This report provides an update on issues affecting federal managers. As always, I encourage you to visit www.fedmanagers.org on a regular basis for more information on these and other matters.

Also, be sure to look for the monthly FMA Grassroots Update, where we offer links to action letters and FMA-PAC matters we do not address in the Washington Report. The grassroots newsletter is sent exclusively to non-governmental email addresses to avoid any Hatch Act violations. If you are not receiving it, contact the national office to provide your non-governmental email address.

Please feel free to provide feedback any time by emailing Greg Stanford at gstanford@fedmanagers.org or by calling the National Office at (703) 683-8700. Thank you for your membership in FMA. It’s an honor to represent your interests before Congress and the administration.

On September 25, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the 2025 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program rates. The open season for health benefits, dental and vision insurance, and flexible spending accounts will be November 11 through December 9, 2024.

The average enrollee share increase for 2025 will be 13.5 percent. The last time the increase in the enrollee share was over 10 percent was in 2003 (11.6 percent). The overall average FEHB premium increase will be 11.2 percent. The new health premiums go into effect in January 2025.

As you may know, FEHB premiums are shared by you and your agency. You generally pay approximately 30 percent of the total cost, and your agency pays the remaining 70 percent. The full set of rate charts for 2025 is available here.

On October 10, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for monthly Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income payments, and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees will be 2.5 percent for 2025. This is down from 3.2 percent in 2024, and the COLA will take effect in January. It also means Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) annuitants will therefore receive a 2.0 percent COLA.

SSA says Social Security retirement benefits will increase by approximately $50 per month beginning in January.

The process for calculating the annual COLA is provided in the Social Security Act. The Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On August 30 President Biden formalized his planned 2 percent pay raise, as previously announced in his Fiscal Year 2025 budget request. The 2 percent raise – comprised of a 1.7 percent across-the-board raise and an average 0.3 percent boost to locality pay – was included in a letter to Congress. This disappointment comes after two years of reasonable pay raises – 5.2 percent in 2024 and 4.6 percent in 2023.

Both the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2025 spending bill for Financial Services and General Government stay silent on the issue of a pay raise, in effect endorsing President Biden’s alternative pay plan. The uniformed military is slated to receive a 4.5 percent raise for 2025. FMA supports the 4.5 percent raise for active military and has advocated for pay parity for feds. Federal employees work side-by-side with their uniformed military colleagues and there is no excuse for failing to reward them evenly.

On September 25, the House and Senate approved a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded through December 20, 2024, and avert a government shutdown. Federal Managers Association (FMA) National President Craig Carter, who urged all members of Congress earlier in the month to craft a solution, expressed relief and frustration that Congress once again relied on a continuing resolution to punt the debate on providing full year appropriations for federal agencies.

“The Federal Managers Association is relieved Congress approved this continuing resolution to prevent a harmful government shutdown,” Carter wrote. “It will keep America’s hard working federal employees on the job, ensuring Americans will continue to receive the vital services they provide into December. While we supported this short-term Band-Aid, CRs hinder the ability of the government and military to plan for the fiscal year ahead. They reduce government’s buying power and increase costs to taxpayers. The result of a CR is the loss of billions of dollars. We are disappointed Congress has once again relied on a CR to keep the government running.”

The effort to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) – a long-time FMA issue brief – continues to gain significant momentum in the 118th Congress. Barely a week after Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) filed the discharge petition to require a vote on the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), the petition garnered the 218 signatures necessary. H.R. 82 has 329 cosponsors and will finally get a vote. The earliest the bill can be called for a vote is in November.

“FMA has long pushed for the repeal of these odious provisions that callously reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of public servants and their beneficiaries,” FMA National President Craig Carter wrote. “This important bill is needed to prevent the unjust withholding of nearly $200 billion from these civil servants in the next ten years, and it is difficult to put into words the tragedy of the benefits that have been earned but kept from these public servants dating back to the 1980s. Support has never been greater for the overdue repeal of both the GPO and WEP, and it is vital to act now.”

Meanwhile, the Senate version (S. 597) surpassed the 60-cosponsor threshold – enough votes to override a filibuster.

On September 16, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee passed the Manager Attitudes and Notions According to Government Employee Responses (MANAGER) Act (H.R. 9593) by a vote of 22-18. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, would require the annual Federal Employees Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to include questions specific to management.

In a statement upon passage, Sessions said, "Efficiency in government agencies is essential for taxpayers and government employees alike. I am committed to creating and supporting legislation that eliminates waste in our government to protect taxpayers. Federal managers are responsible for getting results to the American people. This survey will identify areas where federal employees in supervisory positions need support to ensure that our government is working effectively for our citizens."

