Weekend Reading on Your Federal Benefits 51-17.jpg

(for the week of December 16th – December 22nd)

You’re too busy during the week to keep up on all the news around your employee benefits and pay. My weekly summary of some of the most interesting and relevant news stories could help you and includes some of my insights. You might just refer to it as “What’s George been reading this week?”

By the way, if you’ve read something about your employee benefits that you think is important or interesting, send it to me. And, let me know about news sources that you follow. Have a great weekend.

George Ray
Federal Benefits Online

In this week’s Federal benefits news, Congress plays Kick the Can, a bill emerges to guarantee your pay after a shutdown, benefits changes are likely in the new year, the TSP is still modernizing, and let’s close with a holiday poem.

Note: Thanks to everyone for your support of the “Weekend Reading on Your Federal Benefits” newsletter (also published on my blog). I’ll be taking a break next Friday during the New Year’s weekend, so this will be the last issue for 2017. Happy holidays to you and all my best for the new year.

Congress Sends Trump a Measure Delaying the Shutdown Threat Until January

From govexec.com

“Will it be lights out? Friday is the deadline for the end of the current Continuing Resolution (CR).” You may have heard those words before. I wrote the exact same words in the December 8th issue of the newsletter, and it was true again this week until Congress passed another CR on Thursday evening. This one will provide funding through January 19th.

News outlets keep referring to this as a game of Kick the Can so I looked up the rules to the game here. You start by organizing your players and the field. Okay, House and Senate play in Washington DC. Step 2 is to get something to kick. How about the Federal budget? Step 3 suggests that you determine the boundaries of your game—the best areas to play have plenty of hiding spaces. Do I need to say more on that? Step 4 requires determining a ‘jail area’ for those who are caught. I think many Federal employees are feeling a bit constrained right now. Step 5 is to agree on the count time—how much time will be spent playing the game. Oh, that’s where we’re having trouble. The clock keeps starting over in this seemingly endless game, and that’s when everyone wants to stop playing and just go home.

Legislation Introduced to Guarantee Pay for Federal Employees in the Event of a Shutdown

From fedsmith.com

During a shutdown, ‘non-exempt’ employees are furloughed, which means they are on leave without pay (LWOP). So far, during past shutdowns, furloughed employees have been paid after returning to work (and after the budget has been passed), but there is no guarantee that this will occur.

The Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Act (H.R. 4694) was introduced this week by Congressman Don Boyer (D-VA) and has 26 co-sponsors currently. (Please text him some heart emojis.) The act would guarantee back pay for workers who were furloughed during the shutdown. We would rather not need this, but let’s see where it goes.

Outlook 2018: Change Ahead Despite Leadership Void at HR Agency

From biglawbusiness.com

We’ve been observing throughout the past year that the current administration wants to change the retirement and personnel systems in the Federal government. Where will this go in the new year? We may already have some ideas. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) told agencies to cut their budgets for 2019. A large part of the budget for many agencies is their employees. We also recently heard that a leaked memorandum indicated that a pay-freeze for 2019 could be set in place.

A key issue here is the fact that OPM has a temporary leader at the helm. The President’s pick to head up OPM is on hold while confirmation committee chair Senator Ron Johnson (R-WS) delays consideration pending some documents that he’s requested and never received. Without an agency head, OPM has been ‘marking time’ and no big mission goals have been set or accomplished. As Don Kettl, a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy said, “Snow days are important, but they’re not the center of OPM’s mission.” Although we managed to make it through 2017, change is still coming, and our human resources need a leader.

TSP Working on Implementation Plan for TSP Modernization Act

From govmatters.tv

Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, discusses how the Thrift Savings Plan is implementing the TSP Modernization Act, and what’s ahead for 2018 in this six-minute video segment with Colby Hochmuth at Government Matters TV.

Now that the TSP has been given permission to enhance their withdrawal options, Ms. Weaver can acknowledge something that we’ve all known for a long time—the TSP’s withdrawal options were never very flexible or user-friendly. That’s why large amounts of money would flow out of the TSP to retirees each year as they looked for better options for generating retirement income. This will be improving, but it will take some time to put everything in place. Software enhancements, changes to forms and brochures, and an update to the website will be needed before the new features can be turned on. Participants have already begun to express some frustration, although the TSP folks began working on the project last September when prospects for passage of the bill looked good.

Kim also discusses changes that are coming to the I Fund—it will soon follow a broader international index than the EAFE index (which excludes Canada and most developing nations). Her wrap-up includes a big accomplishment for 2017—getting the TSP ready for blended retirement for uniformed services members beginning in January.

A Federal Holiday Poem

From goveexec.com

To close this issue, a holiday poem. Government Executive has an annual holiday tradition of offering a poem (based on ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’) each holiday. It takes the work of many Federal agencies to make sure that Santa can get to everywhere he needs to be on Christmas eve. See for yourself.

Best wishes to you and your family for the holidays. See you in the new year. Thanks.

Get the help you need to understand and wisely use your benefits. Use my comprehensive e-learning course “Understanding Your Federal Benefits” to become the boss of your benefits. There’s a free trial that gives you the course introduction and first module at no charge. Give it a look. You’ll like what you see.