H.R. 491 — Equal COLA Act

This section revises the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) formula for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuities payable from the Fund under 5 U.S.C. 8462(b)(1) to the full percent change in the price index for the base quarter of the year over the base quarter of the preceding year in which an adjustment was made (rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent), eliminating the prior tiered caps of (A) the lesser of 2 percent or the percent change if not exceeding 3 percent, or (B) the percent change minus 1 percent if exceeding 3 percent. The revised formula applies to COLAs effective December 1 after the date of enactment for all FERS annuities, regardless of commencing date. (As background, FERS provides retirement annuities to federal civilian employees hired after 1983, coordinated with Social Security; thus, FERS annuitants will receive full Consumer Price Index-based COLAs previously limited to control federal costs.)