Who lobbied on the Equal COLA Act: filings by firm and quarter

The Equal COLA Act applies a cost-of-living adjustment for Federal Employees Retirement System annuities equal to the increase in inflation, regardless of the amount of the increase.^R1 Under current law, the FERS adjustment equals the full change in the Consumer Price Index when that change is 2% or less.^R1 A CPI change between 2% and 3% yields a 2% adjustment, and a change of more than 3% yields 1% less than the change.^R1

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) introduced H.R. 491 on January 16, 2025, and it was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that day.^R1,R3 The introduced text of H.R. 491 amends paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of section 8462 of title 5, United States Code, and applies to existing and future annuities covered by that section.^R5 Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced S. 624 on February 18, 2025, and it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.^R1,R4

Both bills carry the status "Referred," neither bill record lists a recorded vote, and the hearing lookups for H.R. 491 and S. 624 each return 0 meetings.^R1,R10,R12 H.R. 491 lists 90 cosponsors, among them Republicans Michael Lawler (R-NY), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) and Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA).^R2

Lobbying filings whose issue text contains "Equal COLA Act" total 54 in a search starting with 2025, from 11 clients and 10 registrants, an average of 4.9 filings per client.^R7 American Fed of Government Employees AFL-CIO, American Postal Workers Union AFL-CIO, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, National Postal Mail Handlers Union and National Treasury Employees Union lead with 7 filings each.^R7 By quarter, filings numbered 8, 10, 8 and 7 in 2025 Q1 through Q4, and 7 in each of 2026 Q1, Q2 and Q3.^R7

Shaw, Bransford & Roth, P.C. is listed as an outside firm with 4 filings for 2 clients, the Professional Managers Association and the Senior Executives Association, at 2 filings each.^R7 American Fed of Government Employees, AFL-CIO reported $2,490,000 in expenses in the H.R. 491 lobbying list and $2,880,000 in the S. 624 list, totals for its lobbying rather than spending on this bill.^R6

One National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association filing reads "Support the Equal COLA Act, H.R.491/S.624, to provide full cost-of-living adjustments (matching the change in the consumer price index) for federal retirees".^R6 An American Fed of Government Employees, AFL-CIO filing lists H.R. 491/S. 624 "to protect VA employees in FERS".^R7

Neither bill has advanced past referral: the H.R. 491 timeline holds 4 actions ending in a sponsorship change, and the S. 624 timeline holds 2 actions ending at referral.^R3,R4 H.R. 491 carries 90 cosponsors and S. 624 carries 20, and the hearing lookups for both bills return 0 meetings.^R2,R10,R12 Lawler, Van Orden and Fitzpatrick give H.R. 491 Republican cosponsors, while the 20 S. 624 cosponsors are Democrats and independents.^R2

CRS states the bill "has also been introduced in prior Congresses," so the versions dated January 16, 2025 and February 18, 2025 are reintroductions.^R11,R1

Shaw, Bransford & Roth, P.C. files for 2 associations, while each of the other 9 registrants in the ranking lists 1 client.^R7 Of the 11 clients, 9 file in-house, and the 2 clients using an outside firm both file through Shaw, Bransford & Roth, P.C.^R7 H.R. 492, the Saving the Civil Service Act, is named in 33 filings from 7 clients, and a National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association passage pairs it with the Equal COLA Act.^R7

Filings held at 7 a quarter from 2025 Q4 through 2026 Q3, against 10 in 2025 Q2, and the latest action on either bill timeline is dated September 16, 2025.^R7,R3,R4 A designation search returned 78 filings from 19 clients, 24 filings and 8 clients more than the 54 filings and 11 clients its own bill list ties to H.R. 491.^R7,R8 The bill lists in both searches are capped, showing 15 of 460 and 50 of 918 bills named in the filings.^R7,R8