House Passes Raise, Contracting Language

The House has passed the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill for fiscal 2006 (HR-3058) that contains a 3.1 percent general schedule federal pay raise for January 2006. In comments on the measure, the White House opposed the 3.1 percent raise figure, saying it would cost some $1 billion more than the 2.3 percent it recommended, and said that “any recruitment or retention problems facing the government are limited to a few areas and occupations, and do not warrant such an arbitrary across-the board increase.” The White House also opposed language in the bill that would require the Defense and Homeland Security departments to pay the 3.1 percent amount to their employees in 2006—neither department plans to base raises for any employees on their new performance systems until 2007 in any event—as well as language requiring that blue-collar employees get the same raise as general schedule employees in their areas. During floor voting, the House accepted—as it had the past two years—an amendment to essentially throw out the changes the administration made in 2003 to Circular A-76, the contracting-out guidance, which employee organizations consider tilted toward the private sector. The administration opposes that provision as well.