Future Raises Projected

The Bush administration has projected that after a January 2004 increase of 2 percent, federal employees will get 3.4 percent raises in the following three years, paralleling the increases it expects for military personnel in those years. The projections came in a message from the Office of Management and Budget telling agencies what costs to use in cost studies under contracting-out policy. The numbers are not binding either on the administration or on Congress-the actual raise for a year is set in the budget process-but they do give an indication of the White House’s expectations. While the exact figures may hold little significance, it could be noteworthy that the projection effectively expects pay parity between the military and federal employees to continue, even though the administration’s recent budget proposals have endorsed breaking that linkage.