FMA Legislative Accomplishments

110th Congress

As a member of the oldest and largest association representing managers and supervisors in the federal government, one of the most important benefits you receive is advocacy. FMA strives to bring issues that are important to you and to the enhancement of public service to the forefront of Congress and the Administration. As the 110th Congress comes to a close, the following are FMA’s major accomplishments over the past two years.

INVESTING IN THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE

PAY RAISES AWARDED TOTALING 7.4%, PAY PARITY ACHIEVED

In fiscal year 2007, Congress approved a 3.5 percent average annual pay raise for federal civilian employees with the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008.The Presidentsigned the measure into law (P.L. 110-161) and issued an Executive Order outlining the distribution of the pay raise to federal employees effective January 1, 2008. The raise was equal to that awarded to military personnel.

In fiscal year 2008, the President signed into law a 3.9 percent pay raise for federal employees in 2009. The raise was at parity with members of the Armed Forces and part of the long-term continuing resolution (CR), P.L. 110-329. Combined with the 3.5 percent pay raise achieved for 2008, this is over two percent more than employees received in 2006 and 2007.

Under President Bush’s Budget for the United States for Fiscal Year 2008, he initially proposed a 3 percent pay raise for both the military and civilian workforce. This marked only the second time in his Administration that the President proposed the same pay increase for the military and civilian personnel. Despite opposition to a 3.5 percent raise for federal employees and members of the Armed Services, the President ultimately heeded to the will of Congress. However, in his FY09 budget, the President proposed a 3.4 percent pay raise for the military and 2.9 percent for the civil service, indicating once again that the contributions of our military personnel are to be honored more than those of the civilian workforce. However, Congress continued to stand by over 20 years of legislative precedent and supported an equal pay raise for both groups.

FMA National President Darryl Perkinson said of the recent success, “We are very pleased that Congress has continued to establish pay parity for the entire federal workforce. It is critical that our leaders acknowledge that civil servants, like their military counterparts, are committed to providing the American public with the highest level of service and are devoted to advancing our nation’s interests. Investing in our government’s human capital is essential as we face the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

SENATE EXTENDS LOCALITY PAY TO ALL EMPLOYEES

Prior to adjourning for the November elections in the fall of 2008, the Senate passed S. 3013 by unanimous consent, legislation which would extend locality pay to employees in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. Federal employees in these areas do not receive the locality pay adjustment the rest of the civil service enjoys; instead, they receive a tax-free cost of living allowance (COLA). However, the COLA does not count towards basic pay for retirement purposes.

Sponsored by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-Haw.), Ted Stevens (R-Ak.), Daniel Inouye (D-Haw.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.), S. 3013 addresses the retirement inequity of federal workers in Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. Territories by phasing out the non-foreign cost of living allowances and phasing in locality pay over a period of three years, combined with an annuity buy-in aimed at stabilizing the current retirement eligible workforce. The legislation also advises a 35 percent offset to COLA to protect the pay of all federal employees as they transition to locality pay.

In testimony presented in May 2008 before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Oversight, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, FMA stated, “High locality pay in the continental 48 states lures managers, high-level technicians, and engineers to leave Hawaii and Alaska to seek higher pay and an increased annuity towards the end of their careers. With the Los Angeles area offering a 25.26 percent locality adjustment and the San Francisco area offering 32.53 percent, it is easy to see why employees nearing the end of their careers would be looking to complete their final three years in these cities. Specific data to document this migration is hard to come by, but the stories are endless.”

FMA National President Darryl Perkinson commented, “COLA served its purpose half a century ago. It is now outdated and acts as a barrier to federal employment." Perkinson went on to say, "By acting now and implementing this market-oriented approach to determining local salaries, Congress can arm Hawaii and Alaska federal managers with one more tool to attract and retain today’s highly mobile and talented workforce. We at FMA are extremely disappointed that the House did not see fit to follow in the Senate's footsteps and consider this legislation.”

HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES PREMIUM CONVERSION LEGISLATION

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed legislation, H.R. 1110, introduced by Ranking Member Tom Davis (R-Va.), which would allow federal retirees to pay health care premiums out of pre-tax dollars, a process referred to as “premium conversion.” Under current law, active duty military and civilian employees pay for their Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) premiums with pre-tax dollars, but retirees do not enjoy the same benefit. Similar measures have been approved in previous sessions of Congress, but have yet to be fully enacted. Senator John Warner (R-Va.) introduced a similar measure in the Senate, S. 773.

