Connolly and Schatz Reintroduce FAIR Act, Calling for 5.1% Average Raise for Feds in 2023
Congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would grant federal employees an average 5.1 percent pay raise in 2023. If the bill passes, federal employees will receive the largest pay increase in nearly two decades; the last increase of comparable magnitude was 4.1 percent in 2004.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act in their respective chambers which includes an increase federal workers’ basic pay by 4.1 percent across the board next year and provide an average 1 percent increase in locality pay. Rep. Connolly has introduced the FAIR Act for the eighth consecutive year in the House and indicated the force behind the latest raise is the federal effort through the previous administration and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For two years, federal employees have risked their health and safety working on the frontlines of this pandemic. For four years prior, they were subjected to the Trump administration’s cruel personal attacks, unsafe work environments, pay freezes, government shutdowns, sequestration cuts, furloughs and mindless across-the-board hiring freezes,” stated Rep. Connolly, “Still, our federal workforce serves with dedication and distinction every day.”
In January 2021, Connolly introduced the Fair Act with an average pay raise of 3.2 percent, but congressional appropriators chose to endorse President Biden’s 2.7 percent raise for federal employees, as previously reported in FEDmanager.
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) National President Ken Thomas reasoned that the FAIR Act would guarantee federal employees a fair wage increase and called on President Biden to include a pay increase commensurate with the FAIR Act in his budget submission.
“Federal employees have endured much over the past few years, from reduced annual pay increases to furloughs and shutdowns,” Thomas stated, “This 4.1 percent across-the-board pay increase would allow the federal government to better compete with the private sector to attract and retain a highly qualified, top-performing federal workforce, as well as improve morale of current employees.”
The Federal Salary Council reported in early 2021 that a 23.11 percent pay gap exists between federal employees and their private sector counterparts. Further, the Council reiterated its stance that the current federal government pay system fails to adequately represent total compensation and has sought Congressional solutions to this.
According to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the FAIR Act is important to narrow pay gaps for federal employees in areas with competitive labor markets and high living costs.
“Every time there is a pay freeze or a below-market raise, federal employee salaries fall further behind,” said NTEU National President Tony Reardon, “Our nation’s public servants deserve a pay increase that brings their salaries closer to their counterparts in the private sector.”
In the House, the FAIR Act is co-sponsored by Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), John Sarbanes (D-MD), David Trone (D-MD), and Anthony Brown (D-MD). Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-DI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Ben Cardin (D-MD), also co-sponsored the bill.
