Protect America's Heartbeat

ALERT – May 9 National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association

House Singles Out Federal Workers for $83 Billion More in Pay Cuts

On May 7, the House Budget Committee voted for a measure that would essentially impose a 5 percent payroll tax on federal employees – costing them $83 billion over ten years without any corresponding increase in retirement benefits. When you consider the other attacks on federal worker pay and benefits, it adds up to about a $75,000 sacrifice per federal employee.

The full House is expected to vote on the measure this Thursday – so it's not too late to speak out. America's federal workers make up less than 2 percent of the nation's workforce but are being asked to pay for 30 percent of the reductions in the House's budget plan. These unfair cuts single out federal workers for harmful, disparate treatment and do permanent harm to essential federal civil service.

Tell Congress: Stop singling out federal workers! Vote against severe pay cuts faced by our nation's federal workers. You can read the full text of the letter below.

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LETTER TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

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TO:
Your Representative

I am writing to urge you to oppose the proposed increases in federal employee retirement contributions made as part of the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012.

The proposal essentially imposes a 5 percent payroll tax on federal employees, which will cost them $83 billion over 10 years without any corresponding increase in retirement benefits. When you consider all the other cuts recently to federal workers, it adds up to about $75,000 per employee. The bill would also eliminate the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) supplemental payment for long-term employees intended to level the playing field for those employees not covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

Although federal employees make up less than 2 percent of the nation's workforce, this bill would take over 30 percent of an estimated $261 billion in spending reductions from their pockets.

Our nation's federal workers are already doing their part – President Obama has imposed a two-year pay freeze and proposed only a marginal pay raise for 2013, which together save about $88 billion. Additionally, in February, Congress passed H.R. 3630, which will force newly hired federal employees to pay 2.3 percent more towards retirement without any enhanced benefit, providing another $15 billion in savings. No other group of Americans has been asked to sacrifice in this way.

These actions undermine the federal government's ability to attract and retain the high level of skilled talent it needs to deal with the challenges facing us. Singling out federal employees for disparate treatment threatens to do permanent harm to a federal civil service critical to meeting the increasingly complex and deeply important tasks of government.

As your constituent I urge you to stop singling out federal employees for unfair cuts and vote against the severe federal employee pay cuts proposed pursuant to the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012. We Protect America's Heartbeat, and we should not be singled out unfairly to bear America's budget burden.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]

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