On August 31, President Biden sent a letter to congressional leadership formally issuing the call for a 5.2 percent across-the-board pay raise for federal employees in 2024, made up of a 4.7 percent increase to base pay and an average boost of 0.5 percent for locality pay. It maintains parity with the pay raise for the uniformed military, included in both the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act, and it would be the largest pay raise in 44 years.

Under Title 5, United States Code, Biden is authorized to implement “alternative plans for pay adjustments” for feds if “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” call for it. Congress has stayed silent on the issue of federal employee pay throughout the summer, effectively endorsing the 5.2 percent raise included in Biden’s transmittal. If enacted, the raise would take effect in January 2024.

“We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our government running, deliver services, and meet our nation’s challenges today and tomorrow. This alternative pay plan decision will continue to allow the federal government to employ a well-qualified federal workforce on behalf of the American people, keeping pace with prior wage growth in the labor market,” Biden concluded. You can read his letter here.

FMA endorsed the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act (H.R. 536/ S. 124) offered in January 2023, which would provide for an 8.7 percent raise. While that is certainly preferable to a 5.2 percent raise, FMA applauds the positive movement toward recognizing the federal workforce.