Moran Letter to Defense Authorization Conference Committee:
Preserve House-Passed Federal Employee Provisions

Washington, D.C., September 10th – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, led an effort backed by the Washington Metropolitan Congressional Delegation requesting that House conferees participating in negotiations regarding the FY ’10 Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 2647) fight to retain the federal employee provisions that were in included in the House-passed bill. These provisions mirror legislation introduced by Congressman Moran and were included at his request.

“We’ve been working for a number of years to enact these commonsense federal employee reforms,” said Moran. “The House-passed Defense Authorization bill provides our best opportunity yet to bring needed incentives that will increase worker productivity and help recruit and retain the best and the brightest back to the federal civil service. I look forward to working with my colleagues to see that these provisions survive the House-Senate conference committee process.”

Letter cosigners include: Reps. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), John P. Sarbanes (D-MD), Donna F. Edwards (D-MD), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA).

Key excerpts from the letter include:

“These provisions are intended to remedy historic inequalities in retirement benefits for federal employees and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal workforce. 

“...the House has adopted these provisions twice, as they were initially part of the Federal Retirement Reform Act.  Unfortunately, they were not included in the Senate-passed version of the Defense bill.

“Currently there are more than 700,000 civilians employed in critical positions worldwide by the Department of Defense.  These civilians work closely, in some cases side-by-side, with our brave men and women in uniform.  Because of their importance to the overall strength of our armed forces, we believe it is critical to preserve these benefit provisions in the conference report.” 

The letter specifically request House conferees to preserve the following provisions:
 
• Provide annuity credit for unused sick leave for FERS employees;
• Change the computation of certain annuities based on part-time service;
• Expand the class of individuals eligible to receive an actuarially reduced annuity under CSRS;
• Authorize the re-deposit of retirement funds under the FERS system;
• Change the retirement credit for service of certain employees transferred from D.C. civil service to the federal service;
• Alter the retirement treatment of secret service employees; and
• Phase in the use of locality-based pay to replace cost-of-living adjustments for certain federal employees. 

The letter, as written, is as follows:

September 9, 2009

The Honorable Ike Skelton   The Honorable Howard P. “Buck” McKeon
Chairman Ranking Member
House Armed Services Committee House Armed Services Committee
2120 RHOB 2120 RHOB
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Edolphus Towns  The Honorable Darrell Issa
Chairman     Ranking Member
Oversight and Government Reform  Oversight and Government Reform
2154 RHOB     B350A RHOB
Washington, DC 20515   Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Skelton, Ranking Member McKeon, Chairman Towns, and Ranking Member Issa:

We urge you to preserve several important federal employee and retiree provisions through conference negotiations for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010.

As Members of Congress representing federal employees here in the National Capital Region, we strongly supported the inclusion of these benefits as part of the Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act of 2009 (H.R. 2990), which passed under suspension of the rules on the House floor, and was engrossed into the House-passed version of the NDAA.  These provisions are intended to remedy historic inequalities in retirement benefits for federal employees and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal workforce.  In fact, the House has adopted these provisions twice, as they were initially part of the Federal Retirement Reform Act.  Unfortunately, they were not included in the Senate-passed version of the NDAA.

Specifically, we ask you to preserve provisions that would: 1) provide annuity credit for unused sick leave for federal employees; 2) change the computation of certain annuities based on part-time service; 3) expand the class of individuals eligible to receive an actuarially reduced annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS); 4) authorize the re-deposit of retirement funds under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS); 5) change the retirement credit for service of certain employees transferred from the District of Columbia service to the federal service; 6) alter the retirement treatment of secret service employees; and 7) phase in the use of locality-based comparability payments to replace cost-of-living adjustments for certain federal employees; while also retaining the language from the Senate bill allowing for the re-employment of federal retirees on a limited, part-time basis without offsetting their annuity from salary. 

All of these provisions address key issues of fundamental fairness and efficiency for federal employees within the Department of Defense.  Currently there are more than 700,000 civilians employed in critical positions worldwide by the Department of Defense.  These civilians work closely, in some cases side-by-side, with our brave men and women in uniform.  Because of their importance to the overall strength of our armed forces, we believe it is critical to preserve these benefit provisions in the conference report.  We look forward to working with you and your respective Committees throughout this process.

Respectfully,

James P. Moran
Frank Wolf
Chris Van Hollen 
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Elijah E. Cummings
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
John P. Sarbanes
Donna F. Edwards
Gerald E. Connolly 

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