Bill would close pay gap for active duty feds

Three Senate lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that would require the government to pay the difference between civilian and military wages for federal employees called to active duty.

More than 120,000 federal employees serve in the National Guard and Reserves, and nearly 14,000 of them have been called to active duty to help fight the war in Iraq. But most of those employees earn less as active duty reservists than as civilian workers, according to Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin joined with Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. to introduce legislation that would close the gap between military and civilian pay for those workers.

"We cannot simultaneously encourage Americans to serve their country in the National Guard and Reserves and then punish those who enlist by taking away a large portion of their income," Durbin said.

The Illinois senator described the case of one Air Force reservist who took a $45,000 cut in pay when he was called to duty and left his job as an air traffic controller in Chicago.

"This was a severe blow to his family," Durbin said.

According to Landrieu, several local and state governments, as well as private companies, have a pay gap plan in place to address this issue and the federal government needs to do the same.

"Reserve and guard employees- whether working in the public or private sector-should not have to take a pay cut when called to active duty, and that's exactly what's happening now," Landrieu said. "These men and women are not getting a tax cut, they are taking a pay cut to serve. It does not make sense."

According to Durbin, the gap in salary can range from 2 percent to 48 percent.

"We must provide our reservist employees with financial support so they can leave their civilian lives to serve our country without the added burden of worrying whether their loved ones back home can make the monthly mortgage payment or provide new shoes for their kids," Durbin said. "They are doing so much for us, we should do no less for them."