Non-Foreign Area COLAs Stay in Place

Another of the final administration initiatives was to replace the "non-foreign area" cost-of-living adjustment paid to employees outside the contiguous 48 states who are not in foreign countries—primarily in Alaska, Hawaii and certain territories—with locality pay under the GS locality pay system. That proposal also drew some bipartisan interest, although differences emerged regarding how long the phase-in period would be and whether employees should get the choice of staying with the current system. The Senate passed a bill just before recessing calling for a mandatory three-year phaseout, but the House did not take it up. There also is concern about lack of data—and lack of funds to collect data—on pay comparisons between federal and non-federal work in those locations.