European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday october 15, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 7 getting taxed for 2 retirement plans Federal workers May face 14% bite in pay Washington a Congress is Rushing to Ham Mer together a new. Less expensive retirement plan by dec. .11 to replace the 65- car old civil service pension system for Federal workers. If lawmakers miss that self imposed deadline some 300.000 government employees hired since Jan. I 1984. May be taxed for two retirement plans social Security and civil service. The resulting bite 14 percent of a worker s paycheck. The problem arose when Congress required new Federal workers to participate in social Security As part of its efforts to bail out t he system. To Case the expense and to compensate for the social Security benefits that the work ers would eventually receive. Congress set out to create a less costly retirement system for government workers. Eventually the new system will affect All Federal Woik ers now numbering 2.5 million. Since 1920, the civil service retirement system has provided such comfortable coverage that it s considered one of the most attractive features of government employ ment. Retirees receive an annual pension according to a for Mula based on the average pay of their three highest earning years. The pension plan also provides for Cost of living increases to match rises in the consumer Price Index and allows a worker with 30 years of service to retire at age 55 with full annuity. Government employees hired before Jan. 1. 1984, will have the option of continuing under that plan or opting for the new one and social Security. The Senate governmental affairs committee has approved legislation sponsored by Sens. Ted Stevens r Alaska and William Roth r-del., that would create a new less generous retirements. Item. The measure would calculate Federal pensions based on the average of the five highest earning years raise the minimum retirement age to 62, and pay Cost of living increases at a rate two percentage Points below the con Sumer Price Index. It also would allow Federal workers to put up to 10 percent of their salary in a tax shelter with the government Matching the first 5 percent. Federal employee unions Are arguing against the plan. We want them to come up with something in time but we Don t want a bag of  said Vincent r. Som Brotto president of the 271,000-Membcr National association of letter carriers. What we be seen does t give retirees enough Protection against rises in the Cost of Liv  Jane Mcmichael. Political director of the american federation of government employees said of the tax Shel Ter proposal that favors higher paid executives but the defined Benefit plan still has to be More generous. We Don t View the plan As a Way for retirees to get Rich but they can t be left behind financially  Stevens said the unions arc taking a greedy posture possibly to impress their members. They can t fully endorse it because the cola Cost of living provision is so unpopular among the workers he said. But they can t have both an Overly generous pension plan and social Security. The cola fight is one we must  in an Effort to appease unions Stevens agreed to broaden the Bill to allow employees to retire on unreduced Bene fits at age 55, with 30 years of service provided they contribute 1.3 percent of salary to the retirement system. That new option would provide bigger civil service benefits but reduce employee participation in the tax Shel Ter to 6 percent of salary and the government s share to 3 percent. Workers arc Likely to receive a More sympathetic hear ing in the House Post office and civil service committee. Committee chairman William Ford. D-mich., has said he is unwilling to reduce benefits for Federal employees. In the meantime rep. Rod Chandler. R-wash., has introduced his own Bill. Like the Stevens Roth plan. Chandler s legislation would establish a tax deferred Thrift plan. It is even less generous than the Senate proposal with a 2 percent annuity reduction each year for Early retirement a Rise in the minimum retirement age to 65. And a 3 percent contribution to the Thrift fund. The Reagan administration basically supports the Ste Vens Roth proposal with several reservations. Office of personnel management director Constance Horner told. The Senate subcommittee the Bill should include the Fol lowing provisions retirement at age 55 for workers in physical jobs like Taw enforcement. Forbidding the crediting of unused sick leave As serv ice. Replacing the Thrift plan with another savings component with fewer tax saving benefits. For now new employees Are paying about 8 percent of their salary into social Security and an interim program thai would be rolled into any new system. Under the pc sent civil service system employees contribute 7 percent of their salary. The Stevens Bill is non contributory except for social Security and the voluntary tax shelter. If Congress should miss the dec. 31 deadline it could extend the interim plan. However Stevens aide Jamie Cohen said lawmakers might allow the plan to expire putting a 14 percent bite on employee