Earlier this month, AFGE announced that Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) would be introducing legislation to give federal workers a 5.3% pay increase in 2017. AFGE supported the bill since that happened to be the exact same amount they said federal employees were owed as a raise next year.
That bill has now officially been introduced in the House this week. Known as the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act (H.R. 4585), it would provide a 3.9% pay raise to federal employees along with 1.4% in “lost locality pay.” It has 32 co-sponsors backing it.
FedSmith.com users said in a recent poll that they agree with Connolly and AFGE that the pay raise should be 5.3%. As we noted in a recent article, however, the politics of the pay raise process during an election year are likely to keep the raise at what President Obama has proposed (1.6%), however, it will likely be at least August before we know more about what next year’s pay raise is going to be. (See How is Your Annual Federal Pay Raise Determined and What is it Likely to Be Next Year?)
Connolly introduced the same legislation for the 2016 raise that would have given federal workers a 3.8% raise, but it ultimately failed to advance.
In a statement, Connolly said, “This bill is a down payment on trying to help restore some of the losses that have been incurred by our dedicated federal employees, and I hope demonstrates we value their public service.”
