Good afternoon Chapter 141,
The two things we get asked the most about are locality pay and the retirement issue. Both are issues that must be fixed by congress. Last month, stewards from Chapter 141 attended the legislative conference in Washington DC where we brought up these issues with our elected officials.
We spoke with Senator King and Senator Collins directly and both assured us they would support the retirement issue while looking into the locality pay issue.
Today, Representatives Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Raskin (D-MD), Ciscomani (R-AZ), and Lynch (D-MA) introduced H.R. 7869, the “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act.” This bipartisan bill is a vital piece of legislation that would finally provide relief for the nearly 1,500 Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) who were told they were no longer eligible for a proportional annuity and subject to mandatory retirement after 20 years of law enforcement service.
As you know, in 2007, President Bush signed legislation into law that made CBPOs eligible for the 1.7 percent enhanced law enforcement officer retirement system. To help with the transition to this new retirement system, any officer hired before July 6, 2008, who retired prior to serving 20 years under the new retirement system are eligible to receive a proportional enhanced retirement benefit for their post-July 2008 years of service and are exempt from the new mandatory retirement age. However, approximately 1,500 CBPOs were later notified that this was a mistake, and that they are not eligible for the proportional annuity and subject to mandatory retirement after 20 years of law enforcement service, despite what they were told when they were hired.
This legislation would correct this error and allow the affected employees to retire, as promised, with the higher proportional annuity rate and without requiring 20 years of service. Last year, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed companion legislation, S. 311, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan 12-0 vote. S. 311 was later passed the full Senate by a voice vote.
The federal government made a promise to these CBPOs, and this legislation will ensure that the government keeps that promise. I will keep you updated with any developments.
Thank you all for being members. If you would like to learn more about how you can support NTEU with these issues, please send me a message at Conroy.NTEU141@gmail.com.
Comentarios