paychecks and forc ing a Union Compromise. Otherwise they could gel the idea that this would go on indefinitely Cohen said. High stand arcs May Hurt poor Szuc fens group says Washington a a group of curriculum experts has warned that the nationwide drive to raise High school Stan Dards could make a bad situation worse Tor students at the Bottom of the class. A task Force of the association for supervision and curriculum development said on sunday no one questions the need for secondary school  it did question whether real and Long tasting improvement can result from the flood of mandates handed Down from state  out of Kilter the panel said slates have thrown the balance in the High school curriculum out of killer " by forcing All students to take More courses in traditional academic subjects and computer literacy. Vocational courses Fine arts and other elect Ives Are being squeezed to make Way for More math and science the panel said. There is a rising danger that Only students privileged to go on to College will have opportunities to experience education specialized beyond a few Core subjects it said. These Rock ribbed requirements May reduce the need for remedial work in College but they May also prove counterproductive for substantial num doubled in five years 520 510 500 490 480 470 460 450 440 430 420 410 400 196 Chicks sat average scores so a mathematics to Verban a 1 i 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 o Tribune Chart source the cottage Board bars of students and thus ultimately for society it  dropout rate is already 27 Pyrc Cal nationally and it could get worse according to the report. In new York. The new plan for 7th and 8th graders leaves Only 10 min utes per Day unencumbered by stale re  said Llic report it is entitled. With consequences for All the Impact of increased academic require ments for All  teachers facing More Low achieving students in academic classes will have us simplify courses. Or maintain Stan Dards and hand out discouraging grades to More  " f course work is diluted the top achievers will be insufficiently challenged and bored it said. If course work is kept potent the Low achievers will be Over whelmed and  the slate mandates also tic teachers hands and deliver another body blow to the profession the panel said. Bogus rigor1 it decried inc bogus rigor of some reforms that add More hours of course work instead of removing impediments to successful instruction in the hours we Al ready  the group called for local teachers to Monitor closely the Impact of increased academic requirements and to make the results known to superintendents boards of education slate departments and legislators As Well As the Public. Bufe i five aids scare has people storing blood for surgery � Narfi is up thousands of syndrome which hospitals and blood Banks blood donors arc limited to people the a 50 or 60 pints of blood a month from a Fin the United states Are storing their now use on All blood collected arc close to tint knows. Logos donors Goldfingor said. Now i Mneri for Luein elective surgery be infallible. But there is still Public concern. Many hospitals accept blood from donors a r 90, and steadily increasing. Thai s i. Of for of catching aids from in if you ask the patient the patient is still Large led for a specific a tical but most cause of publicity about Rock Hudson i los Angeles up thousands of people in the United states Are storing their own blood for use in elective surgery be cause of fear of catching aids from unknown donors. The los Angeles times said in a report sunday that doctors Hospital officials and directors of blood Banks say the number of peo ple who have blood drawn for their own use has More than doubled in the last five years and is growing steadily As people realize their own blood is the Best they can get. Experts Sav they arc sure newly instituted tests for acquired immune deficiency syndrome which no e infallible if scared to death about the possibility of get Ting aids from  said or. Dennis Goldfinger director of the blood Center at Cedars Sinai medical Center. Auto logos donations donations for one s own use Are made by people who Are anticipating surgery within the next 35 Days the maximum time blood can be kept. Doctors and patients also Are implement ing designated donor pools in which Bloo e Tient. Man Targete patient blood Banks in the country will not take designated blood because they feel it offers no greater guarantee of Freedom from contamination than blood from unknown do nors. Cedars Sinai has had an Auto logos blood program for a dozen years but there has been a big upswing in its use in recent months. In the first few years we were collecting 5 r f Auto logos donors Goldfingor said. It s Over 90, and steadily increasing. Thai s be cause of publicity about Rock Hudson but also because there is More aids  los Angeles county us medical Cen Ter suggests Aulo logos donations in a letter it routinely sends to patients scheduled for surgery. It s just Good medical practice to use a patient s own blood said or. Ira Shulman director of the Center s blood Bank. It s one less thing for the patient to worry