1. United States
2. Ala.
3. Letter

I recently became aware of the proposal from the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform to increase FERS employee contribution requirements. Federal workers hired after 2014 already contribute 4.4% to FERS versus the 0.8% that earlier hires contribute. I am alarmed by the proposal to impose a five percentage point increase on new hires who opt to retain the worker protections offered to federal employees. This will have the effect of chilling interest in federal employment and raise the difficulty of recruiting and retaining top talent, many of whom choose federal employment in spite of lower compensation for those very benefits; to effectively lower their pay by an additional five percent would make the career choice untenable for many. To join the federal workforce without the associated guarantees of stability would make the overall compensation (even with that extra five percent) laughably low. We should actively recruit for high-skill, high-demand federal workers. Federal pay is already uncompetitive with private industry. We struggle to bring in the kind of motivated, intelligent contributors we need. This move will compound our problems. It will not save the Federal Government money, especially if it reduces the quality of employees the government can attract. I am writing to ask you to please fight for federal benefits and protections. Such action is particularly critical in Huntsville, where so many people are federal workers.