After Struggle, Pay Parity Likely for Feds in '06

Providing pay parity for military and civilian federal employees is once again proving a controversial topic as Congress drafts the federal budget for fiscal year 2006.  The battle to provide equal pay raises for federal employees is well under way, and the issue has staunch supporters from both sides of the political aisle. 

When President Bush released his proposed fiscal 2006 budget in February, it included a 3.1 percent pay raise for military service members and an average 2.3 percent increase for civilian federal employees.  Though Bush’s proposal ignored a letter sent by ten Members of the House from the Washington area in late January advocating pay parity in his proposed budget, the disparity he recommended was not surprising.  This was the third consecutive year that Bush sought a larger increase for military employees.

In early March, a bipartisan group of 15 senators sent a letter to the Senate Budget Committee urging that a provision calling for equal pay raises for the military and the civil service be included in their 2006 budget resolution.  “Congress has demonstrated a bipartisan and longstanding commitment to this principle by providing for equal pay adjustments in each of the last three years and 17 of the last 19 years,” the letter stated.  It also praised the dedication of both the military and the civil service, saying “their contributions should be recognized in an equitable manner.” 

The House and Senate Budget Committees both wrapped up their fiscal 2006 budget resolutions in mid-March without addressing the pay parity issue.  The Republican chairmen of the committees indicated they were not interested in addressing pay raises in their budget resolutions this year, and pay parity amendments were withdrawn. 

Proponents of pay parity found much greater success once the battle moved into the appropriations committees.  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sponsored an amendment to the House version of the ’06 Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that would provide equal civilian and military pay raises in 2006, and the amendment was approved by the House Appropriations Committee with a voice vote.  Reps. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Tom Davis (R-VA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) co-sponsored the amendment.

Optimism is running high that Congress will support pay parity again in 2006.  In the past, the House Appropriation Committee’s decision has been approved by the House, Senate and White House.  “Pay parity for civilian employees has not been officially secured yet, but the strong bipartisan support the issue is receiving is encouraging,” said NFFE National President/DBR Richard N. Brown.  “Anything less than parity for hard working civilian employees is absolutely unacceptable.”