Raise, Other Issues Still Waiting

Congress has effectively put off until the fall a final decision on the January 2006 federal pay raise, since the Senate failed to vote on the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill (HR-3058) before recessing. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill would set the raise at a 3.1 percent average in the name of maintaining parity with increases for uniformed military personnel; the Bush administration continues to support its original proposal for 2.3 percent and has an opportunity to again recommend that figure by the end of August as an alternative figure. Both versions of the bill also would impose restrictions on the White House’s contracting-out initiative, and the House version further would cut funds that the Office of Personnel Management could otherwise spend on government-wide civil service changes modeled on the initiatives underway at DoD and the Department of Homeland Security.