“It is only fair and equitable that federal retirees receive the same benefits in their health care premium coverage that are afforded to active duty military and civilian personnel,” said FMA National President Darryl Perkinson. “It is now up to the 111th Congress to push this legislation forward. FMA is determined to extend these benefits to retirees and we will continue to press this issue until it is enacted into law.”

FEDERAL WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

HOUSE PASSES SICK LEAVE CREDIT FOR FERS EMPLOYEES

In July, the House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1108, which would have provided civil servants under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) a credit for unused sick leave at the time of their retirement.

Since passage of the Federal Retirement Reform Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-335), all federal employees hired after December 31, 1983 are covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Unlike their Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) counterparts, FERS employees do not receive credit for unused sick leave as of their retirement date. Reports of sick leave abuse are widespread, and this continues to be a growing problem for managers striving to bring the best out of their employees.

Under H.R. 1108, FERS employees would receive all of their accrued sick leave added to their retirement annuity, just like their CSRS equivalents. As a means of phasing in the program, those who retire within the first three years after enactment into law would receive 75 percent of their accrued sick leave.

FMA members first began to express a desire for a remedy to the inequity in the two retirement systems in late 2005, and we are extremely pleased the measure saw House passage. While the Senate did not take action on the bill, we are optimistic both chambers will consider the legislation early in the 111th Congress.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES MANAGERIAL TRAINING LEGISLATION

FMA has long served as a proponent of enhanced supervisory training for federal managers. In response to our calls for a more comprehensive training system, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Haw.) introduced the Federal Supervisor Training Act, S. 967, requiring agencies to provide interactive instructor-based training on management topics ranging from mentorship and career development to hostile work environments and poor performers. The legislation was subsequently approved by the SenateHomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in June 2007 and would require supervisors to receive ongoing training once every three years following initial supervisory training mandated within one year of promotion. In addition, the measure includes an accountability provision to establish competency standards to ensure the training and its intent is effective.

According to the Committee report on the legislation, “The quality of employee supervision has a profound effect on the success of federal agencies. Numerous studies show that there is a strong relationship between effective supervision and high performance of individual work groups and that supervisory management is an important determinant of performance for federal agencies overall.”

" For managers and supervisors in the federal government, training is critical," Senator Akaka said.  "Training programs improve communication, reduce conflict, and cultivate more efficiency in the federal workforce.  S. 967 will help to ensure that federal managers have the necessary skills to manage while meeting agency missions.  Because supervisory training is not mandatory or uniform across the federal government, agency resources often determine availability rather than need.  The training provided is often inconsistent.  Meaningful training matters and it should not be left to the discretion of agencies."

ADVOCACY BEFORE CONGRESS*

FMA TESTIFIES ON BACKLOG OF DISABILITY CASES AT SSA

FMA presented oral testimony twice over the past two years concerning inadequate levels of funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Both of the testimonials provided by FMA were delivered to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security and pertained to the backlog of disability cases in SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). FMA also submitted four additional statements for the record on the issue to both the House and Senate.

On February 14, 2007, FMAChapter 275 President James Fell addressed the Subcommittee with his concerns that the amount of funding appropriated under the continuing resolution for fiscal year 2008, which fell far below the amount requested by President Bush, would impede SSA’s agenda and significantly impact the backlog of hearing cases in ODAR. In addition to outlining the disastrous effect inadequate funding has on the unprecedented backlog, Fell pressed the Subcommittee to provide funding at the President’s requested level to begin the process of reducing the backlog by increasing available staff.

Fell began his opening statement by detailing the current problem at the SSA Office of Disability Adjudication and Review,“In the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, however, there currently exists a backlog of over 717,000 requests for a hearing. It now takes an average of 500 work days to process a typical request for hearing and these delays tarnish SSA’s otherwise strong record of service to the American public. At the beginning of 2002, SSA had 468,262 pending hearing requests. In five years, that number increased to over 717,000, despite the fact that dispositions are at record levels. Unless something is done to reverse this trend, the backlog could realistically reach one million by 2010.”

While the Subcommittee was sympathetic to the plight of the Social Security Administration and SSA saw an increase in funds for FY08, FMA was once again back before the Subcommittee a year and a half later with the same concerns. On September 16, 2008, FMAChapter 275 Principle Executive Officer Kathy Meinhardt presented testimony before the Subcommittee, offering her experiences with inadequate staffing levels as the Hearing Office Director for the Minneapolis, Minnesota ODAR office. Once again facing the prospect of a continuing resolution, Meinhardt pressed the need to act and increase funding in order to stem the flood of hearings cases plaguing the agency.

