The House of Representatives approved a fiscal 2015 federal budget Thursday that reduces corporate and personal tax rates and raises federal employees' pension contributions.
Authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the budget calls for federal workers to contribute up to 6.35% of their salaries to their defined benefit plan, and newer workers would transition entirely to a defined contribution plan. Currently, workers hired before 2012 contribute 0.8% and others contribute up to 4.4%, depending on when they started. Federal employees have been under a pay freeze for the last three years.
“Federal employees have already sacrificed enough,” said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, in a statement.
The budget bill passed 219-205, with all Democrats and 12 Republicans voting against it. The Senate is not considering a comparable budget bill.