Washington Watch
NARFE’s Legislative Accomplishments: 116th Congress (2019-2020) Review
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ARFE’s advocacy efforts during the 116th Congress (2019-2020) helped defeat threats to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from earned federal benefits,
improve federal pay rates, enhance employee benefits, protect the integrity of agency functions and more. These victories were possible thanks to the combined efforts of NARFE’s members, leaders and staff working together to maximize our impact. Below are highlights of NARFE’s legislative accomplishments during the 116th Congress. PREVENTING CUTS TO EARNED PAY AND BENEFITS • NARFE defeated proposals in the president’s budgets for more than $177 billion in cuts (over 10 years) to earned federal retirement benefits. The proposed cuts included eliminating or reducing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for all current and future retirees. • Thanks to the hard work of NARFE and its members over the years, these proposals never received serious consideration during budget negotiations, even as Congress raised sequestration-level spending caps on agency budgets.
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NARFE MAGAZINE MARCH 2021
BLOCKING THE OPM REORGANIZATION PLAN • NARFE prevented the Trump administration’s efforts to reorganize the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a move that had the potential to subject the civil service to political influence and undermine OPM’s ability to carry out the vital programs—retirement services, health care and insurance—on which federal employees and retirees rely. • NARFE President Ken Thomas testified before Congress, voicing concern over the consequences of the reorganization plan, and
helped lay the groundwork for congressional action in opposition to the proposal. • In December 2019, legislation signed into law stopped the reorganization plan from advancing at least until after a yearlong study detailing the challenges facing OPM and recommending solutions. SECURING PAY RAISES FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES IN 2019, 2020 AND 2021 • NARFE helped prevent the administration’s proposed federal pay freeze in 2019, secure a market-based pay increase in 2020 and block a Senate attempt to freeze pay in 2021. • In 2019, Congress approved a 1.9 percent average federal pay raise—a 1.4 percent raise across-the-board and an average 0.5 percent locality pay increase—which the president signed into law. This was the first time since 2010 that Congress passed a pay raise into law through the appropriations process rather than
