First Cut at Budget Silent on Pay Raise

The House and Senate budget committees have produced first drafts of the fiscal 2006 federal budget setting general tax and spending policies but not addressing the January 2006 federal pay raise. The budget “resolutions” are not binding and serve mainly as guidance for appropriations committees that write the bills containing the actual spending and policy decisions for the budget year that starts October 1. Supporters of setting the raise at 3.1 percent in the name of parity with military personnel—the White House has recommended 2.3 percent for federal workers—considered offering amendments but ultimately decided not to, partly because budget leaders preferred not to make a commitment on the raise at this early stage of the budget process. Such amendments might be offered in House and Senate floor voting, however.