Today, the House of Representatives is voting on yet another bailout – this time for federal employees.  The Center for Fiscal Accountability has sent an alert to members urging them to oppose H.R. 626, which would extend four weeks of paid leave to government employees following the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child.  The four week period can be extended to eight weeks by the Director of the Office of Personal Management.  
 
This new benefit is estimated to cost roughly $1 billion – and that is only accounting for a four week period. If and when eight weeks of paid leave are granted, the price tag will shoot up.
 
CFA will rate a vote against the bill in our annual Congressional ratings. From our alert:
At a time when taxpayers are footing the bill for a series of massive government bailouts and an unprecedented expansion of federal spending, and are struggling to make ends meet, asking them to bail out government employees who already enjoy a generous compensation and benefit structure is no less than a slap in the face.
 
According to the CBO estimate, this bill would grow federal spending by almost one billion dollars in order to subsidize employees who receive far more annual compensation and employee benefits than their peers in the private sector. And that is only accounting for four weeks of paid leave. When eight weeks are granted, that price tag will shoot up significantly.
 
At a time when federal spending has placed an unprecedented burden on the taxpayer, it is neither prudent nor wise to increase it even further.
For a pdf version of the alert click here.