This report provides an update on issues affecting federal managers. As always, I encourage you to visit www.fedmanagers.org on a regular basis for more information on these and other matters.

Also, be sure to look for the monthly FMA Grassroots Update, where we offer links to action letters and FMA-PAC matters we do not address in the Washington Report. The grassroots newsletter is sent exclusively to non-governmental email addresses to avoid any Hatch Act violations. If you are not receiving it, contact the national office to provide your non-governmental email address.

Please feel free to provide feedback any time by emailing Greg Stanford at gstanford@fedmanagers.org or by calling the National Office at (703) 683-8700. Thank you for your membership in FMA. It’s an honor to represent your interests before Congress and the administration.

When Congress returns from the August recess, it will have 11 legislative days prior to the end of Fiscal Year 2023 with which to pass the 12 appropriations bills to fund the new fiscal year. Given the unlikelihood of that scenario, it was not surprising to learn leaders in both the House and Senate are working toward a continuing resolution (CR), potentially through December 2023, to give them more time to pass FY24 funding bills.

“A CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills. We urge our House colleagues to emulate the Senate,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “The only way we're going to avoid a government shutdown is by bipartisan support in both Houses.” At present, the full Senate has not passed any appropriations measures, while the House has passed one – funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

If Congress is unable to reach a deal on all appropriations bills by January 1, 2024, all agencies would automatically receive a 1 percent across-the-board cut, thanks to a provision included in the debt ceiling deal earlier this summer.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 2670) on July 14, by a vote of 219-210. Separately, the Senate passed its version (S. 2226) on July 27 by a much more bipartisan vote of 86-11. Conferees from both chambers must meet to iron out differences between the two bills.

The NDAA typically passes with a strong bipartisan vote each year. Even H.R. 2670 passed out of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in June by a vote of 58-1. The House adopted a number of amendments on the House floor related to abortion, transgender health care and diversity and inclusion that eroded support from House Democrats.

H.R. 2670 authorizes $886 billion for defense programs and maintains the 5.2 percent pay raise, as passed out of HASC. The contentious debate and votes on the full House floor likely offer a glimpse of what is to come when House and Senate conferees meet when Congress returns to Washington, D.C., after Labor Day.

On August 8, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced legislation aimed at reducing federal employee pay compression. Addressing the pay cap and salary compression is an FMA issue brief, and FMA has endorsed the bill, alongside the National Treasury Employees Union and NARFE. The Federal Employee Pay Compression Relief Act (H.R. 5171) has three cosponsors and was referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee as well as the House Armed Services Committee.

In a statement upon introduction, Congresswoman Norton wrote the bill “would allow federal employees who reach the pay cap in their pay system to receive the base and locality pay adjustments they would otherwise be entitled to. Currently, federal employees who reach the pay cap do not receive such adjustments.”

While this issue has long impacted cities with high costs of living, such as San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York, an increasing number of localities are now impacted, and the issue gets worse every year. In 2022, Government Executive found there were “18 different locality pay areas where multiple steps within the GS-15 pay grade had reached the federal pay cap.” This is a recruitment and retention issue, and FMA will continue to work with Rep. Norton and others on the bill.

On June 21, 2023, Richard Neal (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act of 2023 (H.R. 4260). The goal of the legislation, endorsed by FMA, is to amend the Social Security Act, specifically the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

The goal of the WEP is to regulate the benefits received by Social Security beneficiaries who may have spent time working in the private sector, and not fully contributed to Social Security. The reasoning behind this is that the goal of Social Security is only intended to be a partial portion of a beneficiary’s initial salary. The result, however, is that those under the WEP only receive $150 a month in relief, which has the potential to provide inadequate provisions for many recipients.

Congressman Neal’s office states, “Originally, the WEP was intended to equalize the Social Security benefit formula for workers with similar earnings histories, both inside and outside of the Social Security system. However, in practice, it unfairly penalizes many public employees.” This is the grounds on which he has proposed his new legislation to amend the WEP.

On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a federal real property report titled, “Preliminary Results Show Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized Due to Longstanding Challenges and Increased Telework,” which included preliminary findings on the rate of utilization of federal agency buildings. You can view the report here. GAO conducted this report after recognizing that “the federal government has a unique opportunity to reconsider how much and what type of office space it needs.”

The GAO introduces their findings early in the report, stating that 17 of the 24 agencies involved in the study use, on average, 25% or less of their headquarters capacity at any one time, and the highest percentage of utilization in the report was 49%. The report describes utilization as “a ratio of a building’s capacity and the extent to which an agency uses that capacity.” The report also outlines the yearly costs associated with these office buildings, including about $2 billion a year on operations and maintenance, and $5 billion a year on building leases.

In March, OPM launched a Retirement Quick Guide that shares what feds can expect through the retirement application process, how benefits are determined, and guidelines related to their interim and annuity payments. You can also view a three-page printable PDF version of the quick guide here: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/retirement-quick-guide/opm-retirement-quick-guide.pdf.

Lori Amos, Deputy Associate Director for OPM’s Retirement Services, recently commented on the progress made in 2023 on reducing the total number of outstanding retirement claims and new tools OPM has for prospective retirees. “This guide is our attempt to improve customer experience. We have put a lot of work, time, and effort based on feedback that we have received from our retiree community. Our goal is to be able to give [federal employees and retirees] information about the voluntary retirement process.”