Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments offered to federal workers during agency downsizings, have been capped at $25,000 since the 1990s. Newly advanced legislation would tie maximum payouts to half of an employee’s annual salary.

Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation is trying to put pressure on Secretary of State Steve Simon to comply with federal requests for the state’s voter rolls, the latest volley in a monthslong battle between the state and federal government over the data.