Federal employees will find out this week — as soon as Tuesday — whether budget negotiators plan to push for changes to their pension benefits as part of a deal to offset some of the sequester spending cuts.
The congressional budget conference committee led by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has until Dec. 13 to present its recommendations for rolling back the automatic spending cuts and extending the continuing resolution funding the government through Jan. 15, 2014. A “small” deal, rather than a grand bargain over tax and entitlement reforms, is expected; the panel is considering requiring federal employees to contribute 1.2 percent more to their pensions, which would save about $20 billion over 10 years, according to the White House and the Congressional Budget Office. The committee reportedly would use those savings to help pay for a partial repeal of the sequester.