Appropriations Process Also to Start Up

By: fedweek

Congress is expected to soon finalize a budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year called the budget resolution; both the House and Senate passed separate versions before the break. That measure, which is silent on the January 2008 federal pay raise as well as on other benefits issue, sets the stage for action on the annual appropriations bills that make funding and policy decisions. For federal employees, the key measure to watch is the financial services-general government appropriations bill, renamed this year after a reshuffle of the appropriations subcommittees. The general government measure often specifies a federal pay raise figure and also often contains restrictions on contracting-out policies. Also to be watched is the annual DoD authorization bill, which will be crafted in upcoming weeks starting in the House. That bill sets a military raise figure that typically acts as the marker for the civilian employee raise in the name of pay parity. That bill also sometimes contains government-wide personnel policy changes. And federal unions are urging Congress to use the DHS spending bill to cut off funding for the revamped personnel system there.