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is Monday
October 26th, 2009
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2009
NARFE Deplores Plan to Cut Earned Federal Civilian Retirement Annuities
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Margaret L. Baptiste denounced proposals made by House Republican leaders to reduce the retirement annuities of federal workers and require them to work longer to receive their full earned annuity.
The proposals, set forth in a policy agenda released on June 4 by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), recommend that the federal civilian annuity calculation be based on the highest five years of salary instead of the highest three years. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that “the average new Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retiree would receive about $1,250 less in 2008 and $6,530 less over five years than under current law.”
In addition, the Boehner/Cantor paper recommends that federal civilian employees not be afforded their earned annuity until they reach age 62, under any circumstance. Currently, employees can retire at age 55 if they have 30 or more years of service or at age 60 if they have 20 or more years of service. Federal public safety employees are required to retire by age 57, and air traffic controllers must retire by age 56.
“Not only would these proposals dishonor the government’s obligations to its workers, but it also makes public service a much harder sell to the highly talented and skilled individuals needed to take on the challenges of recovering from an unparalleled economic upheaval, fighting two wars and defending the homeland,” Baptiste said. “The federal government should serve as a model to other employers and should not be a part of the mindless race to the bottom, which has contributed to the growing number of employees without adequate retirement savings or health insurance.”
Baptiste concluded, “Federal workers and annuitants have dedicated their careers and continue to give so much for our nation and our ideals. NARFE urges the Congress not to demean their public service by reducing the retirement and health benefits that are rightfully theirs.”
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NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/ retiree organization, NARFE represents the retirement interests of nearly 5 million current and future federal annuitants, spouses, and survivors
