Congress returned to work this week for a wrap-up session that included finalizing a catchall spending
bill for the rest of the current fiscal year that passed both the House and Senate in November. That
bill, which President Bush is expected to sign momentarily, contains a 3.5 percent general schedule
federal raise effective with the first full pay period of January. An executive order will follow,
determining how much of the total amount will be paid across the board to general schedule employees
and how much will be parceled out as locality pay