One thing about raising cattle — cows do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it.
Unfortunately, John W. Wendt, who works with his herd every day, can’t say the same thing about the Office of Personnel Management.
Joe Davidson
Joe Davidson writes the Federal Diary, a column about the federal workplace that celebrated its 80th birthday in November 2012. Davidson previously was an assistant city editor at The Washington Post and a Washington and foreign correspondent with The Wall Street Journal, where he covered federal agencies and political campaigns.
Until almost a year ago, Wendt also labored for Uncle Sam. The retired federal employee now works on his cattle and grain farm in Ledger, Mont., a sparsely populated place about 50 miles south of the Canadian border. He put in 16 years with the government before retiring as a heavy equipment operator from Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation last December.
A pleasant man with an easy laugh, Wendt liked working for the government, but he doesn’t like the way he’s been treated since he left.
“I retired December 31 of 2010 and I have yet to get my retirement,” he said by phone. “They are sending me an interim payment of $104” instead of the approximately $700 monthly amount he said he is due.
Wendt is not alone. A couple of weeks ago, the backlog of retired federal workers waiting to have their retirement claims processed was 60,000. In an interview this week, OPM Director John Berry said the number is down to about 51,000. The backlog fluctuates, and Berry expects it to be “ginormous” in January, when many people file for retirement. A year ago, the number was about 40,000.
While their claims are being processed, retirees such as Wendt get an interim payment, generally a fraction of the full amount. It can be a long wait.
Berry has an 18-month goal to reduce the processing time to 60 days. It now averages 133 days, though Wendt’s case took much longer. To reach his goal, Berry has added 35 retirement staffers and has plans for least 40 more.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck,” he said. “If I have to move resources around to meet this commitment, we will meet it and we will do it. . . . It’s just got to be done.”
But the problem could get worse before it gets better. Baby boomers are retiring, and more and more federal agencies are offering buyouts and early retirements because of budget cuts.
It’s stories like Wendt’s that give Berry a hard time when he goes to Capitol Hill. Republicans and Democrats, who find a lot to fight about, are united in their frustration with a retirement program in crisis. They let Berry have it when he appeared before a congressional panel last month.
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the House federal workforce subcommittee, complained about “hardworking retirees who have worked their whole life and now they are being given interim retirement because we can’t process their applications. . . . They are waiting out there month after month after month, and their applications have not been approved. So it’s a terrible situation.”
Retirees are waiting so long because OPM retirement processing is just a few steps removed from hammer-and-chisel days. In an age when people carry computers in their pockets, OPM processes retirements on paper.
“If there ever was a case for automation, this is it,” said Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-Fla.) , chairman of the House oversight and government reform subcommittee. He sounded increasingly impatient as he cited statistics — examiners average only 3.5 claims per day — indicating the magnitude of the problem.
“You are the only game in town for these retirees,” Ross said, pushing Berry to develop a business plan with goals and timetables to improve the system.
Promising Ross a plan “in the very near future,” Berry added: “We’re looking at literally every approach we can take to have innovation on this problem because where we are now is not acceptable.”
The situation hasn’t been acceptable for a long time. Since at least 1987, OPM has tried to automate its retirement program. Not long before President George W. Bush left office, his officials scrapped a 10-year contract for something called RetireEZ, but not before, prematurely cutting OPM retirement staff members in the belief they would not be needed. Millions upon millions of dollars have been wasted.
“My goodness, we spent $100 million over the last 20 years and we still got this same broken system,” said an exasperated Lynch. “This is a mess. This is a mess and it can’t continue. . . . This is an embarrassment.”
Wendt’s situation, however, might soon be fixed. After calling more than 100 times and getting help from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, Wendt got word on Monday that he would get back payments on Dec. 9 and his full monthly checks would begin in January.
“But I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.
Follow the Federal Diary on Twitter: @JoeDavidsonWP
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