The Senate Committee on Appropriations has made the first step towards granting a 1% pay raise for federal employees in 2014.
In a recent report on S. 1429, a bill which would make appropriations for the Department of Defense, the Committee recommends fully funding a 1% pay increase for civilian DoD employees. The report states:
“The civilian workforce has faced many challenges over the past several years. The last pay raise was in 2010. In 2013, the Department took specific action to release temporary employees, freeze hiring, and furlough most of its civilian workforce due to sequestration. The Committee recognizes the critical role that the civilian workforce plays every day in ensuring the mission success of the Armed Forces. The Committee is increasingly concerned over the impact of these challenges on the Department’s ability to maintain a stable, effective, right-sized civilian cadre. Therefore, the Committee fully funds the 1 percent pay raise for civilian employees as requested.” (emphasis added)
S. 1429 has not yet come up for a vote in the Senate and wouldn’t until September at the earliest since Congress is on a summer recess.
The federal workforce has not had a pay increase since 2010 when President Obama first proposed the freeze. The pay freeze was supposed to end this past March, but that was ultimately rescinded, leaving the freeze in effect for the rest of 2013.
The White House is on record as being in favor of a 1% pay increase in 2014, and the House has thus far not voted this year to deny federal workers a pay increase. The House also voted to give a 1.8% pay increase for military personnel.
The combination of these factors along with this latest Senate report make for a plausible first step towards a pay increase for the federal workforce next year.
