget reconciliation measure.
For example, contributions for FERS benefits would increase by more than 8 times — from the current 0.8 percent of pay to 6.5 percent of pay – under the House-approved resolution.
Contributions toward health insurance coverage would significantly increase, as well, from the current 28 percent of premium contribution to as fifty percent of the contribution.
The rate of return on the G-Fund, the most popular funding in the Thrift Savings Program, would also be cut by the House resolution.
These threats are real, and NAPS has joined with other federal employee and retiree groups to lobby against these changes and will soon be calling upon NAPS members to lend their voices.
Source: http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2015/04/house-senate-budget-resolutions-call-for-dramatic-changes-in-retirement-health-benefits/
|