Warner & Colleagues Introduce Bill to Support Federal Employees Experiencing Financial Hardship During Shutdown

WASHINGTON –Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and colleagues introduced theEmergency Relief for Federal Workers Act,legislation to support federal employees who are experiencing financial hardship during a government shutdown. During past shutdowns, many federal employees turned to their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) retirement accounts to make hardship withdrawals to cover bills. However, there are penalties for withdrawing these funds, and barriers to recontributing funds once the government reopens. This bill would allow federal employees to withdraw funds from their TSP without being penalized if the government shutdown is prolonged, while ensuring that funds could be recontributed later on.
Specifically, theEmergency Relief for Federal Workers Actwould:
In addition to Sen. Warner, this legislation is sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and co-sponsored by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).
Full text of the bill is availablehere. A summary of the bill is availablehere.
###