Federal Employees
The 8th Congressional District of Virginia is home to thousands of federal employees and retirees, both military and civilian. Since I have taken office I have been deeply involved on issues affecting federal employees.
· Throughout his service in the House, Congressman Moran has been one of the leading advocates for federal employees, having fought to save federal jobs and protect civil service benefits. As a Member of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Moran has led efforts in the House to maintain pay parity between federal civilian and military employees.
· Congressman Moran has successfully fought and defeated the Bush Administration’s mandatory quotas on outsourcing; pushed to increase federal employee health benefits to include optional coverage for hearing, vision care and dental; and introduced legislation to extend the federal transit benefit to all Washington area employees who were not covered by an executive order issued by President Clinton.
· Congressman Moran has voiced strong opposition to the Administration's decision to introduce Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as part of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan. HSAs combine a high deductible catastrophic insurance policy with a tax-exempt savings account dedicated for health care expenses. Moran believes that the introduction of HSAs to FEHBP will threaten the quality of health care and increase premiums for federal annuitants.
· For the past 6 years, Congressman Moran has been the lead Democratic cosponsor of a bill which would require the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to allow federal annuitants and active duty military personnel and retirees to use pre-tax earnings to pay their share of health insurance premiums. Federal tax law currently allows employers in the public and private sectors to permit their employees to pay for health insurance with pre-tax dollars and this benefit is offered to current federal employees. Considering the double digit increases in health care premiums over the last five years, H.R. 2125 would alleviate the burden of skyrocketing premiums and allow federal annuitants and active duty military personnel and retirees to take part in this benefit.
· In July, Moran successfully included a pay parity amendment in the FY2005 Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill which provides for a 3.5% pay adjustment for federal civilian employees, including blue collar personnel, giving them an equal increase in pay with their military counterparts. In other efforts on behalf of federal employees, Congressman Moran sponsored an amendment to the fiscal 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations bill that forces the Secretary of Labor to give full transit benefits to Labor Department union employees who had been excluded from this benefit.
· Pay Parity: In FY 2005, Representative Moran and the Washington area delegation was successful in ensuring parity in pay for military and civilian employees. Although President Bush requested a pay adjustment of 1.5 percent, Congress passed legislation stating that military and civilian employees shall receive 3.5 percent for 2005.
· In FY 2006, the President has proposed 2.3 percent for civilians and 3.1 percent for military. Again, as a senior member of the Appropriations committee, Representative Moran is working to ensure pay parity for the upcoming year.
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