Category: Government Executive

Congressional pay raise in 2013?

Congressional pay raise in 2013?

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Members of Congress are on track to receive a pay raise in 2013, unless they vote against it when they return from August recess.

The maximum pay boost lawmakers are eligible for in 2013 is 1.1 percent, or about $1,900 for most. The 1989 Ethics Reform Act created the current formula, which is based on changes in private sector wages as measured by the Employment Cost Index, and automatically takes effect unless Congress votes against it, or it’s more than the pay raise given to federal workers.

It’s unlikely that lawmakers, who earn $174,000 a year if they don’t hold leadership positions, will see an extra $1,900 in their paychecks next year for a few reasons. While the methods for determining the annual pay raises of lawmakers and federal employees vary slightly, the two are tied. Lawmakers’ annual pay adjustments cannot exceed the annual base pay adjustments of General Schedule employees. (Lawmakers do not receive locality pay.) When Congress approved a two-year pay freeze for government workers beginning January 2011, it effectively froze its own pay. In fact, lawmakers have denied themselves pay increases since 2009. Continue reading “Congressional pay raise in 2013?”

A ‘Measly’ Pay Raise Is the Least of Feds’ Worries

A ‘Measly’ Pay Raise Is the Least of Feds’ Worries

Most of you have heard the news by now that President Obama will extend the current federal pay freeze until Congress passes a budget for the next fiscal year. If you’re not aware of this latest twist in the federal pay drama, then I envy you, because it means you are probably lying on a beach somewhere enjoying the last remnants of summer.

To briefly recap, the president announced Tuesday evening that he is using his authority under the law to give federal employees a 0.5 percent pay boost in 2013. But the across-the-board salary increase is contingent upon Congress accomplishing what it is apparently incapable of these days: agreeing on a long-term spending plan to fund the government. Lawmakers are on track to pass a six-month continuing resolution when they return from recess, which means that feds will have to wait until at least April for a pay increase. Of course, government workers might have to wait longer than that if lawmakers push through another stopgap spending measure after the first one expires. Continue reading “A ‘Measly’ Pay Raise Is the Least of Feds’ Worries”

New AFGE president suggests retroactive pay raise for feds

New AFGE president suggests retroactive pay raise for feds

American Federation of Government Employees president J. David Cox
American Federation of Government Employees president J. David Cox AFGE photo

The newly elected president of the American Federation of Government Employees will lobby President Obama to support a pay raise for federal employees retroactive to January 2013 if it is approved in the final fiscal 2013 budget, according a Federal Times report.

Obama announced earlier this week that he would use his authority to grant federal employees the across-the-board 0.5 percent pay raise he had proposed for 2013, but only after Congress passes a budget. Lawmakers anticipate passing a six-month continuing resolution when they return from the August recess, meaning the earliest the pay raise could take effect would be April 2013. Continue reading “New AFGE president suggests retroactive pay raise for feds”

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