Meinhardt explained the severity of the predicament, telling the Subcommittee, “ODAR began fiscal year 2008 with 438,498 pending cases awaiting preparation for a hearing. In all likelihood, those cases will realistically wait at least one year before any action is even initiated to prepare the cases for review and hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge.In August, processing times across the nation ranged from a low of 389 days in the Boston region to a high of 712 days in the Chicago region.The American public deserves better service.”

At the close of FY08, the backlog reached an unacceptable 760,800 number of disability cases pending. Undoubtedly, the CR in effect for the first six months of FY09 will further exacerbate this problem. In order to stem this growing problem, Congress must approve a level of funding which allows the agency to hire the staff necessary to work on the incoming cases.

FMA PARTICIPATES AT HEARING ON EXTENDING LOCALITY PAY TO ALL FEDS

On May 29, 2008, the Federal Managers Association presented testimony on various proposals to phase in locality pay in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Territories, including its own proposition, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. FMA also submitted written testimony to the House on the same subject in June. FMA’s proposal caught the attention of Congress and the Administration, both of whom are favorable to a transition, but methods on how to achieve it differ. FMA expressed the need to expedite any transition in order to face growing recruitment and retention issues.

Since 1948, federal employees outside of the contiguous U.S. have received a non-foreign cost of living allowance (COLA) to ensure that their pay reflects the high cost of living in these areas. In Hawaii, this non-taxable payment can be up to 25 percent of an employee’s basic pay; however, COLA is not credited towards an employee’s retirement annuity. Since the passage of the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) in 1990, there has been much discussion and consternation that employees in Hawaii and Alaska have not been included in the locality pay pool authorized by FEPCA.

FMA Chapter 187 President Michael Fitzgerald, a Utilities Supervisor at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) in Hawaii, provided testimony on behalf of FMA. Confronted with the ill effects of the policy on his agency’s mission, FitzGerald presented the perspective of many managers and supervisors confronted with this issue. “Since 1948, federal employees outside of the contiguous U.S. have received a non-foreign cost of living allowance to ensure that their pay reflects the high cost of living in these areas,” FitzGerald said. “At the time, COLA was offered to employees to address growing recruitment and retention problems. Today, however, we are faced with a much different population and a situation where a COLA no longer makes sense.”

Just before Congress adjourned for the November elections, the Senate passed legislation, S. 3013, which would extend locality pay to employees in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Territories. Unfortunately, the bill was not considered by the House of Representatives.

FMA INSTRUMENTAL IN OBTAINING INCREASED FUNDING FOR SSA IN FY08

In the ten years prior to fiscal year 2008, Congress appropriated nearly $1.3 billion less in funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) than the President requested. Without a doubt, this has had a devastating effect on the services provided to the American public, as evidenced by the unprecedented backlog of disability cases the agency faces. In FY08, FMA pressure contributed significantly to an SSA increase of $150 million above the President’s budget request for administrative expenses, allowing the agency to hire an additional 189 Administrative Law Judges and supplementary support staff to tackle the backlog in the SSA Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR).

In his FY08 budget request, the President proposed $9.6 billion for SSA Limitation on Administrative Expenses. While this is an increase from his FY07 proposal, and far greater than Congress appropriated for FY07, it still fell short of the SSA Commissioner’s request and would have prevented the agency from meeting its backlog challenges. Heeding FMA’s calls for greater funding, the House approved an additional $100 million for SSA administrative expenses and the Senate Appropriations Committee took the measure one step further and allocated $125 million above the budget request. The additional $150 million which was included as an amendment during Senate consideration of the bill will enable ODAR to dramatically reduce the backlog over the next five years.

In February 2007, FMA presented testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security to provide recommendations for combating the backlog, namely in the form of increased funding. FMA retained its focus on the issue following the hearing with subsequent testimonies and statements for the record.

“We are the men and women who work with disabled Americans everyday,” FMAChapter 275 President James Fell said during the testimony presented in February 2007. “We see people of all ages come in and out of our offices seeking the services they depend on from the Social Security Administration. We are committed to serving a community of Americans in need, but we need you to provide us the resources necessary to help them.”

FMA SUBMITS WRITTEN TESTIMONY ON PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE SYSTEMS

As the government continues to expand on the use of pay-for-performance systems, FMA remains vigilant in ensuring such systems continue to supply employees with equitable pay and benefits befitting of the service they provide the American public. To this end, FMA submitted testimony for the record on July 22, 2008, discussing implementation of pay-for-performance systems at the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Presented to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, FMA’s comments centered on the mixed views that continue to plague pay-for-performance in general and the IRS and DOD systems in particular.

