Equal COLA Act
The Equal COLA Act would amend title 5 of the U.S. Code to standardize how cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated for federal annuities funded by the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Specifically, it requires that, starting December 1 of each year, annuities covered under 5 U.S.C. § 8462 be increased by the percent change in the price index for the base quarter of the current year over the base quarter of the preceding year, with the adjustment rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent. The change would apply to all annuities governed by that section, including those commencing before, on, or after enactment, and is intended to achieve parity between the COLAs for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuities and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuities. In short, the bill aims to unify the COLA calculation method for CSRS and FERS annuities so both groups receive the same inflation-based adjustments moving forward, using the existing price-index-based framework and applying it to all relevant annuities.
Key Points
- 1Purpose: Create parity between FERS and CSRS annuities by standardizing the COLA calculation method across both systems.
- 2Calculation method: Each December 1 (for applicable annuities), the COLA equals the percent change in the price index for the base quarter of the current year over the base quarter of the preceding year, rounded to the nearest 0.1 percent.
- 3Applicability: Applies to any COLA under 5 U.S.C. § 8462 and to any annuity covered by that section, regardless of when the annuity commenced (before, on, or after enactment).
- 4Scope of funds: Annuities funded by the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund are covered by the adjustment.
- 5Indexing note: The bill maintains the use of the established price index framework (i.e., the CPI-based method used in current law); it does not specify a different index.