One northern Virginia lawmaker wants federal employees’
pension programs to have parity in how annual cost of living adjustments are
applied, ending more than 30 years of what he described as an “unfair system.”
On Tuesday, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., introduced the Equal COLA Act, a bill that would
ensure that enrollees in the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal
Employees Retirement System receive equal cost of living adjustments to their
annuities each year.
Under current rules, which date back
to 1986, the CSRS methodology for calculating cost of living adjustments is
tied to the change in the consumer price index. But FERS COLAs are extrapolated
from the CSRS adjustment: if the CSRS sees a COLA under 2 percent, FERS
retirees receive the full COLA. If the adjustment is between 2 and 3 percent,
FERS enrollees would only receive a 2 percent increase. And if the CSRS COLA is
3 percent or more, FERS retirees would receive that adjustment, minus 1
percentage point.
Connolly’s bill would ensure that
FERS cost of living adjustments are calculated in the same way as CSRS COLAs
each year, so that retirees in each program see the same increase in their
annuities.
“Over time, we now realize that this
two-tiered system fails to protect FERS retirees who are living on a fixed
income,” Connolly said in a statement. “This legislation will rectify this
unfair system and ensure these dedicated public servants are protected
throughout their retirement.”
The bill has the support of unions
and federal employee associations, including the National Active and Retired
Federal Employees Association, American Federation of Government Employees,
National Federation of Federal Employees, the Federal Managers Association and
the Senior Executives Association.
In a statement, NARFE National
President Ken Thomas urged Congress to approve the legislation in time for
2019. Next year, while CSRS retirees will see a 2.9 percent cost of living
adjustment, FERS retirees will only receive an additional 2 percent.
“Nearly 800,000 FERS retirees are
wondering why they are only receiving a 2-percent COLA when consumer prices
increased by 2.8 percent,” Thomas said. “[Without] adequate COLAs, FERS
retirees will see inflation erode the value of their earned retirement income
year after year; yet, that is exactly what COLAs are designed to prevent.
Federal retirees are not asking to be made better off than they were last year.
We just want to maintain the value of what we have rightfully earned through
careers of service.”
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