March 3, 2026
Mr. Vasquez (for himself and Mr. Johnson of South Dakota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
To provide that employees of tribally controlled schools are eligible to receive a pension under the Federal Employees Retirement System and to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Parity for Tribal Educators Act
.
Sec. 2. FERS pension and TSP eligibility for employees of tribally controlled schools
(a) FERS pension and TSP eligibility
(1) In general
A covered employee shall be deemed to be an employee (as that term is defined in section 8401 of title 5, United States Code) for purposes of subchapters II and III of chapter 84 of such title.
(2) Government contributions
The Bureau of Indian Affairs shall pay the Government contributions under sections 8423 and 8432 of such title for the purposes of carrying out paragraph (1).
(b) Opt out
Notwithstanding subsection (a), a covered employee may, under procedures established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, elect to not be covered under such subsection and not be deemed an employee (as that term is defined under such section 8401).
(c) Covered employee defined
In this section, the term covered employee
means any employee of a tribally controlled school (as defined in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2512)) that operates under—
(1)
a contract under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); or
(2)
a grant under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.).