Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
November 27, 2000, Monday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; Pg. B02; FEDERAL DIARY
LENGTH: 709 words
HEADLINE:
Raises on Track, But Other Efforts May Languish in Lame-Duck Session
BYLINE: Stephen Barr
BODY:
Advocates for a long-term care insurance program for federal
employees and retirees are among the big winners of the 106th Congress. The
approval of long-term care showed once again that timing can be everything when
it comes to Capitol Hill.
Near the end of July, Congress authorized the
Office of Personnel Management to establish the insurance program, just before
lawmakers departed for the political conventions and their traditional August
vacations. The House and Senate approved the bill within a remarkably short span
of 2 1/2 hours after a bipartisan group of lawmakers resolved a last-minute
glitch over two minor tax-related provisions. Lobbyists from the major insurance
companies, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees and the
National Treasury Employees Union helped rush the bill through before the
recess. If the long-term care legislation had not been approved in July, the new
benefit may be languishing on the sidelines as Republicans and Democrats wage
their last budget fights in the lame-duck session that starts next week.
Congress, for example, needs to finish work on two major appropriations
bills that finance operations at the departments of Commerce, Justice, State,
Labor, Education and Health and Human Services. It also will need to revive a
spending bill for Treasury Department and legislative branch operations that
President Clinton vetoed last month.
As a result, prospects for other
bills important to employees and retirees face long odds and may be held over
for reintroduction next year. They include:
* Efforts to revise the
government pension "offset" that applies to civil service
retirements and reduces spousal Social Security benefits. Critics say it hurts
low-income retirees, particularly widows. For the first time in many years, the
House Social Security subcommittee held a hearing on the issue, and even though
there are enough House sponsors to ensure approval--in theory, at least--the
measure appears bottled up in the subcommittee.
* House bills to
eliminate or modify the "windfall elimination provision," which reduces Social
Security benefits of retired federal employees. No hearings were held on the
bills.
* Bills to help certain part-time employees who lost retirement
annuities when a 1986 law changed retirement formulas, even though Congress
apparently intended to grant them immunity from the formula revision.
*
Efforts to ease "pay compression" at the top of the Senior Executive Service. A
House bill would raise the cap on SES pay and extend "locality pay" to
executives and the federal judiciary.
* A bill to provide federal,
judicial and congressional employees with a computer and Internet service at
home at no charge, similar to perks offered by some large companies.
*
Legislation aimed at tracking the costs and savings from contracting out
government work. The American Federation of Government Employees has made the
legislation one of its top priorities, but business groups strongly oppose the
measure.
Other bills, however, might win approval, particularly if they
can be attached to one of the spending bills or get cleared for quick voice
votes by party leaders.
They include an effort to raise the cap on
employee contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan and to raise overtime pay
rates for federal firefighters.
By all accounts, Congress and the White
House remain on track to give federal employees an average 3.7 percent pay raise
next year. A decision on how to distribute locality pay adjustments will
probably be made in the next week or two.
Health Insurance Forum
Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), in cooperation with the Maryland
chapters of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, will sponsor
two forums Nov. 29 to discuss federal employee and retiree health insurance
choices for 2001.
A morning session will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
at the National 4-H Center, 7100 Connecticut Ave. in Chevy Chase. The evening
session will run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
11545 Rockville Pike in Rockville. Free parking is available at both locations.
For more information, call 202-225-5341.
Stephen Barr's e-mail address
is barrs@washpost.com.
LOAD-DATE: November 27, 2000
