House Budget Committee Whittles Down Benefits Cuts, But Cuts Remain

On Sunday night, the House Budget Committee pieced together a budget reconciliation bill that the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on by the end of the week. The committee approved the bill by a one-vote, party-line majority (17-16), with four Republican members voting present.

The Budget Committee removed the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s language to increase the FERS contributions of employees hired prior to 2014 to 4.4% of salary, and delayed both the change in the CSRS and FERS calculation formula from the high-3 to the high-5 and the termination of the FERS annuity supplement until January 2028. In addition, there remains a provision that, according to committee staff, would require newly promoted or hired postal EAS employees and most federal workers to be either an “at-will” employee or be forced to pay an additional 5% FERS contribution. NAPS has sought clarification from the committee about the applicability of this provision to USPS employees.

Well over 1,000 NAPS members have already written emails to their members of Congress objecting to the cuts. If you have not done so already, it’s still not too late to urge your representative to reject all benefit cuts to postal supervisors, managers and postmasters. To do so, click here.