Congress is giving federal employees some last minute Christmas gifts in the $1.1 trillion spending bill recently announced by lawmakers.
The bill contains the following provisions of note to federal employees:
- DC area Metro riders will get up to $255 a month to pay for fares. This is a significant raise over the current $130 per month. The bill also restores federal funding for the Metro.
- Victims of the OPM data breaches will get 10 years of protection and up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. OPM was offering up to $1 million in free coverage. Previously, victims of the first of the two breaches were only getting free coverage through 2016, and victims of the second breach were getting free coverage through 2018.
- And last but not least, the spending bill paves the way for a 1.3% pay raise for federal workers in 2016. For details on this, see Spending Bill Deal Seals 2016 Federal Pay Raise.
