Katelin P. Isaacs
Analyst in Income
Security
Most civilian federal
employees who were hired before 1984 are covered by the Civil Service Retirement
System (CSRS). Federal employees hired in 1984 or later are covered by the
Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS). Both CSRS and FERS require
participants to contribute toward the cost of their pensions through a
payroll tax. Employees who are covered by CSRS contribute 7.0% of pay to
the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF). They do not pay
Social Security taxes or earn Social Security benefits. Employees enrolled in
FERS contribute 0.8% of their pay to the CSRDF. They pay 6.2% of wages up
to the Social Security taxable wage base to the Social Security trust fund
under permanent law. Under temporary law, they pay 4.2% of wages up to the
Social Security taxable wage base. The taxable wage base is $110,100 in
2012.
The minimum retirement age (MRA) under CSRS is 55 for workers who have at least
30 years of service. The FERS MRA was 55 for employees born before 1948.
The MRA for employees born between 1953 and 1964 is 56, increasing to the
age of 57 for those born in 1970 or later. Both FERS and CSRS allow
retirement with an unreduced pension at the age of 60 for employees with 20
or more years of service and at the age of 62 for employees with at least 5
years of service.
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings plan similar to the
401(k) plans provided by many employers in the private sector. In 2012,
employees covered under either CSRS or FERS can contribute up to $17,000
to the TSP. Employees aged 50 and older can contribute an additional
$5,500 to the TSP. Employees under FERS receive employer matching contributions
of up to 5% of pay from the federal agency by which they are employed.
Federal workers covered by CSRS also can contribute to the TSP, but they
receive no matching contributions from their employing agencies.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimates the cost of CSRS to be an
amount equal to 26.0% of employee pay. The federal government pays 19.0%
of this amount and the other 7.0% is paid by employees. OPM estimates the
cost of the FERS basic annuity at an amount equal to 12.7% of pay. The
federal government contributes 11.9% of this amount and the other 0.8% is
paid by employees. There are three other employer costs for employees under
FERS. Both the employer and employee pay Social Security taxes equal to
6.2% of pay up to the maximum taxable amount; agencies automatically
contribute an amount equal to 1% of employee pay to the TSP; and agencies
make matching contributions to the TSP equal to up to 4% of pay.
At the start of FY2010, the CSRDF had an unfunded liability of $673.1 billion,
consisting of a $663.4 billion deficit for CSRS and a $9.7 billion deficit
for FERS. Although the civil service trust fund has an unfunded liability,
it is not in danger of becoming insolvent. OPM projects that the balance
of the CSRDF will continue to grow through at least 2080, at which point it
will hold assets equal to more than 4.5 times total payroll and about 20
times total annual benefit payments.
Several bills in the 112th Congress propose significant changes to federal
retirement benefits and financing, including the House-passed version of
H.R. 3630, H.R. 3813, the House Rules Committee print of H.R. 7, and H.R.
5652. The President’s Budget Proposal for FY2013 also contains
recommendations for changes to federal pensions. In addition, this report
describes the changes enacted under P.L. 112-96 to federal retirement
benefits and financing.
Date of Report: May 10, 2012
Number of Pages: 22
Order Number: 98-810
Price: $29.95
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Health Benefits for Members of Congress
Ada S. Cornell
Information Research Specialist
Members of Congress and retired Members are eligible for private insurance coverage under the same system as other federal employees, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health plan in the United States, covering more than 8 million federal employees, retirees, and their families.
Retired federal employees, including retired Members, who meet the minimum enrollment period requirements and who are eligible for an immediate annuity may continue to participate in FEHBP in retirement. Current federal employees, including Members of Congress, may also participate in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS) to set up tax-exempt flexible spending accounts for reimbursement of health care, child care, and elder care expenses not otherwise reimbursed or covered by insurance. Current and retired federal employees, including Members of Congress, may enroll in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) for supplemental dental and vision insurance coverage. They may also apply for long-term care coverage under the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP).
All federal employees, including Members of Congress, pay the same payroll taxes as other workers for Medicare Part A coverage, and they are eligible to enroll in Medicare Part B, Part C, and Part D. Current Members, unlike other federal employees, are also eligible to receive health care services from the Office of the Attending Physician in the U.S. Capitol and at military hospitals.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148) requires health benefit exchanges to be established in every state by January 1, 2014. A provision in ACA requires that the only health plans available to Members of Congress and certain congressional staff as a benefit of their federal employment are health plans created under the ACA or offered through health insurance exchanges, as created by the ACA. The language implies that Members of Congress and certain congressional staff will no longer be eligible to enroll in FEHBP. The director of OPM concluded that this provision is not effective until the health insurance exchanges become operational. Therefore, the provision does not currently affect Members of Congress or their staffs’ participation in FEHBP.
This report covers health benefits made available to Members of Congress through federal government employment, including FEHBP, dental and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term care insurance, services at the Office of the Attending Physician and military hospitals, and Medicare. It also offers a comparison of FEHBP to health benefit plans offered by the private sector and state and local governments and a discussion of the effect of the ACA on Members’ health benefits.
Date of Report: May 3, 2012
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RS21982
Price: $29.95
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Information Research Specialist
Members of Congress and retired Members are eligible for private insurance coverage under the same system as other federal employees, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health plan in the United States, covering more than 8 million federal employees, retirees, and their families.
