Senate panel passes health, workers' comp, whistleblowing bills

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee passed three bills Wednesday involving disability payments, health benefits for certain federal employees, and whistleblowing procedures at the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel.

The panel approved the bills on a 9-0 vote. All those present and voting were Democrats. Republicans, according to Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., had decided to boycott Senate committee actions because of unhappiness with how a judicial nomination was being handled elsewhere.

The three bills passed were as follows:

• S. 2936, providing that federal workers under the Federal Employee Retirement System who receive workers' compensation when injured for at least a year, and subsequently return to work for at least a year, will receive an increase in their FERS retirement benefit of 1 percent for the period during which they were receiving workers' compensation. The measure is intended to compensate for the fact that while they are on workers' compensation, the employees earn no Social Security wage credits, nor do they or their employer make contributions to the federal Thrift Savings Plan. The committee estimated the bill's cost at $8 million over 10 years.
• S. 2527, authorizing individuals covered by a health benefits plan administered by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The OPIC plan is being phased out.
• S. 3070, reauthorizing and revising some rules for the Merit Systems Protection Board and Office of Special Counsel, agencies that "safeguard the merit system principles and protect employees who step forward to disclose government waste, fraud and abuse," according to an explanation from the committee. The bill makes numerous changes to clarify protections for such whistleblowers, and the rules that apply to them.