FMA URGES CONGRESS TO DEFEAT MISGUIDED PROPOSAL ELIMINATING THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAY RAISE FOR 2011 - May 27, 2010

Reports claiming feds make more money than those in the private sector factually incorrect.

Alexandria, VA - The Federal Managers Association (FMA) urges the House of Representatives to defeat a measure which would eliminate the federal employee pay raise for 2011. Attacks on federal employees are all too common and we at FMA support measures to save the federal government money without negatively impacting the very people who keep our government running.

This week, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will propose the latest “You Cut” initiative for House consideration. The initiative, which seeks to eliminate a pay raise for federal employees in 2011, will, according to Bachmann, save taxpayers $30 billion over a ten-year period. The $30 billion figure misleads the people who support this plan, however, as the proposal would only cut federal raises for one year, not the next ten. While the initiative may have been the “winner” of the You Cut program put forth by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), there were only five suggestions upon which people could vote, none of which looked beyond proposals Republicans have consistently included on their agenda and which have historically garnered little support in Congress.

In his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget for the United States, President Obama supported a 1.4 percent pay raise for members of the military and civilian workforce. The House Armed Services Committee went further in the FY11 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5136) by awarding the military a 1.9 percent pay raise, a figure the full House is likely to support. FMA has long advocated for pay parity for the two groups, and Congress has deviated from establishing parity only once in the last two decades.

“The President’s aggressive agenda to redirect the nation on the path to prosperity places immense responsibility on members of the civil service, and their efforts must be recognized,” commented FMA National President Patricia Niehaus. “From managing and executing many of the Administration’s bold initiatives to restore America’s financial security to serving alongside their Armed Forces counterparts on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, today’s federal employees wear many hats in the effort to provide the American public with the programs and services they expect and deserve.”

In recent months, several mainstream news outlets have called federal salaries and benefits inflated and unwarranted. By their own limited research, federal salaries are anywhere from twenty to fifty percent larger than comparable jobs in the private sector. However, more detailed and thorough research supported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that the public-private pay gap for comparable occupations continues to stand at roughly 26 percent. FMA encourages Congress to afford civil servants an appropriate financial adjustment in 2011 to close the gap, as dictated by law (the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act, P.L.101-509). It is important to note that the annual pay raise for federal employees was not designed as a cost of living adjustment, but rather as a way to close the public-private pay gap in an effort to attract the best and brightest to federal service.

Given the increase in health care costs and other general expenses, denying feds a pay raise this year will ultimately lead to a decrease in pay for these dedicated civil servants. In turn, with less money in their paychecks, federal employees will spend less, and subsequently the overall economy will suffer.

In these times of economic uncertainty, federal employees are too often thrown under the bus, given their perceived job security and benefits. At a time when the American people are demanding more from the government programs upon which they rely, eliminating a pay raise will only serve to impair the delivery of these services. Federal employees work overtime to process the increase in unemployment claims, disability claims and the like, and cutting federal salaries ultimately benefits no one and hinders the government’s ability to retain top talent. There are a myriad of other ways the federal government can decrease spending and save money without unfairly attacking its employees.

“We at FMA recognize that the nation faces a political and economic climate focused on reigning in federal spending; however, many American citizens fail to realize that federal employees serve functions vital to the growth of this country,” concluded Niehaus. “Civil servants are on the cutting-edge of disease research, lead efforts to develop alternative energy sources, and take the helm on many social programs that deliver needed services to millions of Americans. Their commitment to providing for the public welfare deserves recognition.”