Retired federal employees, including retired Members, who meet the minimum enrollment period requirements and who are eligible for an immediate annuity may continue to participate in FEHBP in retirement. Current federal employees, including Members of Congress, may also participate in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS) to set up tax-exempt flexible spending accounts for reimbursement of health care, child care, and elder care expenses not otherwise reimbursed or covered by insurance. Current and retired federal employees, including Members of Congress, may enroll in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) for supplemental dental and vision insurance coverage. They may also apply for long-term care coverage under the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP).
All federal employees, including Members of Congress, pay the same payroll taxes as other workers for Medicare Part A coverage, and they are eligible to enroll in Medicare Part B, Part C, and Part D. Current Members, unlike other federal employees, are also eligible to receive health care services from the Office of the Attending Physician in the U.S. Capitol and at military hospitals.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148) requires health benefit exchanges to be established in every state by January 1, 2014. A provision in ACA requires that the only health plans available to Members of Congress and certain congressional staff as a benefit of their federal employment are health plans created under the ACA or offered through health insurance exchanges, as created by the ACA. The language implies that Members of Congress and certain congressional staff will no longer be eligible to enroll in FEHBP. The director of OPM concluded that this provision is not effective until the health insurance exchanges become operational. Therefore, the provision does not currently affect Members of Congress or their staffs’ participation in FEHBP.
This report covers health benefits made available to Members of Congress through federal government employment, including FEHBP, dental and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term care insurance, services at the Office of the Attending Physician and military hospitals, and Medicare. It also offers a comparison of FEHBP to health benefit plans offered by the private sector and state and local governments and a discussion of the effect of the ACA on Members’ health benefits.
Date of Report: May 3, 2012
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RS21982
Price: $29.95
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Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
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Sufficiency of Signatures on Conference Reports
Richard S. Beth
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
Elizabeth Rybicki
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
The House and Senate both require that a conference report be signed by a majority of House conferees and a majority of Senate conferees. When some conferees are appointed only for limited purposes, the two chambers have different ways of counting to determine whether the conferees’ report carries sufficient signatures. The Senate asks whether the report is signed by a majority of all the conferees from each house, without regard to whether those conferees were appointed for all or for limited purposes. The House asks whether the report is signed by a majority of all the conferees from each house who were appointed to consider each of the matters that were submitted to the conference committee.
Date of Report: May 2, 2012
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS21629
Price: $19.95
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Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
Elizabeth Rybicki
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
The House and Senate both require that a conference report be signed by a majority of House conferees and a majority of Senate conferees. When some conferees are appointed only for limited purposes, the two chambers have different ways of counting to determine whether the conferees’ report carries sufficient signatures. The Senate asks whether the report is signed by a majority of all the conferees from each house, without regard to whether those conferees were appointed for all or for limited purposes. The House asks whether the report is signed by a majority of all the conferees from each house who were appointed to consider each of the matters that were submitted to the conference committee.
Date of Report: May 2, 2012
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS21629
Price: $19.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
The “Deeming Resolution”: A Budget Enforcement Tool
Megan Suzanne Lynch
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
“Deeming resolution” is a term that refers to legislation deemed to serve as an annual budget resolution for purposes of establishing enforceable budget levels for a budget cycle. A deeming resolution is used when the House and Senate have not agreed on a budget resolution .
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides for the annual adoption of a budget resolution establishing aggregate levels of revenues, spending, the debt limit, and the surplus or deficit, as well as allocations of spending. Enforcement of the budget resolution relies primarily upon points of order and reconciliation procedures. With regard to the enforcement of budget aggregates and committee spending allocations, the major points of order are found in Sections 311 and 302 of the act, respectively. The term “deeming resolution” is not officially defined, nor is there any specific statute or rule authorizing such legislation. Instead, the use of a deeming resolution simply represents the House and Senate employing regular legislative procedures to deal with the issue on an ad hoc basis.
The form and content of a deeming resolution is not prescribed, so it may be shaped to meet the particular needs at hand. For example, the House and Senate have used simple resolutions as the legislative vehicle in the past, but a deeming resolution may be incorporated into a bill, such as an annual appropriations act, as a single provision. At a minimum, deeming resolutions provide new spending allocations to the Appropriations Committees, but they also may set new aggregate budget levels, provide revised spending allocations to other House and Senate committees, or provide for other related purposes.
For purposes of this report, a distinction is drawn between instances in which the budget resolution was adopted in a tardy manner and deeming resolutions were employed in the interim before a budget resolution was finally agreed to and, alternately, those instances when the House and Senate never reached final agreement on a budget resolution and deeming resolutions were used as an alternative enforcement mechanism instead. This report deals largely with those years in which the House and Senate did not reach final agreement on a budget resolution. The relevant fiscal years were FY1999, FY2003, FY2005, FY2007, FY2011, and FY2012.
For the upcoming FY2013, the House has agreed to H.Res. 614, a special rule deeming the House-passed budget resolution, H.Con.Res. 112, as enforceable, pending the adoption by the House and Senate of a budget resolution for FY2013. On March 20, 2012, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad filed in the Congressional Record FY2013 discretionary spending limits enforceable in the Senate, as provided under Section 106(b)(2) of the Budget Control Act (BCA; P.L. 112-25), which have been referred to as a “deeming resolution.”
Date of Report: May 2, 2012
Number of Pages: 33
Order Number: RL31443
Price: $29.95
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