Federal employees don’t like the idea, but they could see the way their pensions are calculated change from an average of the highest-paid three years to an average of the highest-paid five years.
That’s the proposal from Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, who has introduced H.R. 1230, legislation that would make the change beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
According to calculations made by the Congressional Budget Office, the change would result in savings of $3.1 billion over 10 years.
Not just federal civil service employees but members of Congress and their staffs also would be covered by the new legislation. It does not, however, apply to members of the military.
“This bill would simply change the formula for determining pension benefits for civilian federal employees from the best-earning three years to the best-earning five years of service. The bill ensures that the program employees of the federal government have paid into for their careers is available in retirement and sustainable for future generations,” Westerman said in a statement.
“We strongly oppose Rep. Westerman’s bill,” J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement.
“Federal employees already have lost $159 billion in earnings due to pay freezes, pension cuts, and similar maneuvers that made them the scapegoat for an economic downturn they had no part in creating. Federal employees are working-class people just like most other Americans, and singling them out for more pain and sacrifice is just plain wrong.”
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