Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on Tuesday reintroduced legislation aimed at standardizing the annual cost-of-living adjustments federal retirees receive each year.
The Equal COLA Act (S. 624) would stipulate that enrollees in both the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System receive the same cost-of-living increase each year. Companion legislation in the House was introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., last month.
Currently, the CSRS calculates cost-of-living adjustments based on the annual change in the third quarter consumer price index for workers, while FERS COLAs are based on an extrapolation of that figure: if the CSRS sees an increase of under 2%, FERS retirees will receive the full increase. But if the adjustment is between 2% and 3%, FERS participants would only receive a 2% increase. And if the CSRS adjustment is at least 3%, FERS retirees would receive that increase, minus 1 percentage point.
In a statement, Padilla said the bill has renewed urgency as the Trump administration conducts mass firings across government, and after agencies offered early retirement to much of the eligible federal workforce as part of its deferred resignation program.
“Federal retirees who have worked in service to our country should receive the full cost-of-living adjustment each year that is consistent with national economic trends,” Padilla said. “As President Trump and Elon Musk threaten the hard-earned benefits of our federal workforce, we must ensure the nearly 800,000 federal retirees living on fixed incomes receive the full amount they deserve to keep up with the cost of living.”
