As a senior member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, Congressman Connolly is a passionate and effective advocate for active and retired federal employees. In recent Congresses, federal employees have been demonized, demoralized, and politicized. Congressman Connolly is a vocal opponent of policies that seek to curtail federal employee pay, leave, and retirement benefits. A leading proponent of telework, he believes that the federal government should be investing in its most valuable resource - its talented workforce – in order to modernize the federal government.
Congressman Connolly believes the federal workforce is one of the nation’s greatest asset. During an unprecedented global pandemic, the federal workforce ramped up its efforts to ensure that the public continued to have access to critical, life-saving services. The federal government must be prepared to attract and retain an effective workforce. That is why Congressman Connolly has introduced legislation to improve the Office of Personnel Management, the center of federal human capital, so that it can efficiently serve both current and retired federal employees. Congressman Connolly has also led efforts to ensure the federal government is well positioned to recruit the next generation of federal employees, which includes helping agencies better leverage their internship programs.
Each year, Congressman Connolly introduces the FAIR Act, which provides a pay raise to federal employees. He has also led bipartisan letters urging Appropriators to increase pay for federal civilian employees commensurate with pay increases provided for members of the military. In the last several years, federal workers have endured pay freezes, wage-reducing furloughs, sequester cuts, government shutdowns, payroll tax deferrals, and incurred more than $182 billion in pay and benefit cuts. Furthermore, federal wages have continuously lagged far behind the private sector, with federal employees making roughly 20% less than their private-sector counterparts. Congressman Connolly believes that our nation’s dedicated civil servants deserve respect and fair compensation.
Finally, Congressman Connolly hosts an annual forum for federal employees to help them understand their benefits and make changes to their health plans during the federal government’s Open Season. He welcomes federal employees to contact his district office if they are experiencing problems with the administration of their benefits at 703-256-3071.
