Federal Employees Get 3.1% Raise in ‘06

Federal employees will receive a 3.1% average pay increase for fiscal year 2006.  On November 18^th, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (392 to 31) to adopt the Transportation-Treasury-Housing Appropriations conference report which included the pay raise.  The measure was adopted a short time later by the Senate and on November 30^th, was signed into law by President Bush. 

While the tradition of equitable annual pay increases for federal workers and the military will continue in FY06, opposition to the measure was strong.  Most recently, a group of seven Republican Senators, euphemistically calling themselves the “Fiscal Watch Team,” proposed to freeze non-law-enforcement federal pay next year in an effort to offset budget shortfalls.  While more than willing to put the livelihood of federal workers on the chopping block, it should be noted that the group of Senators was in no rush to compromise on the more than $70 billion in additional tax cuts included in the budget, a figure more than twice than all their proposed savings combined.  Federal workers also encountered opposition from President Bush, who proposed just a 2.3% average raise for civil service employees in his budget originally sent to Congress.  

Going to bat for federal employees during Congressional budget wars were a bi-partisan group of Washington, DC-area lawmakers, most of whom have considerably high levels of federal employment among their constituencies.  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who pushed for the parity approach, said many civil service employees work along side the military on an everyday basis to protect the nation. “With security threats at home and abroad, it is important that federal employees, nearly 700,000 of whom work at the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, receive a fair pay adjustment,” Hoyer said.

“We are pleased that lawmakers once again broke with the Bush Administration and recognized federal employees for the valuable work they do each day,” said NFFE National President/DBR Richard N. Brown.  “We are very fortunate to have friends in Congress that will take on the administration in order to maintain fair pay for federal workers.”