New Bill Would Reinstitute Schedule F, Undermine Merit System

LEGISLATIVE RESOURCES

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On March 16, Rep. Jody Hice, R-GA, ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, introduced H.R. 7095, the Accountable Federal Employees Act. This legislation would codify several rescinded executive orders from the Trump administration, including the executive order creating a new, broad, excepted service category (Schedule F) that threatens the integrity of a professional, nonpartisan civil service.

The new Schedule F excepted service category would represent a broad exception to competitive civil service rules. It could convert tens of thousands of positions, or more, into something more akin to political appointments than career positions. Schedule F would apply to employees serving in positions determined to be confidential, or of a policydetermining or policy-making character. Broad interpretation of these terms could allow expansive application of the category. Individuals in such positions would no longer retain due

process protections that ensure merit-based firing. Reclassified positions would also be exempt from civil service rules ensuring that hirings are based on merit, not political connections or lack thereof.

NARFE supports a meritbased civil service where employees are hired and fired based on the quality of their work, not political affiliation. This practice has served our country well since the late 1800s. While this bill is unlikely to move forward during this Congress, NARFE opposes the bill and any efforts that jeopardize a merit-based civil service. Previously, NARFE urged lawmakers to rescind the harmful Schedule F executive order last Congress and was heartened when the current administration acted in its first days to do so; read the letter sent in November 2020 at https://www.narfe.org/ wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ NARFE20Letter20Schedule20F 20final-pdf.pdf.

H.R. 7095 would also codify previous executive orders that weakened collective bargaining agreements and reduced the use of union official time.

NARFE SUPPORTS A MERIT-BASED CIVIL SERVICE WHERE EMPLOYEES ARE HIRED AND FIRED BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THEIR WORK, NOT POLITICAL AFFILIATION.

Clarification on Maine and California’s income tax from the State Tax Treatment of Federal Annuities cover story in the April 2022 issue: Maine residents may deduct

—BY JOHN ROBERT AYERS, POLICY AND PROGRAMS ASSISTANT

$10,000 of eligible pension income, but that amount is reduced by all taxable and nontaxable Social Security and railroad retirement benefits received. If your total Social Security and railroad retirement benefits exceed $10,000, you do not qualify for the deduction. The Social Security and railroad retirement benefits reduction does not apply to military retirement pay. California’s personal exemption for residents 65+ is $129, not $122 as was listed.