“The face of America’s workforce is changing,” FMA informed the Subcommittee in the testimony. “Once attractive for employing the most talented members of the workforce, by today’s standards, the federal civil service system is unreflective of the expectations of new job seekers. As those who are responsible for the implementation of new personnel programs, it is our stance that changes need to take place.”

While the motivation behind the transition to pay-for-performance systems may be admirable, FMA continued, several issues of concern to the Association’s members continue to arise in the process of implementation. In DOD’s National Security Personnel System (NSPS), concerns center on inadequate training, the cumbersome nature of the evaluation process and the potential negative impact on pay, including the effect on retirement. In the IRS system, managers find that they often receive the same pay as those they supervise since managers and their employees work under separate pay systems and pay bands. IRS managers have also found that they are required to cap the amount of high ratings they bestow upon their employees. Such an arbitrary cap contradicts the essence of pay-for-performance, as employees do not necessarily receive the pay their efforts reflect if a manager has reached the quota for high performance ratings.

“There are many challenges ahead, but we at FMA cannot emphasize enough the need to take a cautious and deliberate path as employees continue to transition to new personnel systems,” FMA concluded. “We recommend continued collaboration with management and employee groups as well as independent review and auditing by the Government Accountability Office, with the oversight of Congress. Through these checks and balances, we are hopeful that a set of guiding principles will emerge to assist other agencies in their expected personnel reform efforts.”

FMA TESTIFIES BEFORE SENATE ON EXPANSION OF TELEWORK PROGRAMS

On June 12, 2007, FMA presented testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia calling for the expansion of teleworking opportunities in the federal government. FMA believes that telework has the potential to revolutionize federal agency operations and is a vital resource in meeting the challenges of retaining experienced professionals and enticing talented workers.

FMAChapter 375 member Tom Davison, a Human Resources Officer in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), presented the testimony before the Subcommittee. In his statement, Davison emphasized the many benefits provided through the advancement of teleworking opportunities. Telework is a valuable tool in the recruitment of top talent, Davison explained, and is vital in retaining a highly skilled workforce. Though allowing workers to telecommute entails greater trust, he continued, the end result is a more efficient and effective return to taxpayers.

“As managers and supervisors in the federal government,” Davison told the Subcommittee, “we at FMA are committed to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. Telework has the potential to revolutionize federal agency operations and is a vital resource in meeting the challenges of retaining experienced professionals and enticing talented employees. Creating a flexible and modern workforce to compete with the private sector demands innovative management techniques and supervisory training.”

In October 2008, S. 1000, a bill sponsored by Senator Ted Stevens (R-Ak.) which would consider employees to be telework-eligible unless deemed otherwise, passed the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The House also passed H.R. 4106 in June 2008, which would require agency heads to develop a policy allowing employees to telework.

FMA SUBMITS STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD ON REEMPLOYING ANNUITANTS

In the fall of 2007, Representative Tom Davis (R-Va.) introduced H.R. 3579, a bill to facilitate the temporary reemployment of federal annuitants. The bill was proposed as a possible stop-gap measure to help reduce the effects of the impending retirement wave. On May 21, 2008, FMA delivered a letter to leaders in the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce asking for their support of H.R. 3579. FMA also attached a statement for the record detailing the benefits the temporary reemployment of federal annuitants would have as agencies strive to achieve their missions and objectives in the face of a retirement tsunami. The letter and statement were in response to a hearing on the subject by the Subcommittee.

“As you are undoubtedly aware, the federal government is on the verge of what has been called a ‘retirement tsunami,’” FMA wrote. “The rate at which federal employees are retiring from the federal government is cause for concern. The Office of Personnel Management estimates that over 50,000 employees retire annually and that 60 percent of the government's 1.8 million workers will be eligible to retire over the next 10 years.”

FMA continued by explaining how the reemployment of annuitants strengthens the presence of institutional knowledge in government that would otherwise disappear as federal employees retire.

“We are encouraged that many baby boomers intend to continue to work at least part-time in retirement. The feature of H.R. 3579 that removes current annuity penalties to those who choose to work part-time will allow the best and brightest federal employees to continue to contribute by making part-time work a practical and feasible alternative. This will allow the baby boomer generation to pass the torch to the next generation of government leaders in an effective manner. Further, it enhances the abilities of these employees to continue to contribute.”

*To view copies of FMA testimony or public comments, please visit the Legislative Action Center page on our Web site.