During the hearing full committee Chairman James Comer noted the FEVS does not include specific questions for supervisors “so the unique views of managers is unaccounted for.” However, as evidenced by the close vote to advance, Committee Democrats expressed concern with the legislation as drafted.

On September 18, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed the Telework Transparency Act (S. 4043), bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the Chairman of the committee, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), by a unanimous vote of 11-0. FMA endorsed the bill, which would require agencies to gather data and monitor how telework impacts agency performance and federal property decisions, “creating more transparency and providing oversight to weigh the pros and cons of telework policies.”

If enacted, S. 4043 would:

• Require agencies to make policies publicly available online;

• Establish automated systems to track employee use of telework at each agency;

• Mandate periodic audits to determine if agencies are doing enough to verify teleworking employees are getting paid the correct locality-based pay;

• Monitor office building utilization and the effects of telework on agency performance, including customer service, backlogs and wait times, cost to operations, security, management of property, technology investments, and recruitment and retention; and

• Direct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish quality data standards and compile the data in a centralized location to ensure transparency for the American people.

On September 18, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs advanced the DOOBIE Act (S. 4711), legislation that would prohibit federal agencies from using past marijuana use as the sole factor in determining employment suitability, qualification standards, or eligibility for security clearances and federal credentials. The bill, endorsed by FMA, was introduced by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the committee. S. 4711 would codify guidance issued in 2021 by the Office of Personnel Management regarding a federal job applicant’s previous history with marijuana use.

“The federal government must adapt its hiring practices to reflect the evolving legal and social landscape of our nation,” said Senator Peters. “My bill takes a crucial step by aligning federal policy with existing agency guidance, ensuring that past marijuana use alone doesn’t automatically disqualify talented individuals from public service. This approach will expand our talent pool and create a fairer, more inclusive hiring process.”

In May 2023, as part of its effort to combat discrimination and educate the federal workforce on countering bias, the Biden Administration issued the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. This called on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to take several actions, including creating a Workplace Rights Federal Toolkit. The administration unveiled the toolkit in September 2024 and briefed FMA and other organizations on its rollout and asked us to share the toolkit with our members.

The toolkit is composed of public resources available from the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and OPM. OPM states the resources in the toolkit also comply with the National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination, announced in June 2024. The goals included in this strategy are aimed at making resources more accessible to feds concerning their rights in the workplace, including the right to religious accommodations and workplace flexibility.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are making significant efforts to improve the federal hiring experience, focusing on tools to recruit, hire, and retain federal employees. In August they released a joint memorandum on this work, aimed at data analytics, the applicant experience, the hiring manager experience, and empowering human resource professionals. Click here to view the memo in full, as well as guidance and resources for implementation.

Officials from OMB and OPM briefed FMA and other members of the Government Managers Coalition in early September on these initiatives. They asked us to share the following information with all FMA members:

• The Administration has granted Direct Hiring Authorities for AI and AI-enabling roles + Data Science and more.

o AI and AI-enabling roles including but not limited to: Hiring IT Specialists, Computer Scientists, Computer Engineers, or Program Analysts or Program Managers (View the AI and AI enabling DHA policy from Dec 29, 2023)

o Data Science and Operations Research and more (View the Extended Direct Hiring Authority policy from Sept 29, 2023)

• Hiring term-limited, non-technical positions to work on implementation of EO 14110? Use Schedule A(r) Authorities!

• Not sure how to use these new authorities? OPM has presented a Myth Busters presentation.pdf (3/6/2024) that explains how these authorities can be used, and you can learn more in this two-pager. (PDF- Feb 2024)

• OPM released a Memo on Pay Flexibility, Incentive Pay, and Leave and Workforce Flexibility Programs for Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI-enabling, and Other Key Technical Employees. (View the Pay Flexibility Policy- Feb 27, 2024)

Are you approaching retirement? The Office of Personnel Management website offers a Retirement Quick Guide that shares what feds can expect as they navigate the retirement application process, how benefits are determined, and guidelines related to their interim and annuity payments. You can also view a three-page printable PDF version of the quick guide here: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/retirement-quick-guide/opm-retirement-quick-guide.pdf.

Gather with fellow FMA members to network, discuss the work of FMA, and have some fun in Jacksonville, Florida! The FMA Regions 1 & 2 Conference, hosted by FMA Chapters 11 (FRC-East) and 396 (Mayport) will be conducted October 18-19, 2024, at the Hilton Home 2 Suites. The conference promises some excellent training, information sharing, and fun networking.

The registration table will be open from 3 PM to 6 PM on Friday, October 18, followed by dinner and social time from 6 PM to 11 PM. Training and the conference will commence at 8 AM on Saturday, October 19, followed by a team building event.