Spending plans are moving ahead that likely will set the average federal employee raise in January 2003 at 4.1 percent. Both the House and Senate defense authorization bills would set the military raise at that amount, and the House’s budget resolution calls for maintaining parity between military and federal employee raises. The Senate still has not voted on its version of the budget resolution, but there is strong support in that chamber for maintaining parity, Capitol Hill officials say. However, they add that there is relatively little chance of any major look at the federal pay-setting process this year. The Office of Personnel Management recently released a white paper identifying numerous problems with the system, but no hearings are scheduled on the pay question and even the most avid backers of federal pay reform expect that any initiative will be years in the making.