The Foreign Service Journal, January 2005

L ast fall, AFSA Congressional Liaison Ken Nakamura gave the AFSA Governing Board a chart showing the status of legislation in Congress that was of interest to AFSA and the Foreign Service. On one side was a list of bills “still in play,” those that could possibly be passed before the end of the 108th Congress. The other side was headed, “Snowball’s chance in …” Under that heading, I regret to say, were all the items of interest to retirees: health premi- um conversion to pre-tax status, the guarantee that health benefits will be main- tained equal to those of active duty personnel, the Government Pension Offset and theWindfall Elimination Provision. AFSA will ensure that all of these issues are on the agenda of the newCongress taking office in January, andwill work hard for them. However, all of them cost the government money, and as concern grows on both sides of the aisle over the ballooning deficit, it’s hard to be optimistic. Because I know that they are of interest tomany retirees, I want to say a word about the WEP and the GPO. The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces the Social Security benefit for government annuitants by as much as 60 percent, based on the individual annuitant’s work record. The WEP applies to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1924, who was not eligible to retire (regardless of when they actually retired) prior to Jan. 1, 1986. According to theNational Association of Retired Federal Employees, with whom AFSA works closely on retiree issues in Congress, about 635,000 former federal employees are affected by the WEP, and the number is growing by 60,000 every year. WEP was enacted in 1983 as part of legislation designed to shore up the financing of Social Security. As all of our retirees know, concern over how to fund Social Security remains a major issue today. The Government PensionOffset prevents retirees from receiving both an annu- ity based on the old retirement system (FSRDS) and a Social Security benefit based on a spouse’s work record. If two-thirds of the retiree’s annuity exceeds the Social Security benefit, the benefit is not payable. It does not apply to annuities (or por- tions of annuities) based on the new “FERS” retirement system, nor to anyone who was eligible to retire (regardless of whether they did retire) before Dec. 1, 1982. Bills to repeal or modify these reductions in Social Security benefits have been introduced in Congress numerous times over the past 10 years, but none havemade it out of committee. Although bills that would totally repeal both measures were before the last Congress andwill undoubtedly be before the newone, efforts in recent years have concentrated on legislation to limit the reduction in benefits. If your rep- resentative is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and especially if he or she is on the Social Security Subcommittee of Ways and Means, let him or her know your views and explain how you personally are affected by these provi- sions. This is by far the most effective action you can take. We would also welcome a contribution to AFSA’s Legislative Action Fund, which supports our efforts on the Hill on these and many other issues affecting both the active-duty and retired Foreign Service. ▫ V.P. VOICE: RETIREE  BY GEORGE F. JONES In the Alphabet Soup JANUARY 2005 • AFSA NEWS 5 reshaping consular operations to deal with the post-9/11 environment; and revi- talizing public diplomacy. TheFACdoesnot comment on foreign policy. Its focus isonthemanagerial aspects of the StateDepartment, which serves as a reminder that theSecretaryof State, inaddi- tion to representing U.S. interests abroad, isalsotheCEOofanorganization,incharge of itsday-to-daymanagement. Boyatt calls SecretaryPowell the “best leader andman- ager” he’s encountered in his long career in theForeignService. The challengenow, he says, is institutionalizing the changes Powell has made, so that they are in place regardless of who is Secretary of State. While citing many accomplishments duringPowell’s tenure, the report also looks forward at areas that, while improved, are still vulnerable, and need continuing attention, including: maintaining a part- nershipwithCongress, which Powell was particularly effective at doing; integrating public diplomacy into the policy process and expanding public affairs efforts; and continuing to improve diplomatic readi- ness as needs grow. The event and the report receivedwide media coverage, including a story in Government Executive. Agence France- Presse reporter Matthew Lee wrote that, “Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell won high praise onMonday from a team of foreign policy experts for over- seeing a radical improvement in working conditions and morale at what they said had been a ‘broken’ State Department.” Stephen Barr highlighted the report, and Amb. Boyatt’s comments, in his Nov. 28 Federal Diary in the Washington Post . AFSA recommends that members read the full FAC report. A link to the report can be found on the AFSA home page at www.afsa.org. ▫ While citing many accomplishments during Powell’s tenure, the report also looks forward at areas that are still vulnerable. As all of our retirees know, concern over how to fund Social Security remains a major issue today.