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.

The House and Senate are both out of session in the traditional August recess. They do not return to Washington, D.C., until September 9, meaning lawmakers will have just 13 scheduled legislative days to fund Fiscal Year 2025 before current funding – finalized in March of this year – expires. A Continuing Resolution to keep the government functioning appears inevitable once again.

The House Appropriations Committee passed all 12 appropriations bill, and five of the 12 have passed on the House floor. However, these bills face an uphill climb with concerns lingering in the U.S. Senate and veto threats from the White House.

One of the major differences House and Senate Appropriations negotiators will need to tackle is the funding level for the Social Security Administration (SSA) for Fiscal Year 2025.

The House version of the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill includes $13.7 billion for SSA’s administrative budget, a reduction in SSA spending by $450 million. The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill by a vote of 31-25, but it has not yet been voted on by the full chamber. In contrast, the Senate version of the bill would boost SSA’s budget by $500 million over the current funding level, or approximately $14.7 billion in 2025, and a spending difference of nearly $1 billion from the House bill. Both bills propose more than $500 million less than the Biden Administration’s request of $15.4 billion.

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) advanced its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 on July 8, advancing the bill by a vote of 22-3. It next goes to the Senate floor for consideration.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman of SASC, said, “I am glad that this year’s NDAA makes important progress in a number of areas, including a well-deserved pay raise for military servicemembers, powerful new security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, and significant support for technologies like counter-drone defenses and AI. However, I regret that I needed to vote against passage of this bill because it includes a funding increase that cannot be appropriated without breaking lawful spending caps and causing unintended harm to our military. I appreciate the need for greater defense spending to ensure our national security, but I cannot support this approach.”

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member of the committee said, “This bill shows there is bipartisan support for doing more to maintain deterrence and protect American interests. I am encouraged that many of my colleagues have joined me in the conversation about the need to invest more in our national defense. I look forward to discussing the peace through strength vision I have laid out in the months to come. This year’s NDAA results are a testament to the tradition of bipartisanship, vigorous debate, and good working order on which this committee prides itself.”

The next step in the process is for the Senate to consider and pass the bill.

On July 31, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously advanced the Chance to Compete Act (S. 59), commonsense bipartisan legislation endorsed by FMA that reduces unnecessary burdens to job hiring in the federal workforce. The measure passed by a vote of 11-0 and is cleared for consideration on the Senate floor. The House of Representatives passed similar legislation by a vote of 422-2 in January 2023.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced the bill, along with Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), James Lankford (R-OK) and Tom Carper (D-DE). To read Sen. Sinema's press release following the committee action, click here.

As we’ve reported in recent months, the effort to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) – an FMA issue brief – continues to be a major issue in the 118th Congress. FMA supports the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/ S. 597), legislation that would repeal both provisions. Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) are the lead sponsors of the House bill, while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Senate version. However, neither Reps. Graves nor Spanberger will return to Washington, D.C., in the 119th Congress.

We are pleased to report S. 597 now has 61 cosponsors, – enough to prevent a filibuster – and they are pushing for Senate floor consideration. H.R 82 is adding it’s 325th cosponsor today and remains the second-most cosponsored bill in the 118th Congress. Legislators are continuing to work to find ways to lower the cost for this overdue repeal.

A number of bills that would impact federal managers were introduced or proposed since the last Washington Report. Below is a short round-up and description of the bills:

Federal Employee Return to Work Act (S. 4834)

Introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on July 30, the Federal Employee Return to Work Act would exclude certain federal employees who telework at least one day a week from receiving raises and special locality bonuses for their office location being in a high-cost-of-living area despite working from home.

“Federal employees get paid extra to work in higher-cost cities,” Cassidy wrote in a statement upon introduction. “But what if they don’t show up to work? Why should they get paid? If you don’t show up for work, you don’t get paid at the same rate just for teleworking.”

After two years of reasonable pay raises – 5.2 percent in 2024 and 4.6 percent in 2023 – all signs point to a 2.0 percent raise for federal employees in 2025. 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 request for a 2.0 percent raise. 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 is advocating 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 Wednesday, July 10, the U.S. Senate confirmed Anne Wagner as the third member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). She was approved by a vote of 55-37, and her confirmation restores FLRA’s leadership.

The FLRA’s mission is: Protecting rights and facilitating stable relationships among federal agencies, labor organizations, and employees while advancing an effective and efficient government through the administration of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

Following is a message shared with the Federal Managers Association by the Office of Personnel Management. FMA is sharing it with our members for your information should you hold an FSAFEDS flexible spending account. See below.

Updates Coming to FSAFEDS

Beginning August 1, 2024, FSAFEDS will re-enable the functionality that allows existing enrollees to make changes to enrollments due to a Qualifying Life Event.

Generally, you must request a change to your FSAFEDS account anywhere from 31 days before to 60 days after the date of the qualifying event. If you intended to make changes to your FSAFEDS account due to a Qualifying Life Event, but are now outside the deadlines to make changes because enrollment was disabled, you may still make changes to your account. Once the change is made, you should contact FSAFEDS at 877-FSAFEDS (372-3337); 866-353-8058 (TTY); or +1 650-577-5294 (international) to request an update to your effective date. Any claims incurred after the updated effective date will be eligible for reimbursement.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking further steps to address pay equity in the federal workforce.

In 2022, OPM conducted a governmentwide study that found a 5.6 percent gender pay gap in the federal workforce, meaning women on average make approximately 94 cents for every dollar men earn. This figure is dramatic improvement from 1992, when the gender pay gap was 25 percent, and also compares favorably with the current nationwide gender pay gap of 16 percent.

Earlier this year, OPM issued a final rule prohibiting consideration of non-federal prior salary history when setting initial pay during the hiring process for federal employees. And on July 18, OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver published a memo entitled “Advancing Pay Equity: Pay Gap Data Analysis Guidance and Request for Reports on Independent Pay Systems.” This memo examines Biden Administration pay equity provisions found in Executive Order 14035, encourages agencies with independent administrative pay authority to review and revise their pay policies, and recommends agencies conduct their own pay gap data analysis.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a memo providing federal agencies with considerations for evaluating current remote work policies and determining future policies in a post-pandemic federal workforce. OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver released the 8-page memo on August 7.

The memo notes a transition from a maximum telework posture during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to arrangements balancing in-person work, telework, and remote work, and builds on 2021 OPM guidance.

“Agency heads are responsible for oversight of their agencies' remote work policies, processes, and operations. To promote rigor in program management, it is recommended an agency Deputy head or a member of agency leadership at a similar seniority level oversee tracking and implementation of the remote work program,” the memo says.

On July 31, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shared a quarterly progress update on the President’s Management Agenda’s three core priorities. The President’s Management Agenda tracks progress toward improving a results-driven, accountable, and equitable federal government across the priorities of (1) Strengthening and Empowering the Federal Workforce, (2) Delivering Excellent, Equitable, and Secure Federal Services and Customer Experience, and (3) Managing the Business of Government. The OMB cited numerous highlights this quarter, including:

• OPM initiatives to improve the federal hiring process, such as the Time to Hire (T2H) Dashboard on the OPM Data Portal. This dashboard is designed to provide the public with the average T2H for the federal government as well as the speed of hiring for the federal government’s mission critical occupations

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.

There is a registration fee of $60. Please RSVP and email a list of attendees to Genesiscox@gmail.com by September 24, 2024.