Budget Outline Passes

The House and Senate have given final approval to a budget outline for fiscal 2006 (H.Con.Res. 95) that unlike many similar measures in the past is silent regarding whether federal and military raises in the upcoming budget year should be the same. However, backers of “pay parity”—which would boost the January 2006 federal raise from the 2.3 percent the White House proposed to the 3.1 percent it proposed for military personnel—are still optimistic that they can succeed in the appropriations process, which is where the actual raise is set in any event. The budget outline calls for certain cuts in mandatory spending programs—leaving it up to congressional committees to determine exactly how–although it does not single out federal retirement or other employment benefits for those cuts. However, it also seeks to generally freeze spending on non-defense agencies for three years, which if carried out could put pressure on program spending and, ultimately, on employment levels.