Today, U.S. Representatives Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Don Bacon (NE-02), and David Valadao (CA-22) reintroduced the Federal Retirement Fairness Act (FRFA), legislation to address a gap for federal employees who began their careers as temporary workers and were thus unable to make retirement contributions. The FRFA will allow these workers to make catch-up contributions to ensure they can retire as planned. In the absence of this provision, many face an unfair choice: exit the federal service without complete retirement benefits or delay retirement to achieve full benefits.
Before 1989, the Office of Personnel Management permitted federal employees to make catch-up payments, enabling them to compensate for years they didn’t contribute to their retirement accounts. However, this provision was eliminated when the government transitioned to a new federal employee retirement system.
NRLCA Response:
“The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) would like to thank Congressmen Derek Kilmer, David Valadao, Don Bacon, and Gerry Connolly for introducing the bipartisan Federal Retirement Fairness Act,” said Don Maston, President, NRLCA. “The NRLCA fully supports the Federal Retirement Fairness Act, which will give rural letter carriers the opportunity to buy back credit for service, something we have been advocating for a very long time. This bill ensures that rural letter carriers, and other federal employees, who began their employment as non-career workers and did not have the ability to make retirement contributions, are granted the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions so all of their time is accurately reflected as creditable service when they retire.”