Legislation Introduced to Provide Lifetime Protection to OPM Breach Victims

07/13/2015

NTEU-supported legislation has been introduced in the Senate and will soon be introduced in the House of Representatives to provide lifetime coverage to individuals affected in the recently announced OPM personnel records and background investigation breaches.  Senator Ben Cardin (MD), joined by Senators Mikulski (MD), Kaine (VA) and Warner (VA), have introduced S. 1746, the Recover Act, Reducing the Effects of the Cyberattack on OPM Victims Emergency Response Act of 2015. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) is expected to soon introduce similar legislation in the House. 

The legislation would provide federal employees and other impacted individuals, with free, lifetime identify protection coverage. Additionally, the Recover Act would increase the amount of the identify theft insurance coverage to $5 million, as opposed to the current $1 million cap on this insurance coverage.  

NTEU is pleased that these Members of Congress have swiftly acted on NTEU calls to significantly expand the time period of the U.S. government-provided credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. While we will continue to seek legislative relief for impacted individuals, NTEU also remains engaged on this issue through other avenues, including the filing of our lawsuit on behalf of our members earlier this week.

The union will keep you updated on this legislation, and any other announcements regarding the individual notifications for the investigations breach. As a reminder, OPM updated its website with a new link (https://www.opm.gov/cybersecurity/) providing general information on the breach affecting individuals who have been required to fill out SF 85, 85P, and 86 forms to undergo various level background investigations.