Q. I could be the only VA employee who lives in one of a handful of towns in the southern tip of Maine that are grouped in with the high locality pay percent (24.8 percent) of Boston et al.: Boston-Worcester-Manchester, Mass.-N.H. Combined Statistical Area, plus the Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, R.I.-Mass. Metropolitan Statistical Area, Barnstable County, Mass., and Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, South Berwick and York towns in York County, Maine; but I’m not paid at that rate! Nevertheless, I am one of the statistics used to determine the justification for the higher rate, i.e., federal employees that commute from one of…
Browsing: Congress
Q: I read your recent article, “Dispelling the myth of an above-the-law Congress.” Another “myth” circulating is that years ago, members of Congress exempted themselves from paying income tax on their congressional salary. True or false? A: False.
Q: I read your earlier article about Congress, and it cleared up some misconceptions, which I appreciated. However, stating that members of Congress can’t retire at the same level of pay after only one term wasn’t really the big question. What the American public is upset about is that they can retire at any level after only one term when people in the military, the federal government and the private sector have to work 20 to 30 years to earn a modest pension. This was not explained in your answer. They can still retire after only one term. It is…
Q: My daughter turned 22 in March, so her insurance on my policy through the Defense Department (Blue Cross) expired. Since the new health care reform bill extends coverage to age 26, but does not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2011, how does that affect her? Can she be reinstated on Jan. 1st to our current health insurance coverage as she previously was? A: During the interim, she would be able to enroll as an individual under the Temporary Continuation of Coverage provision, for which she would pay 100 percent of the monthly premiums plus 2 percent for administrative…
Q: What is the status of the legislation regarding doing away with the significant penalty the federal government retirees incur when becoming eligible to draw, if any, Social Security benefits? A: I assume that you are asking about the windfall elimination provision, which reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone receiving an annuity — in whole or part — from a retirement system where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes and has fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings covered by Social Security. The short answer is that bills to modify or repeal that provision have stalled in both houses…
Q: I have 12 years of legislative work experience working for Congress and 10 years of administration work experience, and I’m in the Federal Employees Retirement System. For the FERS retirement formula, is it high-3 X 1.7% X 12, and then high-3 X 1% X 10? Are my 12 years of legislative experience treated with a different rate multiplier than administrative years? A: Yes, your time as a Hill staffer will be computed using the 0.017 multiplier; all additional years of service will be multiplied by 0.01.
Q: I have 12 years of legislative work experience (working for Congress) and 10 years of administration work experience. I’m in Federal Employees Retirement System. My question is, for FERS retirement formula, is it high 3 X 1.7% X 12 and then high 3 X 1.0% X 10? Are my 12 years of legislative experience treated with a different rate multiplier than administrative years? A: Yes, your time as a Hill staffer will be computed using the 0.017 multiplier; all additional years of service will be multiplied by 0.01.
Q: My son has recently been dropped from my health care because he reached the age of 22. I have heard that there might be an extension of health benefits for dependents. Has there been any decision on this? Also, are there any provisions of adding dependents after the open health benefits period, which is approaching. A: Extending the age at which dependents may be covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits program would require a change in the law. Although such a change was proposed by the previous Office of Personnel Management director, Congress has so far has taken…