A last-minute addition to the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill sponsored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, would open the Federal Employees Retirement System to federal employees currently enrolled in the Civil Service Retirement System.
CSRS enrollees would have from July 1, 1998 until October 31, 1998 to switch into FERS. FERS includes a stock investment program, the Thrift Savings Plan, along with Social Security benefits and a modest pension. CSRS provides a more generous pension plan and allows only minor Thrift Savings investment opportunities.
FERS employees can currently contribute up to 10 percent of their salaries to the TSP, to a maximum of $9,500 per year. The government matches up to 5 percent of employees' contributions. CSRS employees, to which many employees hired before 1984 belong, can contribute up to 5 percent of their salaries, but the government makes no matching contributions.
Senate Appropriations Committee spokesman John Raffetto said Stevens introduced the retirement provision because of requests from federal employees who didn't take advantage of an open season in 1987, when CSRS enrollees had the opportunity to switch to FERS. Employee interest in the TSP has been high lately because of the strong performance of stock funds in the plan.
The Senate approved the Treasury-Postal bill Wednesday on a 55-45 vote. The House passed the bill on Tuesday, 220-207.
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