Moran, Wolf & Connolly Introduce Federal Employee FERS Redeposit Legislation

Washington, D.C., February 3rd – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, today joined with fellow Virginia Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to reintroduce his legislation, the "FERS Redeposit Act" which gives individuals who, upon their return to civil service from the private sector, the ability to reinvest their full federal retirement annuity without losing credit for previous years of service.

"This legislation is about enticing experienced federal employees to return to government service at a time when our nation needs its best and brightest the most,” said Moran.  “Our bill was developed in response to the coming ‘brain drain’ – the fact that in eight years, 90 percent of civil service federal executives will be over the age of 50 and nearing retirement. This 'brain drain' is a grave threat to our well-functioning federal workforce.”

Under the current system, individuals who leave the federal government and either cash out their annuity or roll it into a private savings account cannot redeposit those funds if and when they return to government service. This means that for purposes of determining their annuity benefit, they have lost their credit for previous years of service and are considered to be at year one when returning to the government after time in the private sector.

“This is a commonsense bill that ensures that experienced professionals are not penalized for reentering government service after working in the private, non-profit, or academic sector,” explained Congressman Wolf.  “I am pleased to once again cosponsor this bill and hope for quick passage to support a high quality federal workforce.”

Enactment of the "FERS Redeposit Act" would allow former civil servants who decide to re-enter the government workforce after a stint in the private sector the ability to redeposit the full amount plus interest of the annuity they cashed out or rolled over and to retain their years of service in the calculation of future annuity payments. 

“This legislation will insure that the federal government will continue to have a vibrant, professional workforce in the future by giving former federal employees an impetus to return to federal service,” stated Congressman Connolly. “This legislation would provide appropriate and fair incentives for private sector workers to return to federal employment. Our government agencies are only as good as their employees and this legislation would help maintain the quality of our federal workforce.”

Currently this "redeposit" benefit is available to federal employees enrolled in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which applies only to civil servants who began working prior to 1984.  Federal Employees under the current FERS retirement system lack a parallel benefit.          

John Gage, President of AFGE stated, "AFGE supports the FERS Redeposit Act because it takes us a step closer to eliminating the remaining inequities between the two main federal retirement systems by giving those in the Federal Employees Retirement (FERS) a benefit long available to federal employees in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).  We look forward to the next step toward retirement equity, the introduction of legislation that will equalize the treatment of unused sick leave between CSRS and FERS."

Darryl Perkinson, FMA National President remarked, “We are in the midst of a human capital crisis, exacerbated by the fact that sixty percent of all federal managers and supervisors – roughly 100,000 workers – and more than half of the current federal workforce – about 900,000 employees – will be eligible for regular or early retirement in the next few years. FMA believes there must be a proper mix of managers, rank-and-file employees and senior executives that will fulfill each agency’s mission. As the baby boomers start to flee government, we need to take every effort to ensure their expertise will not be lost with them. We at FMA support Congressman Moran’s legislation which could fill mission-critical positions with those who already have a working knowledge of our government.”

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