Federal Managers Association

Washington Report

• FMA URGES LAWMAKERS TO SPARE FEDS

• A month ago, both chambers of Congress agreed to extend the payroll tax holiday for two months, after failing to reach an agreement on a one-year extension. Subsequently, Senate and House leaders appointed twenty Members of Congress to a conference committee dedicated to extending the holiday for the rest of the year. The Federal Managers Association (FMA), as a member of the Federal-Postal Coalition, sent letters to the seven Senators and thirteen Representatives appointed to the committee urging them to avoid financing the extension on the backs of federal employees. In December, when an initial agreement was debated, legislation was considered which would have paid for the payroll tax holiday by extending the federal pay freeze and require greater employee contributions to retirement plans. The Federal-Postal Coalition reminded conference committee members of the hard work carried out by federal employees and the harmful effects cuts cause.

  “To single out this small group of workers to pay for a tax cut for all other workers defeats the purpose of a payroll tax holiday and unfairly penalizes Americans who directly contribute to the economic success of our country,” the letter argued. “Freezing federal pay and cutting federal jobs to offset a payroll tax reduction will only undermine those aims and hinder our economic recovery. We urge you to oppose offsets to the payroll tax holiday extension that fall on the backs of federal and postal employees.”

  In a previous letter to elected officials, FMA National President Patricia Niehaus urged Senators to spare federal workers when giving the rest of America a tax break. “We at FMA understand the demands placed on our economy and the current state of our fiscal crisis, and many federal managers accepted the freeze as a shared sacrifice in the collective effort to pare down our mounting debt... Decreasing the pay of federal employees in order to put more money in the paychecks of other Americans is incomprehensible.”

  The current two-month payroll tax holiday expires on February 29, and Members of Congress will be focusing their efforts on a one-year extension over the next month. To read these letters, please visit the Members Only section of the FMA website: www.fedmanagers.org.

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