Swordsmyth
05-09-2018, 02:04 AM
In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Friday, Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff T. H. Pon pushed four proposals that, over 10 years, would significantly cut retirement benefits for 2.6 million federal retirees and survivors.
Saying he wants "to bring Federal benefits more in line with the private sector," Pon proposed:
Eliminating supplements for Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) annuitants who retire before being eligible for Social Security benefits.
Reducing federal pensions by basing them on workers' basic pay five-year averages instead of three years.
Increasing employee retirement contributions with no increase in benefits. The plan would sharply boost the 0.8 percent of basic pay most FERS employees contribute. The letter makes the impact on federal retirees clear. "Under this proposal, FERS employee deduction rates will increase by 1 percent per year until they reach 7.25 percent of basic pay. . . This proposal would require FERS employees to fund a greater portion of their retirement benefit."
Reducing or eliminating retirement cost-of-living adjustments. The administration plans "to reduce the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by one half of one percent and to eliminate COLAs under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for current and future retirees."
In addition to these retirement cuts, the administration also has proposed freezing federal pay next year. Employees suffered a three-year freeze on basic pay rates under the Obama administration. With next year's planned freeze, federal employees would have been hit with $246 billion in cuts to wages and benefits, complained J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which released Pon's letter after getting it from a congressional source.
More at: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Trump-thanks-federal-employees-with-143-5-12898408.php
Saying he wants "to bring Federal benefits more in line with the private sector," Pon proposed:
Eliminating supplements for Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) annuitants who retire before being eligible for Social Security benefits.
Reducing federal pensions by basing them on workers' basic pay five-year averages instead of three years.
Increasing employee retirement contributions with no increase in benefits. The plan would sharply boost the 0.8 percent of basic pay most FERS employees contribute. The letter makes the impact on federal retirees clear. "Under this proposal, FERS employee deduction rates will increase by 1 percent per year until they reach 7.25 percent of basic pay. . . This proposal would require FERS employees to fund a greater portion of their retirement benefit."
Reducing or eliminating retirement cost-of-living adjustments. The administration plans "to reduce the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by one half of one percent and to eliminate COLAs under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for current and future retirees."
In addition to these retirement cuts, the administration also has proposed freezing federal pay next year. Employees suffered a three-year freeze on basic pay rates under the Obama administration. With next year's planned freeze, federal employees would have been hit with $246 billion in cuts to wages and benefits, complained J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which released Pon's letter after getting it from a congressional source.
More at: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Trump-thanks-federal-employees-with-143-5-12898408.php