1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

Dear Member of Congress: As a dedicated federal employee, I am deeply concerned about reports that Congress will use the budget process to cut federal employee pay, benefits, retirement and health care. I am alarmed by reports that Republican leaders will target federal benefits when they draft their reconciliation bill to pay for extending massive tax cuts from 2017. It is being widely reported that Republicans will target sweeping changes to federal employee benefits, including: • Making employees pay more into the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) for the same or even a reduced benefit. This amounts to a permanent pay cut for employees who have already given many years of service to the government. • Cutting employees’ pension benefit by a high-5 instead of a high-3 salary calculation. • Eliminating the FERS Supplemental Retirement payment that provides a financial lifeline for federal employees - including law enforcement officers and others - who are required to retire before they qualify for Social Security at age 62. • Changing the Employee Premiums of the Structure of Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) that would increase premiums that federal employees pay or even convert the program into a voucher program where federal employees – not the government – will bear almost the entire cost of escalating healthcare expenses. Either or both changes would eventually make it impossible for almost anyone to work for the government. I respectfully but urgently ask you to stand up for federal employees like me who live and work in your district and strongly oppose any efforts to shift the cost of benefits on to federal employees to pay for tax cuts. Whatever your views are on extending the 2017 tax cuts and enacting new cuts, federal employees, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, should not be singled out to help pay for them. At a time when federal employees are already facing extreme stress and uncertainty, Congress should not make things worse by increasing the cost federal employees must pay to save for retirement and provide health care to their families. Thank you.