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Washington, D.C.-President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today applauded proposed significant improvements in federal employee pay and benefits in President Clinton's 2001 budget, including several that will put hundreds of dollars in employees' pockets, in addition to a proposed 3.7 percent pay increase next January 1.

The president's 2001 budget proposal "reflects a growing understanding of the important role an appropriate compensation package plays in attracting and retaining the kind of talented, dedicated employees taxpayers need and deserve, " Kelley said.

"This is a package of improvements that deserve passage in their entirety," she said, adding that congressional passage "demonstrates a significant step forward to having a world class workforce, fairly and appropriately compensated."

Kelley urged Congress in particular to move forward on closing the longstanding gap between public and private sector pay, as called for in the bipartisan Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA). That law, which became effective in 1994, has not been implemented as intended, with the result that the public-private sector pay gap has continued to widen.

The union leader strongly urged approval of Clinton budget proposals seeking continuation of the current pilot program to provide child care subsidies for federal employees; to repeal the ½ percent pension contribution increase, and authorize government-wide buyout authority.

Kelley noted that even without congressional action, a Clinton directive to agencies regarding flexible spending accounts (FSAs) that accompanied the budget will give federal workers an average $450 more annually in take-home pay and can be tied directly to NTEU's efforts.

It will allow federal employees for the first time to participate in FSAs. Beginning in 2001, federal workers will be able to pay for their FEHBP premiums with before-tax wages. Until now, FSAs have been available only in limited areas of the government, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where NTEU has collective bargaining jurisdiction.

Yet another Clinton proposal--to repeal, effective next January 1, an increased 0.5 percent retirement contribution required of federal employees by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997-- would result in another $260 annually, on average, for federal workers.

Kelley said the increased contributions, which did not fund employee retirement accounts but instead were sought to help balance the budget, "should not have been enacted in the first place, and now that we have substantial budget surpluses, the provision should be repealed."

The NTEU president also applauded a Clinton proposal to reverse action taken last year to delay for many federal employees into fiscal year 2001 payment of the last paycheck of the present fiscal year. "This is no more than accounting sleight-of-hand," said Kelley, who, in urging Congress to reverse that action, underscored "the harsh impact it could have" on working families that depend on a paycheck on a regular schedule.