Hoyer Statement on GOP Proposal to Pay for Payroll Tax Holiday By Targeting Federal Employees

For Immediate Release:

December 1, 2011


Maureen Beach, 202-225-3130

WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on Senate Republicans’ proposal to pay for a payroll tax holiday by targeting federal employees:

“I oppose the Senate Republicans’ payroll tax proposal because it will further strip federal employees of wages and benefits. Federal employees have already stepped up to the plate and are helping to put our nation on a sounder fiscal footing, accepting a 2-year pay freeze which reduces the benefits they would have received by $60 billion over ten years. It is not appropriate to once again call on federal employees to contribute while not asking everyone else to contribute their fair share. It is also ironic that at a time when we need to grow jobs, Republicans are proposing to reduce them, taking our economy in the wrong direction.

“To address our fiscal challenges, we need a balanced plan that puts all options on the table, but what Republicans have proposed is the opposite. Republicans claimed that they used the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan as a guide, but Simpson-Bowles is a balanced plan that distributes the burden of reducing the deficit equally among spending cuts, revenues, and reforms. The Republican proposal to pay for the payroll tax holiday on the backs of federal employees is not the balanced solution they called for.

“As we work to rebuild our economy and address our fiscal challenges, federal employees and I welcome a discussion on the status of pay and benefits and how we can work together to retain and recruit the workers we count on to keep watch over our nation’s borders, ensure the nation’s airways and airports are the safest in the world, keep our food safe and air clean, and defend our country every day.”

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