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Quietly Making a Difference

More so than any Pubic Service Recognition Week I can remember, federal employees are feeling uncertain about what the future holds.

It seems like every week a new attack on their pay, benefits, or jobs emerges from the media and Capitol Hill, casting a dark shadow over their work lives. In this toxic environment anxiety, disillusion, and uncertainty – or some combination of the three – should logically rule the day.

But oddly enough, I have sensed a strong sense of optimism among our members. Although the road has been tough – even to the point where many felt like throwing in the towel – federal workers continue to show up to work every day proud to serve their country, quietly go doing the essential work our nation has come to expect from them.

Despite the pay freeze, retirement cuts, and budget tightening, these dedicated women and men have taken it all in stride, and carried on with their mission. They come to work every day to be stewards of our national parks and forests, to provide care for our veterans, and to find housing for the needy. They come to work every day to make sure terrorists don’t get passports, to ensure that our oceans, waterways, and skies are safe, and to see that our troops go to battle with the best support our nation can provide.

Federal employees come to work every day and make a difference – sometimes in the lives of millions, and sometimes in the life of just one. They are federal employees because there is a job to be done, and they are not just proud, but honored, to do it.

They are not asking for recognition – this week or any other week. All they ask for is the ability to serve their country.

So throughout this Public Service Recognition Week, let us honor the silent sacrifices that our nation’s civil servants make for all of us – every day. It is their selfless contributions that help keep our country great.

William R. Dougan

Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009 Passes House

Friday, April 10, 2009

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

The House of Representatives passed HR. 1804, the Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009, a bill that will give FERS employees credit for unused sick leave upon retiring and automatically enroll new hires in the Thrift Savings Plan.

As Vice Chairman of the Employee Thrift Advisory Council (ETAC), an advisory body to the board that oversees the TSP, NFFE National President Richard N. Brown has urged automatic enrollment of new hires for years:

“Automatic enrollment in the TSP is crucial to the future retirement security of incoming federal employees,” said Brown. “For years, new employees have been leaving free money on the table because many aren’t aware this opportunity is available to them.”

Sponsored by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the bill is essentially an amalgamation of numerous retirement policy bills that had been introduced earlier in the 111^th Congress.

In addition to the sick leave benefit and automatic enrollment, the legislation also contains provisions to create a Roth Individual Retirement Account within TSP, as well as expand the authority of the TSP advisory board to protect employees’ investments. Furthermore, the legislation will allow former FERS federal employees returning from a period in the private sector to reinvest their retirement savings and receive credit for their previous time in the civil service.

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