Federal Workers to Congress: Leave Us Out of Deficit Deal

[Stephanie]

aren't they special
links in article at site

SNIP:
By Eric Katz, Government Executive

Updated: November 21, 2012 | 6:15 a.m.
November 20, 2012 | 6:16 p.m.


The Federal-Postal Coalition -- a group representing more than two dozen federal employee unions -- pleaded with Congress on Monday to spare their members in any deal related to the "fiscal cliff."

Federal workers, the coalition wrote in a letter, have contributed more than their fair share toward reducing the debt and are the only group that has been targeted so heavily.

“Federal and postal employees and their families are hardworking, middle-class Americans who are struggling during these tough times just like other Americans,” the group wrote. “No other group has been asked to financially contribute the way they have, and it is time our nation’s leaders found other ways to reduce the deficit than continually taking from those who have dedicated their lives to public service.”

According to the coalition, federal employees have funded $60 billion in budget savings in 2011 and 2012 as a result of their ongoing pay freeze and an additional $28 billion in savings will be derived from the freeze extension through March 2013.

all of it here with comments
Federal Workers to Congress: Leave Us Out of Deficit Deal - NationalJournal.com

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - fire dey's butts if dey work fer the gubmint an' aint payin' dey's taxes...

House committee votes to fire federal workers who owe back taxes
March 21, 2013 - Federal workers with tax liens may be fired under legislation approved by a House committee Wednesday.

The Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, in January, was advanced with a voice vote by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This legislation would not only result in the termination of current tax delinquent federal employees, but would prohibit the future hiring of federal employees with tax liens. "The very least an individual on the federal payroll can do is pay their taxes," Chaffetz said in a news release. "If you are thumbing your nose up at the American taxpayer by not paying your taxes, you should be fired or not awarded a federal contract." The bill would require individuals applying for federal employment to "submit certification that such person does not have any seriously delinquent tax debt."

The legislation also requires federal agencies to conduct reviews of public records to determine if tax liens have been filed against current employees or applicants. The Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2012 passed the House 263-114 but was never voted on in the Senate. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the number of federal workers and retirees who owed delinquent income taxes jumped by nearly 12 percent in 2011. Nearly 312,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2011, the agency reported earlier this month. The year before, about 279,000 workers and retirees owed $3.4 billion.

Overall, the 9.8 million workers included in the data had a delinquency rate of 3.2 percent. That's better than the general public. The IRS says the delinquency rate for the general public was 8.2 percent. The Department of Housing and Urban Development had the highest delinquency rate, at 4.4 percent. The Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, had the lowest, at 1.1 percent. Among independent agencies with more than 1,000 workers, the Government Printing Office had the highest delinquency rate, at 7.6 percent. The National Credit Union Administration had the lowest, at 1 percent.

House employees had a higher delinquency rate than workers for the Senate, but not by much. House workers had a delinquency rate of 3.7 percent, while Senate workers had a delinquency rate of 3.3 percent. Federal court employees had a delinquency rate of 2.7 percent. The IRS says most residents who owe back income taxes file returns but cannot pay the full amount at tax time. Others have their tax bills increased through audits and cannot pay the higher bill. The statistics on federal employees do not include those who are on payment plans. The IRS doesn't publicize the data but makes it available upon request.

Read more: House committee votes to fire federal workers who owe back taxes | Fox News

 

[waltky]

Ain't gonna happen...

House defeats bill to fire federal workers delinquent on taxes
4/15/13 - The House on Monday rejected a GOP bill that would have set up a process for firing federal workers who have "seriously delinquent tax debts" and prevented people in that situation from being hired by the government.

Members voted 250-159 in favor of the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). While that's a clear majority in favor of the bill, it was called up under a suspension of House rules, which required a two-thirds majority vote. The bill's failure on the suspension calendar means Republicans could try to bring it up again under regular order, which would only require a simple majority for passage. The bill was supported by 35 Democrats, and seven Republicans voted against it. Last year, the House passed a similar suspension bill in a 263-114 vote, with the help of 59 Democrats.

Republicans said the bill is needed to ensure federal workers are held to a higher standard of trust, in light of the $1 billion or so in delinquent taxes by employees covered by the bill. "We want to hold ourselves to the standard that the taxpayers believe we should," House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said. Chaffetz said that while most federal workers are not delinquent on their taxes, about 107,000 workers owe about $1 billion, and their failure to pay means they are "thumb[ing] their nose at the rest of us."

Democrats said the bill would be counterproductive by potentially firing federal workers and making it harder to ever collect money from them. They also said it's not needed given that the delinquency rate for federal employees is about 3.6 percent, less than half of the national rate of 8.2 percent. Still others argued that federal workers are already taking it on the chin in light of the sequester, the ongoing federal pay freeze, and other factors. "You've already docked the federal workforce with up to 14 unpaid furlough days," Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said. "You've cut more than $100 billion from their pension and pay. You just sequestered $600 million from the IRS."

Under the bill, H.R. 249, federal workers facing a notice of lien from the IRS would be subject to a six-month process that would allow them to start addressing their debts, or face being fired. It applies to civilian federal employees, not defense-related workers.

Read more: House defeats bill to fire federal workers delinquent on taxes - The Hill's Floor Action

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

Federal workers at and above the lowest supervisory level are about as low of a life form as there is; only the supervisory ranks of state and local government are lower forms of parasite on taxpayers. And that includes most of the lifer military above 0-3.