The maximum monthly transit subsidy is rising to $105 in 2005, the first increase in the tax-free benefit in three years.
As part of its inflation-adjustment procedures last month, the Internal Revenue Service raised the maximum monthly transit benefit, starting Jan. 1, by $5.
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In the Washington area, about 151,800 federal employees receive Metrocheks, a fare card voucher, a Metro spokesman said. Federal employees qualify for transit and van pool passes or vouchers through an executive order issued in April 2000.
Under the White House directive, all federal employees in the national capital region must be offered a benefit equal to their commuting costs, but not to exceed $105 next year. Nationwide, employees at the departments of Energy and Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency also receive the benefit in addition to their salary.
Outside the D.C. area, agencies may offer the benefit on a pretax basis. However, many have chosen to pay for the benefit as a way to ensure employees are treated on par with those in Washington.
With an increasing number of federal employees living far away from the District, the transit subsidy provides an incentive for them "not to drive and park in the city and add to congestion, and to use public transportation instead," a spokesman for the Federal Transit Administration said.
Congress increased the maximum tax-free transit benefit in 2002, raising it from $65 to $100 per month. The monthly limit may increase by $5 increments if warranted by inflation, as measured by the consumer price index. That's the case for next year. The last change made because of the CPI was in 1996, when the limit rose from $60 to $65.
Information about transit subsidies for federal employees, as well as answers to frequently asked questions about the Commuter Choice program, is available on the Federal Transit Administration Web site (www.fta.dot.gov/initiatives_ tech_assistance/customer_service/2172_ ENG_HTML.htm).
Moran Intervenes at Labor
The maximum allowable subsidy has not applied to certain Labor Department employees. But a long-running dispute there appears to be nearing an end.
A provision in the fiscal 2005 catch-all spending bill orders Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao to raise the maximum monthly subsidy for the department's Washington area employees to $100 within 45 days of President Bush signing the legislation. Congress has approved the legislation and should send it to the White House next week.
The transit provision was sponsored by Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), who called it "unfortunate" that legislation was required "to undo a Department of Labor administrative decision."
The transit subsidy turned into a bargaining chip during a contract dispute between the department and Local 12 of the American Federation of Government Employees. The dispute is pending before a labor impasses panel, and includes a proposal backed by the department and union to raise the subsidy to $100 monthly.
Moran said the legislative provision was necessary "because it would have set such a bad and ironic precedent to punitively discriminate against federal employees simply because they belong to a union. This is an important benefit."
Larry Drake, AFGE Local 12 president, said "we are very grateful" for efforts made by Moran, Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) and others to increase the transit subsidy at Labor from $65 to $100 monthly.
Moran won the backing of the House Appropriations Committee for the increase in Labor's transit benefit in July.
Talk Shows
FBI special agents John Gillies of the criminal investigative division and John Hambrick of the cyber division will be the guests on "FEDtalk" at 11 a.m. today on federalnewsradio.com.
Andrew Maner, chief financial officer at the Department of Homeland Security, will be the guest on the "IBM Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m. tomorrow on WJFK radio (106.7 FM).
"Can Employees Survive Without the NAACP?" will be the topic for discussion on the Imagene B. Stewart call-in program at 8 a.m. Sunday on WOL radio (1450 AM).
E-mail: barrs@washpost.com
