Cut federal pay/benefits toward private-sector ‘market’ levels
Mandate claims federal total compensation exceeds private equivalents by large premiums and urges moving toward market-based pay/benefits, neutral OPM special-rate control, and further retirement reforms closer to private plans.
Mandate
Mandate Ch. 3 (Central Personnel Agencies) — Market-Based Pay and Benefits: Heritage/AEI studies claim large federal pay and total-compensation premiums; solution is move closer to market model; OPM should set initial schedules by occupation/region and adjust; OPM should advocate true equality of benefits; consider further retirement reforms toward private plans.
Undo plan
1) Reject across-the-board cuts that ignore recruitment shortfalls in hard-to-fill occupations.
2) Use occupation-specific special rates and retention incentives instead of wholesale benefit stripping.
3) Protect defined-benefit/FERS and FEHB structures pending transparent CBO scoring of alternatives.
4) Bargain major compensation changes with employee representatives where required.
5) Verify: OPM/BLS comparability methodology peer review; agency vacancy and quit-rate dashboards.