Posted at 11:17 AM ET, 01/06/2012
White House proposes 0.5 percent pay increase for federal workers
By Ed O'Keefe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/white-house-proposes-05-percent-pay-increase-for-federal-workers/2012/01/06/gIQA18fyeP_blog.html?hpid=z1(Andrew Harrer - Bloomberg) The White House will propose a 0.5 percent pay increase for civilian federal employees as part of its 2013 budget proposal, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the plans.
The modest cost of living increase in federal compensation would be the first pay jump for federal workers since before President Obama ordered a two-year freeze in late 2010.
The proposal, which requires congressional approval, differs from Republican plans supported by lawmakers and presidential candidates that would freeze federal compensation for at least one more year. In recent weeks, GOP lawmakers have called for extending the pay freeze as a way to pay for a payroll tax extension.
But, “a permanent pay freeze is not an acceptable policy,” one of the senior administration officials said Friday. “While modest, a .5 percent increase reflects the belt-tightening we must do in these difficult times.”
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The officials were unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter, but said that the White House notified agency budget offices about the decision Friday morning so that agencies could complete their 2013 budget requests.
No decision has been made yet on a potential pay raise for uniformed military personnel, the officials said Friday. The White House is expected to formally unveil its fiscal 2013 budget proposal in early February.
The proposal would save about $28 billion over the next decade and $2 billion in fiscal 2013 under the caps authorized by the budget control measures passed last summer, the officials said.
But the pay bump is well below the 3.6 percent cost of living adjustment that went into effect this week for Social Security and other benefits to keep pace with inflation. It is also far below private sector earnings, which climbed an average of 2.1 percent in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Federal worker union leaders voiced tepid support Friday.
“In a way I’m happy that the pay freeze is over, but of course the amount doesn’t make me yell and cheer,” said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the nation’s largest federal union.
“Clearly I don’t think it comes close to paying federal employees what they’re worth, but at the same time, it also breaks this terrible pay freeze that has been put on us and hopefully it will carry through, and we will avoid any pay freezes that might come from the payroll tax deduction negotiations.”
Gage said “a real threat” remains that Republicans will successfully enact a pay freeze as part of the payroll tax negotiations. AFGE and other unions have said Republicans should focus on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans instead of federal employees, the vast majority of whom are middle-class wage earners.
Despite the small cost of living increase, raises for step increases and workers promoted to new positions would continue, as they have during the freeze.
The federal government employs roughly 2 million civilian federal employees, with about 85 percent living and working outside the Washington area.
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