National President Dougan Issues Statement on Bill Slashing Federal Retirement Benefits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cory Bythrow, Communications Director

Phone: (202) 255-9950

Washington, D.C. – In response to a Rep. Dennis Ross’ (R-FL) recently introduced Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act (SAFE), which drastically reduces the value of current and future federal worker pensions, National Federation of Federal Employees National President William R. Dougan issued the following statement:

“It is laughable to suggest that the SAFE Act is intended to preserve the viability of the federal retirement system. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who agrees that reducing federal workers’ pension benefits by 40 percent would somehow improve their retirement security. Rep. Ross argues that these benefits are unaffordable and must be curtailed to alleviate the deficit, but don’t be mistaken – this proposal is driven more by ideological politics than sound public policy.

The facts are that underfunding of federal pensions was dealt with nearly 30 years ago when pensions were cut in half and fully funded benefits were mandated. Today the Federal Employees Retirement System is fully funded and serves as a model of efficiency, affordability, and reliability. Most importantly, it is the bedrock of retirement security for millions of current and future public servants. Rather than raiding the pensions of cancer researchers, food safety inspectors, and federal firefighters, Congress should work on a real deficit solution that calls for shared sacrifice.”